Welcome to Brazil, Taylor Swift – it’s been waiting for you.

As her sweep of Rio de Janeiro shows got under way this week, the pop superstar and her legions of devoted fans were greeted by the wide-open arms of the world’s most-famous Christ statue, sporting a projected image of a Swift-inspired T-shirt.

The 38-metre Christ the Redeemer was illuminated on Thursday night with a towering message welcoming the singer to the country for the latest leg of her Eras Tour.

The grand show of hospitality was thanks to a charitable act by her fans and orchestrated by the Christ the Redeemer Archdiocesan Sanctuary, which manages the iconic statue.

On social media, Swifties asked Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes to project onto the statue a likeness of the “Junior Jewels” shirt from Swift’s “You Belong with Me” music video.

Their plea went viral.

Paes, who once called the singer the “Madonna of our times”, said he’d take the matter to the Reverend Omar Raposo, the rector of the sanctuary.

“OK, I did my part!” said Paes on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“From today onwards, I ask all fan clubs to direct their requests about the Sanctuary of Christ the Redeemer to our beloved Archdiocese.

“Friend Father Omar, the ball is in your court!”

In exchange for the projection, the priest, who runs the popular Catholic site, challenged Swifties to raise money to buy food and drinks for the upcoming Catholic Church’s World Day of the Poor, which will be marked on Sunday.

In one day of crowdfunding, fans raised about 180,000 reais (about $A57,000), which covered the cost of 20,000 loaves of panettones, a traditional sweet yeast bread, and bottled water for Rio’s homeless, a statement from the sanctuary said.

With the fundraising goal met, the statue was lit on Thursday night.

A small team from the sanctuary and a few Swifties started distributing the food and drink to those in need that evening.

The statue, viewed as a global symbol of Christianity, was inaugurated almost 100 years ago, and a priest came up with the idea for it even earlier, according to the monument’s official site.

Today, the Christ statue with its arms wide open welcomes millions of selfie-snapping tourists each year.

Rio is far from the only place to give Swift a special welcome for her Eras Tour, with cities across the United States paying homage to her – from declaring her the honorary mayor of the day to renaming stadiums.

Swift will play six shows in Brazil as part of her Eras Tour, which heads to Australia in February.

“We did it Swifties!” said a post on the Christ the Redeemer official Instagram account, which showed an aerial 360-degree video of the statue while Swift’s song You Belong with Me played.

“You were able to show all your love for Taylor and for your neighbour.”

-AAP