What's New

According to traditional Jamaican belief, the journey from this world to the next is not complete until nine nights after the death of the body. Until then, a malevolent ghost, or duppy, of a deceased person might linger after death, inhabiting its old house, or exacting revenge on persons who have mistreated it.

In a slide illustrated lecture, anthropologist Anya Peterson Royce shows how the Zapotec use flowers, processions and prayer in rituals that protect and guide spirits on their journey of dying. She also describes the Day of the Dead and Holy Week rituals and the role of the community healer.

The Sisterhood of Our Lady of the Good Death, or Boa Morte, in Bahia is comprised of Afro-Brazilian women who practice a combination of Catholicism and Candomblé, a religion with roots in the African slave trade.

Ouro Preto culminates its Holy Week observances with a 6 a.m. Mass at St. Francis of Assisi and a procession along the 1 km route covered that decorated the night before in beautiful tapete, or sawdust carpets.

In the late night and morning hours after Saturday night’s Easter Vigil, townspeople decorate the cobblestone streets with a tapete, or carpet, of colored wood shavings to mark the hilly, one kilometer route for the next morning's Easter procession.

On the steps of Santa Efigênia, the church built on a separate hill by Chico Rey and other former slaves, a youth group gathered in the rain to perform the passion story.

Good Friday’s commemorations return to Our Lady of Sorrows early in the day for preaching on the seven last words of Christ. Evening services take place before a much larger audience in front of St. Francis Church.

The largest crowd by far gathers for the ceremony of the washing of the feet, which takes place on a big stage set up in front of St. Francis Church in Ouro Preto.

With 13 baroque churches, colonial architecture, and lush, steep terrain, Ouro Preto is a gem of a town, well known for its Holy Week observances, featuring no fewer than eight processions and special activities.

The popularity of Pentecostalism has not only caused an exodus of Catholics, but also reshaped Catholicism with the introduction of charismatic practice. Today, one half of Brazilian Catholics are charismatic.