Religion in Brazil
Friends from England have been so good about keeping in touch and showing an interest in what we are doing here. There's nothing like being away for confirming who your friends are!

In one email I have received since we have been here, a friend asked me about religion in Brazil and I have been meaning to write something in this blog ever since. This is what I replied to her.

'The country is predominantly catholic and although there are many saints days and festivals I don't get the feeling that religion is any stronger here than anywhere else. Because Brazil is such a large country, populated originally by such a diverse group of people, just about every religion is represented here, including religions from Africa. When we lived here 30 years ago, I went to a Candomble 'service' which was fascinating.'

I can remember that Candomble service as if it was yesterday. It was such a different experience. I don't claim to understand what it was all about, although with the internet it is much easier to get information about new experiences nowadays than it was in those days. But I remember the 'African' feel to it all, the fervor and the costumes - just as you can see in the attached photo (not mine!).

Also 30 years ago, the friend who took me to the Candomble service, also took me to a catholic service in the church in Riberao da Ilha - just the type of church that you can see in Santo Antonio de Lisboa

http://www.jennymackness.co.uk/Santo%20Antonio%20Church.htm.

I remember this as being a high catholic service (lots of incense and bells), but the congregation was from the local fishermen community. In those days (and maybe in these days, although I have no evidence for this), the local 'poor' community, were very active in their local churches.

I have not attended services of any sort during our stay this time in Brazil, but just being here revives all these memories.

The best place to find an unbiased and informative view of religion in Brazil is on the wikipedia website:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Brazil

If we had more time here, it would be interesting to explore this further.