BRAZIL: Religion

Just posted was an account of a meeting in Rio of representatives of many religions, including Afro-American ones. The sponsorship and the attitude of the Roman Catholic authorities were not stated. Interesting in this regard is an article entitled "The Good Cause" in the August 2002 edition of Brazzil. The subtitle reads " An organization of poor black women, descendents of slaves, overcomes formidable obstacles--including the animosity of the Church--in order to carry on the religious traditions of their ancestors". The scene is the town of Cachoeira on the bay where Bahia is located. Every August blacks congregate there to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Good Death. The festival is organized by a sisterhood of black women. The custom began at the beginning of the nineteenth century when blacks met there to pray for the end of slavery, which finally came in 1888. The article describes the sisterhood's struggle with Church authorities. It was helped by the famous novelist Jorge Amado A good relationship between Church and sisterhood developed with the appointment in 1998 of Dom Gerardo Majella as Cardinal of Bahia.

The same issue of Brazzil has several article on the political and social problems of Brazil as well as an anti-American article by an economist Ricardo Amaral, entitled "Brazil and the Bully".

Ronald Hilton - 8/25/02