Rabelados
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Rabelados (from the Portuguese rebelados, "rebels") are a religious community primarily found in the interior of the island of Santiago of Cape Verde. They were among the groups which revolted against the liturgical reforms of the Catholic Church introduced in the 1940s, isolating themselves from the rest of society.
In the 1940s the Catholic Church sent various priests to Cape Verde to replace local priests and introduce alterations in the celebrations of the Mass and other religious customs, particularly religious education.
Some groups amongst the population rebelled against these alterations. Known in the Cape Verdean Creole language as rabelados ("rebels"), they came to practice their earlier traditions in secrecy.
Forced to form cohesive groups in order to survive, the Rabelados community primarily took refuge in the interior of Santiago, in inaccessible mountainous areas, primarily around the municipalities of Tarrafal and Santa Cruz. In those semi-clandestine, isolated conditions, they preserved their religious and cultural traditions, and independence, in the face of the Catholic hierarchy and political powers.
