More than 2,000 people braved pelting rain in Sao Paulo on Saturday to stage a protest against what they described as persecution of Afro-Brazilian religious groups.
The “March of Axe” (life force in the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble) in the city’s Ibirapuera Park was also joined by some gay groups and NGOs fighting against racism and bigotry.
The marchers representing major Afro-Brazilian faiths such as Candomble and Umbanda from around the country demanded “freedom of expression and of religion,” as well as an end to injustice, intolerance and racism.
Candomble, introduced in Brazil in the 16th century by west African slaves, also incorporates Roman Catholic elements.
Umbanda, founded a little more than a century ago, blends African religious beliefs, the spirituality of Brazil’s indigenous people and spiritism, a doctrine based on the teachings of 19th century French spiritualist Allan Kardec.
Jorge Scritori, one of the march organizers, said the protesters were denouncing intolerance and violence directed at followers of Afro-Brazilian religions.
“We want inclusion and acceptance ... It is the duty of all to show religious tolerance,” he added.
Followers of Candomble and Umbanda have held annual marches against religious intolerance since 2008, after several places of Afro-Brazilian worship were sacked and their leaders attacked.
Some of them accuse Christian evangelicals, including Candomble defectors, of outright hostility toward Afro-Brazilian faiths.
Candomble and Umbanda followers also complain about what they view as racist misconceptions that associate their beliefs with witchcraft.
A coalition of civil rights groups on Tuesday asked a New York State judge to order one of its largest suburban counties to stop its deployment of nearly 600 license plate readers, calling it a warrantless and “indiscriminate surveillance system” that violates the state constitution. The class action lawsuit also alleged that Westchester County never got proper authorization to launch the program, which has amassed a database of 1.6 billion plate scans that has been shared with more than 50 outside law enforcement agencies. The complaint said the network “records the long-term travel patterns, daily habits, and intimate information of millions of
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday blessed a giant new tower at Barcelona’s famed Sagrada Familia Basilica after celebrating mass inside what is now the world’s tallest church. A fireworks and light show illuminated the exterior of the temple at the end of the ceremony, bathing the unfinished basilica in shifting colours that highlighted its towering spires. A choir of 600 singers performed at the service which lasted around 90 minutes and was attended by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez as well as King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. The stained-glass windows in various colours shone brightly in between the tree-like
Scientists have discovered communities of marine life — including jellyfish, tubeworms and brittle stars — thriving on a whale graveyard. The graveyards form when whale carcasses fall to the sea floor, becoming a sustaining snack for nearby critters. This one, which is up to 7km below the surface of the southeastern Indian Ocean, spans the largest area, and is so far the deepest found. A whale’s sheer size and the unique chemistry of its bones are the keys to forming these unique underwater neighborhoods, said Song Xikun (宋希坤), a biologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering
Voters in Switzerland yesterday cast their ballots on an initiative championed by the top right-wing party to cap the Alpine country’s population at 10 million. As of press time last night, early results showed that Swiss voters were leaning against it. The populist Swiss People’s Party, which has the most seats in parliament, has stirred up and fostered anti-migration sentiment over the years, notably about an influx of workers from the neighboring EU. Critics called the bid a self-inflicted wound, saying the boom in migration over the past generation has brought foreign labor and skills to sectors such as healthcare, finance, pharmaceuticals
RSS