Hybridity Is a Key Feature of the Culture in Latin America

During the first half of the sixteenth century, military conquest and religious conversion advanced together throughout the Americas. Roman Catholicism was then firstly brought to Latin America by the Spanish and Portuguese conquerors, namely two Roman Catholic countries that had not experienced the Protestant Reformation.In the colonial period most of the native peoples in Latin America were converted to Catholicism and this faith remains the most prevalent religion throughout the continent today. It is estimated that the overwhelming majority, approximately 90 percent of all Latin Americans belong to the Catholic Church, while only 10 percent go to church regularly.

With about 400 million believers, Latin America has been the largest concentration of Catholics all over the world.Despite this fact, various other religions are also represented in this region. Unfortunately, the Roman Catholic was forcibly and often violently imposed with the complete or partial assimilation of many indigenous religious beliefs and practices. The general attitude to indigenous religions, such as Aztec and the Inca systems was one of horror and disdain (Chasteen, 2006; Eakin, 2007; Smart, 1998; Esposito, J. , Fasching, D. and Lewis, T.

, 2002).It would be worth noting the story of Nahua religion to illustrate this tragedy. The Nahua religion, an ancient Mexican one, is believed to be a mixture of many different Mexican religions, as the Aztecs absorbed many native tribes such as Mayans, Olmecs, Zapotecs and Toltecs. It can be reliably concluded that this ancient religion was not only theologically more advanced than the Greek one, or even the Roman one, but also can be compared to even the Egyptian one, owing to their knowledge to mathematics and astronomy.Nevertheless, the force of Spaniards to Mexico not only conquered the Aztec empire in 1519 but also carried the Catholic faith, leading to the exclusion of many Mexican deities, including the Nahua’s, in favor of the Catholicism (Chasteen, 2006; Eakin, 2007; Smart, 1998). Considering Cuba, such a traditionally Catholic country, nominally 85 percent of its residents were Roman Catholic prior to the revolution and today, at least the majority of its people remain Roman Catholic, despite severe restrictions of the government, according to the statistics of the Roman Catholic Church.

Similarly, Christianity is also estimated to be the dominant religion in Mexico. The Government's 2000 census shows that approximately 88 percent of Mexican respondents identify themselves as at least nominally Roman Catholics, actually the world's second largest number of Catholics after Brazil (Gorry, 2004; Noble and Raub, 2008; Central Intelligence Agency, 2009; US State Department, 2009). Moreover, in both Cuba and Mexico, Protestants nearly account for the largest segment of reminder, namely about 5 percent and 7 percent respectively.Membership in Protestant churches generally includes Baptists, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and Lutherans. It is estimated that in Cuba, membership in Protestant churches was 550,000 persons.

The Baptists appear possibly the largest Protestant denomination, followed closely by the Pentecostal churches of which the believers seem rising sharply. In Mexico, Protestants are concentrated primarily in the south.The General Director for Religious Associations of the Federal Secretariat of Government (GDAR) registered 169 evangelical and traditional Protestant associations. According to the 2000 census the Seventh-day Adventist Church has a nationwide membership of 488,945 persons and 205,229 persons identified themselves as Mormons. Regarding other religions, however, their memberships seem relatively much smaller than the Catholic one.

The populations of Muslim and Jewish in Cuba are both extremely small. For example, the Jewish community has 1,500 members, 1,200 of whom reside in Havana.Similarly, in Mexico, the Jewish community claims only approximately 50,000 members, most of whom live in Mexico City. The 2000 national census figures indicate that there are more than one million Jehovah's Witnesses, 205,229 Latter-Day Saints, 108,701 Buddhists, 488,946 Seventh-day Adventists, more than 45,000 Mexican Jews, and 25,000 Muslims.

Despite the fact that most indigenous religions were ruined in the rule by Spain and Portugal of three long centuries, indigenous creeds and rituals are actually still practiced in countries with large percentages of Amerindians, such as Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru.Furthermore, although most indigenous communities are formally classified by the church as Catholics, Catholicism in Latin America is much modified and influenced through syncretism. In actual fact, many of their traditional religious beliefs and practices have been combined with the Catholic faith and traditions. For example, they may honor ancestors, mountain spirits, and other spiritual forces alongside Catholic saints. Many ancient deities have been incorporated with Catholic ones, creating a unique view of the Catholic faith.

Currently, those deities and rituals can be found under several forms, especially ceremonies and festivals. Popular festivals in Mexico are normally Catholic in inspiration, and consistently colored by indigenous practices. After the Spanish conquest, for instance, the Catholic celebrations of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day were easily superimposed on the old ‘day of the dead’ traditions, traditions of shared symbolism. One of the primary deities is the ‘saint death’, represented by a skeleton and usually worshipped on the ‘Dia de Muertos’ (Day of the Dead).

In the celebration of ‘Dia de Muertos’, Santeria’s (also known as Regla de Ocha) Florentine Codex contains a description of the Aztec cult of the dead that could easily describe contemporary ceremonies (Eakin, 2007; Smart, 1998; Noble and Raub, 2008). Concerning Afro-Latin American traditions, which are also still practiced mainly in Cuba, Brazil, and Haiti, they are another vivid example of the religious syncretism. Cuba is home to a variety of syncretic religions of largely African cultural origin.It is estimated that nearly 80 percent of the Cuban population consults with practitioners of religions with West African roots.

Santeria as a common syncretic belief is currently followed by many Cubans and also present in many other Caribbean countries, with a degree of official support. In the slavery in which African tribes and families were separated in order to suppress their religions, the Yoruba religion survived by combining elements of Christianity with West African beliefs, thus making it possible for the slaves to retain their traditional beliefs while appearing to practice Catholicism.In reality, Santeria has imported directly many features of Yoruba religion and rites. A good example is the important religious festival ‘La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre’ which is celebrated by Cubans annually on 8th September and to which the shrine receives an estimated average ten million pilgrims annually, making it the most visited center for Christian pilgrimage in the world. ‘La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre’ (Our Lady Of Charity) is the Catholic patroness of Cuba greatly revered by its people and seen as a symbol of Cuba.In Santeria, she has been syncretized with the goddess Ochun.

But, not all religions in Latin America have been hybridized. For instance, some Mayan people in the Yucatan Peninsula still practice the traditional beliefs of their ancestors, without being syncretized with Christianity; it is also true about the Wixarika people of Jalisco and Nayarit (Eakin, 2007; Smart, 1998; Esposito, J. , Fasching, D. and Lewis, T. , 2002; Gorry, 2004).

In conclusion, the European colonization of the region in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries really led to the dominance of Christianity, mainly the Roman Catholicism, in today’s Latin America. However, the hybridity of cultures results in not only the coexistence of various regions but also a Catholic faith practiced in Latin America more liberal than that practiced in other regions of the world. Different beliefs, traditions and rituals, including indigenous traditions and Afro-Latin American ones, combine with the Catholic ones, creating such a unique view of religions in Latin America.