Religious Syncretism In Latin America

Along with other cultural elements, such as food, language, costume, festivals and celebrations constitute as an important role in displaying the syncretism and combination of indigenous traditions and customs and Catholic influence in Latin America. The Latin American festivals and celebrations especially are closely tied to religious practices of the Catholic Church so most of them take place on days according to the liturgical seasons in Catholic Christianity. In Latin America, Christian holiday celebrations include indigenous elements unlike the ones in Western Europe because in Latin America, there was a fusion of the Catholic beliefs and the indigenous folk beliefs. The extent/levels of religious syncretism varies according to the region. In the Andean areas, indigenous religious practices coexist with the ones of Catholicism. However, regions like Mexico, the religious elements of pre-Colonial era last but may be subordinated under or inherent in the Catholic faith or symbols …show more content…
For instance, in the 18th century, it was accounted that mine employers complained about hardships in controlling the Mexican workers because of festivals in Chihuahua region in Northern Mexico ( ). It was reported that people regularly attended various public and religious festivals for an extensive period, resulting in a hard time attaining/acquiring enough labor force. Moreover, the frequency of celebrations were said to distract workers from returning to their work after holidays (Martin, 101 1991). This kind of phenomena still continues today, in Mexico or Central American region, the migrant - whether legal or illegal - workers to the U.S. return to their hometown during the winter for Christmas and New Year's celebrations. Based on this, we can see how important and deeply involved festivals and celebrations are in Latin Americans’