Prevalence of Catholicism
In the Dominican Republic, freedom of worship is a constitutional right. The Roman Catholic religion has been omnipresent since colonization and subsequent evangelization. With its Spanish Catholic tradition, the Church enjoys great moral authority. Through Francisco Ozoria Acosta (successor since 2016 to Cardinal Nicolas de Jesús López Rodriguez), primate of America and metropolitan archbishop of Santo Domingo, it even intervenes in the political arena, organizing dialogue between parties and the various social and economic partners. Some time ago, she even put pressure on the authorities to include the "crime of abortion" in the Constitution. The Dominican government relented in January 2010, and even amended the Penal Code in 2015: since then, abortion - even following rape - has been strictly prohibited, and both those who perform it and the medical staff performing the operation are liable to imprisonment.
As for celebrations, the calendar of religious festivals is very full. The cult of the Virgin Mary is particularly popular, with two major celebrations, that of the Virgin of Altagracia (January 21) and that of the Virgin of Las Mercedes (September 24), marked by large processions, notably in Higüey and La Vega. During Semana Santa (Holy Week, which corresponds to Easter week), the country comes to a standstill. Everyone takes a vacation and the beaches are packed. At this time of year, everything is an excuse to party, and the atmosphere is electric. Apart from these major religious festivals, the tradition of patronal feasts is still very much alive in the country. Celebrated in honor of the patron saint of the smallest village, each festival is different and displays its own particular colors. Emigrants, those who have left for the city, return with their families to take part in the collective jubilation. First there are the masses, which everyone is expected to attend. Then it's all over: concerts by municipal orphéons, popular dances, drinks stalls sponsored by the big local liquor brands where beer and rum flow freely, wild merengue and bachata orchestras, fairground rides for the little ones, cockfights where people bet more than usual, fireworks and firecrackers.
Inaddition, as in all the Caribbean, there are countless churches, some of them fanciful, descended from North American Protestant churches and sects. There are many Adventist, Evangelical, Pentecostal and other churches, and a wide variety of faiths coexist with the greatest tolerance. There are over thirty churches or sects of various denominations, often with folkloric names. The African origins of the population and the influence of neighboring Haiti have also kept alive the rites of voodoo, inherited from distant practices in Benin. Voodoo coexists with the Catholic religion.
African Voodoo and Taino theology
Thedeep roots of the voodoo cult can be found in Benin and Togo. In the language spoken in Benin, vodun means "invisible, fearsome and mysterious power with the capacity to intervene at any time in human society". A power that men try to reconcile in order to improve their daily lives. From the 16th century onwards, the deportation of millions of black slaves to the New World led to the reconstitution of African beliefs and practices in the Americas, albeit with certain transformations. Under different names and forms, the syncretism of African religions and rites of the various deported tribes gave rise to the Afro-Caribbean religions: candombe in Brazil, santería in Cuba, obeayism in Jamaica, shango in Trinidad and voodoo on the island of Hispaniola.
Voodoo posed a threat to the French colonists, whose hold over the slaves was weakened. Despite all the persecutions, hangings, imprisonments and whippings, voodoo survived the centuries to remain very active on the island, particularly in Haiti. They are called Papa Legba (one of the most important, as he ensures communication with the invisible world), Baron Samdi, Ogou Feray, Ezili or la Grande Brigitte. These are Lwas (pronounced "loa"), the spirits of voodoo. Their society is a model for humans: they dictate their actions, favoring or punishing them. Each of these spirits is linked to a specific area of nature: air, earth, sea or fire. They provide the link between man and divine nature, between the living and the dead, the temporal and the supernatural. These divinities are manifested in ceremonies: on reaching a state of trance induced by music, some of the participants are "straddled" by a Lwa, the latter using the body of the one he "straddles" to communicate and render service to those who honor them. Foreigners passing through the island are rarely welcome at these ceremonies. However, voodoo is still widely practiced in the Dominican Republic among populations of African origin, particularly in the Samaná region.
Before the arrival of the colonists,the Taïnos also had their own belief system: their religion was centred around the cult of the Zemís (gods, ancestors and spirits). Two main gods shared the hegemony of the Taino divinities: Yúcahu, god of the sea and cassava, and Atabey, mother of Yúcahu, goddess of fresh water and fertility. As Taino culture is oral, the information that has come down to us comes from the point of view of the colonizer and evangelizer. Only Taino handicrafts and paintings provide direct evidence. Apart from Zemís, Yúcahu and Atabey, the main deities of the Taïnos are : Boinayel and Márohu, the twin gods of rain and fair weather; Coaybay, god of the land of the dead; Opiyelguabirán, the half-dog, half-human god who watches over the dead; Guabancex, goddess of storms; Yocahuma, the moon goddess; and Cemi Boinayel, god of rain.
