1997 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, “Brazil”
“Those who were already baptized and who still smoked were given six months to quit the habit if they wanted to remain a part of the congregation. … It is true that some were disfellowshipped, but a number of these finally had a change of mind and heart, quit smoking, and were reinstated.”
The organisation’s country history for Brazil records how the 1973 decision was applied there, noting that the Portuguese-language Watchtower of 1 December 1973 carried the announcement.
Official source (opens in new tab)
Provenance and verification note for 1997 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Brazil
Confidence note. Opened on the Watchtower Online Library and re-opened for audit on 19 September 2026. The first quoted sentence is on page 136; the page 137 marker falls inside the second quoted sentence, which therefore begins on page 136 and continues on page 137. The ellipsis omits two sentences, one saying that the majority were able to stop and one giving the reasoning of a brother baptised in 1964.
Notes. The only figure-free but explicit organisational acknowledgment located that members were expelled under the new tobacco rule.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chg-p-yb-1997-brazil-tobacco