Non-Catholics by Fernanda

Catholicism was mandatory in New Orleans. Even slaves were forced to be baptized in the Catholic Church. For non-Catholics, they had a section reserved for them in the St. Louis Cemetery 

 

The voodoo queen was baptized Catholic and is believed to be buried at St. Louis Cemetery. Here is a video of a ceremony that occurs often among Voodoo practitioners. 

                                                             

You cannot write about non-Catholics writing about the importance of the Catholic background brought by the Europeans during colonization. Creoles are, like most southern Louisianans, predominantly Catholic. Southern Louisiana has the largest per capital Black Catholic population in the country. Historically, the Creole churches and parishes, especially those in rural areas and some poorer urban neighborhoods, have been viewed by the church as missionary districts. Beyond the official dogma and structures of the Catholic Church, a wide range of folk religious practices has flourished, drawing upon African influences, medieval Catholicism, African-American belief and ritual systems, and Native American medicinal and belief systems. Home altars with saints, statues, and holy water are widely used. Houses are trimmed with blessed palms or magnolias in the form of crosses over the doors. Creole Louisiana is probably best known for its association with voodoo ( voudun in Haiti) as an Afro-Catholic set of religious practices. Unlike Haiti, Louisiana Black Catholics have remained more connected to official church practices; thus African retentions are less marked. Still, within the context of the United States, Southern Louisiana Catholicism is unique. The practices of healers, spiritualists, and voodoo specialists who utilize an eclectic mix of prayers, candles, special saints, and charms for good or ill is carried on in settings that range from grossly commercial to private within neighborhoods and Communities. Probably the strongest carrier of African-based religious tradition in both Creole and non-Creole Black communities in New Orleans are the spiritual churches. These locally based institutions emphasize spirit possession and ecstatic behavior as part of their service, and unlike such churches elsewhere, they utilize a wide range of Catholic saints and syncretic altars for power figures like Martin Luther King, Jr., St. Michael the Archangel, and Chief Blackhawk. In rural areas, the new charismatic Catholicism has also been influential.

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Work Cited

"Religion and Expressive Culture." Every Culture. Advameg, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2015. <http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Black-Creoles-of-Louisiana-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html#ixzz3u80rXD1T>.