THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SANTERIA

How does the Catholic Church feel about Santeria?

Question:

How does the Catholic Church feel about Santeria?

The Roman Catholic Church and Tolerance:

The relationship between Roman Catholicism and identified non-Christian religions is defined in the papal declaration Nostra Aetate as promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1965. In this declaration, the Pope commands his faithful to follow "in the footsteps of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul" and "maintain good fellowship among the nations." In Nostra Aetate Paul VI also set the Church's policy as clearly anti-discriminatory with regards to race, color, condition of life, or religion.

Answer and Explanation:

The relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and Santeria is complicated, in part because Santeria is not a wholly separate religion but is a syncretic faith that has combined elements of Catholic worship and practice with Nigerian (which were originally Yoruban) beliefs.

Santeria developed in Cuba in the 1500s, when African slaves first brought to Cuba to work the sugar plantations found themselves oppressed not just by colonists but also by the Catholic Church, which had imposed Christianity upon them. To protect their deeply held faith and maintain their practices, the Yoruba melded their orishas (gods, deities) with the saints and included Catholic practices within their own. Thus, the celebration of saints' days became a celebration of both the saint and ancient deity of the Yoruba. A saint's day celebration among Santerians may include the highly orthodox procession through town and the Church mass dedicated to the saint but also a celebration with drumming and animal sacrifice. Today, Santeria is practiced by roughly 13% of the Cuban population, but even those who profess Catholicism may in fact also practice Santeria.

What this relationship--both historically and theologically--between Catholicism and Santeria means is that practically speakin condone Santeria, it also cannot formally condemn Santeria. Two recent popes (Benedict XVI and Francis I) made visits to Cuba and even held masses there, but neither formally met with any leaders of the faith or offered a formal gesture of tolerance. They also did not call for an end to Santeria practices, likely because if they did so Church parishes would shrink.

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