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WORLD ANTHROPOLOGICAL UNION

CONGRESS 2024​

Paper

Shaping Amazonian Catholicism: aesthetics and ecological imaginations

presenters

    Adriano Godoy

    Nationality: Brazil

    Residence: Brazil

    Brazilian Centre of Analysis and Planning

    Presence:Face to Face/ On Site

Keywords:

Temples; Catholicism; Brazil; Amazon; Ecology

Abstract:

In this presentation, I will draw upon ongoing field research, particularly between the Southeast and North of Brazil, to explore how ecological issues have been imagined contemporarily among Catholics. Since the release of the encyclical 'Laudato Si', the concept of 'integral ecology' has become a fundamental category in Pope Francis's pontificate. In this movement, the Pan-Amazon Synod highlighted how the Amazon biome has become the showcase and laboratory for this new global political-religious endeavour. Indeed, the Vatican has continuously announced new initiatives and ecclesial guidelines regarding the socio-environmental agenda. Thus, my aim will be to explore the ways in which Catholic ecology has shaped new aesthetic references and what this movement would indicate about the political-religious action of the Catholic Church concerning the socio-environmental agenda in Brazil. More precisely, my interest lies in the approach to constructions and renovations of churches where the 'Amazonia' has become the primary aesthetic reference.