Religion

When one thinks about religion in Latin America, Roman Catholicism most certainly comes to mind first.  There were, of course, indigenous religions throughout the region, but the conquistadores and the priests that accompanied them eradicated them as much as possible, although there are often elements of pagan traditions/superstitions mixed with Catholicism in many places.  In Nicaragua, there are fewer of these elements because indigenous culture was even more decimated here than in many other locations. 
Up until 1939, Roman Catholicism was not only the dominant religion, it was the official state religion.  Even after secularizing the state, however, the church continued to wield enormous clout and always tended to be much more conservative in Nicaragua than in some of the neighboring countries where liberation theology was more prominent.  Although the Catholic Church was generally supportive of the revolution against the Somoza regime (but not universally), it was generally not supportive of the Sandinista government after the revolution. 

Today, with the second coming of the Sandinistas after about 15 years of rule by more conservative parties, Daniel Ortega has found religion and has conspicuously aligned himself with Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular.  Whether out of true belief or political opportunism is open to debate…

Statistically, I find various numbers for percentage of adherents to various beliefs, perhaps because of differences in how questions are asked, but it appears that somewhere around 75% of the population is at least nominally Catholic and about 15% members of some protestant sect, with Evangelicals (principally charismatic Evangelicals) being the fastest growing and most obvious non-Catholic presence.  These Evangelical churches can be found in most towns (including Sabana Grande) and range from buildings under construction to old storefronts to full-fledged churches that look like a church.  Although small in the entire country, there are a good number of Episcopalians along the Caribbean Coast (where the English ruled for many years).  There are also few percent of Mormons, Jews, Muslims and other non-Christian groups as well.  From adding up the percentages, it seems clear that Nicaragua is a rather religious country on the whole.

In various other posts, there are photos of numerous big, Catholic churches and cathedrals, so I won’t post any more of those, though the architecture and artwork are often quite interesting and impressive.  However, there is one thing that I’ve noticed in Catholic churches is that I don’t recall seeing a picture of the current Pope.  The posters I’ve seen are all of John Paul.  Also, the Archbishop of Managua is not going to see the Pope when he is in Mexico because of “personal and internal reasons.”   Although the Catholic Church in Nicaragua has traditionally been rather conservative, it appears that there is at least some friction between the local church and Rome. 

A couple of posters posted in Catholic Churches showing not the current Pope, but the previous one.  In part, it may be due to the visit to Nicaragua by John Paul, but I’m not sure if that’s all there is.

What I will show of churches here are a number of examples of some of the Evangelical churches, showing some of the range of building styles as well as an indication of the wealth of the churches.

A composite of 6 different Evangelical churches in various locations.  Clockwise from upper left:  the church in Sabana Grande still under construction, but currently used in spite of its unfinished condition;  Estelí;  Ocotal;  Condega;  Palacagüina;  Totogalpa.

One topic I find interesting is how religion manifests itself in the everyday life of people here, sometimes quite consciously and other times seemingly unconsciously.  First, like in the US and as alluded to before, religion and politics always seem to be mixed up.  There are still many election posters up (mostly Sandinista in my part of the country) from the last election and many of them have overtly religious references, some even featuring the picture of a former Archbishop of Managua.  Although not political in the sense of party politics, towns and cities certainly commit resources to religious themes with statues being very common in parks and intersections.  Also, more towns have patron saints with annual celebrations and some also have secondary religiously-oriented festivals as well.  Public schools are often named after saints (e.g., San Miguel Arcángel and Divino Niño Jesus are the closest public schools to me).  These are things it would be hard to imagine, at least in most places in the US.

FSLN campaign poster from the last election.  Emeritus Archbishop of Managua, Miguel Obando y Bravo, is prominently displayed on the poster.  Its main message is “With all and for the good of all”  (sort of a paraphrase of the 3 musketeers’ theme), but at the bottom, it also states “ Christian, Socialist, Solidarity.”

Here are a couple of religious statues displayed by municipalities and not churches.  I’ve seen some from buses that are much larger and more elaborate but couldn’t get good pictures.

Another way that religion is apparent in everyday life is in the names of businesses.  For the most part, I presume businesses are named out of some true belief, but there are times it seems a bit mercenary and simply fishing for an edge to attract a few more customers.  Businesses that are completely unrelated to religion and, in fact, may be selling things that many religions might frown on, are more than happy to use religious imagery and themes in their names.  There are also private secondary schools and universities with religious sponsorship, but this is not much different than in the US.

Here are a couple of examples of businesses whose names reflect an overtly religious theme.  Religious names appear to be especially common with pharmacies, which I suppose does have a logical connection because of a desire for healing by some means.  I don´t really see the connection of the Divine Child to a variety store, however.

Here is a sign on a bus stop with an ad for Martin Luther University, not much different than what you might see in the US.  What struck me was that it is not a Lutheran school, but of the Assemblies of God.  The other interesting thing here is the address.  As I’ve mentioned before, there are no street numbers and seldom street names, so addresses are relative to landmarks (which you’ve got to know somehow?!).  This university is 2 1/2 blocks east of the fire station.

One thing that I find interesting are the more personal expressions of faith posted at small businesses on their push cart, their store front, their bus or their truck.  Almost every bus has at least one sticker with something to the effect of:  “Bless this bus and its passengers,” but many will have pictures of Jesus or other, larger signs as well.  Many trucks have a large percentage of the windshield covered with a religious message of some sort.  Perhaps these expressions are so common on vehicles because of the relative peril on Nicaragua’s highways (and the condition of their tires!  This common, personal expression of faith in a place of business is generally not found much in the US.  Expressions are also inherent in the language as you´ll often hear comments like ¨if it is God´s will.¨ 

Here is a sign posted on a street vendor’s stand that parallels the often-seen signs on buses.  It says “God bless this business and the customers who visit us.

The top truck (with a LOT of windshield covered with signs!) declares “Only God saves” and the bottom one is a “gift of God.”

Here a few of the messages posted on buses.  From top to bottom on the left and then left to right, they say:  “Only God is great,”  “I can do everything in Christ who strengthens me,” “If God is with me, who can be against me” and “God is love.”  Direct biblical quotes with citations aren’t very common—mostly there are either quotes without citation or common, pithy sayings or expressions.

Not exactly work-place related, but this personal expression of faith extends to sports as well.  Any of you who watch baseball are familiar with Latin American players crossing themselves before batting, but here they often have religious expressions on their uniforms.  (Although this is an amateur;  I’ve not seen professionals with similar statements.)

As alluded to earlier, there are two different churches in Sabana Grande:  the Catholic Church and a smaller Evangelical church whose building is only partly completed.  In addition, one often hears religious messages and/or music on loudspeakers (remember, Nicas love their loudspeakers!) coming from individual homes where a meeting is being held.  It may even be a birthday party for someone, the church is invited and the party becomes something of a revival meeting.  Quite often, one also hears music coming from the two church buildings for services, practices, etc., but I don’t know if that indicates that there are more church gatherings here than in the US or simply that the churches are all completely open so you hear it every time there is anything going on.  I assume it is for Lent, but the Catholics also have had a procession carrying a cross every Friday afternoon for the past several weeks.  It is also common in or on private homes to find religious signs, pictures, etc.  Sometimes there are also shrine areas, either in the home or in the yard.

A local procession carrying the cross through Sabana Grande on a Friday afternoon.  I posted a picture of a similar (though much more elaborate) procession in my Granada post.

On the left are a couple of examples of outdoor shrines, though certainly not typical, as these are very elaborate and are done by wealthy people.  More typical in a home here would be a plastic backdrop sheet with religious pictures or scripture with a table and candles.  On the right are signs seen on doors of homes.  At the top is a hand written sign that says (if I can make out the letters) “Immaculate mother, pray (or beg?) for us” and at the bottom a sign handed out by a church “Christ:  Your teaching is the way, truth and life.”

My Spanish is not good enough to pick up all the nuances, but it appears that at least here, people from the different churches seem to get along well, though there may be some aloofness or conscious separation from the “other” group.  In fact, as I think I’ve mentioned in another post (It’s getting hard for me to remember what I’ve posted and what I’ve only thought about posting!) that the government has a public relations campaign promoting tolerance of religious and other differences.  However, I remember in Mexico that a protestant pastor made references to Catholicism as a sort of cult and not quite truly Christian, and there are probably some of those attitudes here as well (on both sides).  One interesting thing that I’ve been told is that in Sabana Grande you can tell whether a woman is Catholic or Protestant by the length of her skirt:  if the skirt is at the knee or higher = Catholic;  if mid-calf or lower = Evangelical (It seems there may be a couple of inches of overlap where its uncertain!).