Culture and Religion: A study on the Feasts of August according to Catholic Official

Abstract

The work analyzes the perception of official Catholic leaders who work in Montes Claros - MG, concerning the contemporary dynamics of August festivals happening in the city. These festivities are practices linked to the Catholic Church and the black brotherhoods, in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, St. Benedict and the Holy Spirit. Last for over 170 years and are considered regional cultural heritage. However, they experienced remarkable changes, the increasing incorporation of religious extra elements, setting up today as a culturally hybrid phenomenon. The importance of Catholicism in the structuring of Brazilian culture, this study is justified by trying to understand how the Church deals today with the religious traditions in order to position themselves in the contemporary world: reaffirming them, reinventing them, striving to change their original symbolic contents, adapting them to new times and places, and, at the same time, rejecting them together with certain elements and cultural trends. The research analyzed the religious festivals of Montes Claros as an exemplary phenomenon of the foregoing issues, able to present important concepts for socio-cultural analysis. He sought to build notes that contribute to the enrichment of the analysis of the Catholic religion in contemporary society, to record aspects of the dynamics of the parties concerned as well as to reflect on the current direction of a syncretic and lasting religious tradition.