The Place of Popular Religion in the System of Worship among the Creoles of Mauritius
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Date
2000-02
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
It is quite evident that popular religion or belief holds an important place in the life of any
Mauritian or in the texture of the Mauritian society. Why do Mauritians think that popular religion
is an answer to the ultimate problem of life? Religion plays an important role in shaping the
character of a person within the milieu of the multi-racial and pluri-cultural set up of the Mauritian
society. As regards the religious worldview, Mauritius offers a diversity of belief systems which is
a mosaic made up of Muslim, Christian and Hindu faiths. Harmony and crossbreeding are two
characteristics of religion in Mauritius.
Indeed, we have to talk about popular religion, for it is an ubiquitous reality among the Mauritians.
No one can bypass this reality, neither the Catholic Church, nor the other churches. The main
questions in this essay are: should the Church support popular religious beliefs and superstitions
and make tolerate what represents the display of popular sentiment? Or should she refuse to
recognise the basic inadequacy of such beliefs and offerings? How can the church inculturate the
good news of Jesus Christ who alone can provide genuine comfort, assurance and hope in such a
context? The other questions that form the main focus of to this paper are as follows: Why do
baptised Catholics, particularly the Creoles, who have received proper catechesis, take recourse to
popular religion when faced with a problem that goes beyond their control? What makes the
Creoles unsatisfied with the established institutional religion, namely, the Christian faith?
Nothing has been said or written in an official way before about this, but for a very good reason,
the Diocese of Port-Louis in Mauritius in 1993 conducted an anthropological study of the religious attitudes of Catholics among the Creole community.' The fundamental intention of this
anthropological research by the diocese is expressed by the Bishop of Port-Louis, "...first to have
a deep and better understanding of popular religion as it presents itself among the Creoles in
Mauritius so as to give a basic meaning of pastoral initiation of adults into their Christian faith. It
is also to understand better the popular milieu in order to love them, and to be able to
communicate to them. -2
For those born in a `Creole' family, daily life is coloured by all kinds of beliefs, superstitions,
rituals and practices. Features of popular religion include a pattern of the belief in and practice of
magic and superstitions. These things are very often mixed with the Catholic faith.
This paper strives to provide a reflection on religion among the popular Creole masses through an
analysis of what has already been done by some researchers. To situate popular religion in its real
cultural context, the perspective taken here is mainly from the author's own experience as member
of the Creole community. In this paper, we will give a brief overview of the formation of the
population of Mauritius with regard to its genesis as well as the existing religious environment,
which has shaped the beliefs and practices of the Creoles. Then, we shall attempt to define popular
religion and to show how it presents itself in the Creole socio-cultural context, and how people of
this community consider it to be a response to their quest for happiness, as well as for a successful life. We shall give a brief introduction to religion, including rites or rituals, and finally give an
account of the different practices that prevail in this community. After that, we will conclude by
presenting the pastoral approach to this phenomenon, examine what ought to be the response of
the Church and finally we shall provide a concluding reflection.
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Keywords
Religion, Worship, Social cultural