Friday, October 24, 2008
VOODOO AND CATHOLICISM
There is a story at The Salt Lake Tribune website by Jessica Ravitz which unravels the history of VooDoo in New Orleans as told by VooDoo historian Gerald Gandolfo, including the bizarre variety of Catholicism that it has generated. According to this story the VooDoo Queen of NO was a devout Catholic who appears to have been buried in the Catholic cenetary. There is the story of Legba, VooDoo version of St. Peter.
Then there is the following:
Offering further illustrations of how Catholicism and Voodooism go hand in hand in New Orleans, Gandolfo pointed out unusual crosses affixed to the city's famous St. Louis Cathedral, calling them indicators of harmonious coexistence between the two religions. This relationship was bolstered by institutional viewpoint changes. During the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, the Catholic church recognized African Traditional Religions as accepted forms of spirituality. And when Pope John Paul II attended Voodoo ceremonies in Togoland in 1985 and Benin in 1993, he helped further lift the veil of mystery and misunderstanding.
Yikes!
