| The constitution of Venezuela guarantees freedom
of religion. More than 90% of Venezuelans are Roman Catholic and the Catholic
church has considerable influence and political power. The Catholic faith
was introduced to Venezuela by Spanish missionaries in the colonial period.
As the indigenous groups converted to Catholicism, many Catholic rituals
and festivals were influenced by traditional religions.
Most towns and communities in Venezuela have a
patron saint. The saint's day will be celebrated in the community with
a large fiesta. The patron saint of Venezuela is the Virgin of Coromoto.
A vision of the Virgin Mary appeared to an indigenous chieftain called
Coromoto in 1651. She left behind her image on a stone. The faded image
can still be seen in the huge Basilica de la Virgén de Coromoto
in Guanare, a town in the Llanos region. |
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| Some Venezuelans venerate María Lionza.
According to legend, she was the daughter of a Spanish conquistador and
a princess from one of the indigenous tribes. She is sometimes portrayed
as a beautiful woman riding an animal called a tapir, sometimes as a young
girl wearing a crown. Her followers claim that she can heal people and
perform miracles. She is also believed to protect animals and the natural
environment. Every year many Venezuelans make a pilgrimage to her shrine,
Montanas de Sorte de María Lionza, in the state of Yaracuy,
especially on Día de la raza (Race Day) in October. |
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Many of the surviving indigenous religions in
Venezuela are based on the belief that natural objects have spirits or
souls. For example, the Yanomami people believe that there are spirits
in the forest, or hekuri. These religions stress the importance
of living in harmony with nature. Witchcraft (brujería) and
belief in the powers of indigenous healers called curanderos are
also important aspects of Venezuelan spirituality.
| The
Venezuelan government created a park in honour of María Lionza in
1960. This park covers almost 10,000 hectares, much of it virgin forest. |
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