Indeed, few Brazilians know much about positivism, the secular religion that was spread in Brazil in the second half of the 19th century by followers of the French philosopher Auguste Comte, except, perhaps, that two of his tenets — order and progress — remain emblazoned on the Brazilian flag.

Roughly defined, Comte’s philosophy of positivism sought to reorganize society around the concept that explanations derived from science should be prized as a way of understanding the world. Positivism drew admirers in places including Mexico, Britain and Turkey. Taking things a step further, Comte created his own religion to spread his beliefs.

Some facets of his Religion of Humanity resembled Roman Catholicism. The interior of the decaying church here in Rio still has the feel of an austere cathedral, albeit one where services stopped after part of the roof collapsed during a storm in 2009. Worshipers exalted a female icon similar to the Virgin Mary and modeled on Clotilde de Vaux, with whom Comte was in love.

But Comte also told followers to worship humanity, not God, and created a new calendar. Its starting year was 1789, when a mob stormed the Bastille in a defining moment of the French Revolution; he named months after historical titans like Gutenberg, Charlemagne, Shakespeare and Dante.