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“God for us!”: Catholic festivals and rites in times of epidemics, Salvador-BA, Brasil, 1918-1919

Abstract

This article analyzes the reactions of Catholics linked to lay associations in the city of Salvador, in the period of the Spanish flu (1918) and smallpox (1919). Newspapers were the main sources used to identify the festivals and rites, both those practiced to ask for the intercession of the saints, and those that were suspended due to the need for social isolation. In spite of both diseases being transmissible and the short interval between the two epidemics, the analysis of the sources showed different reactions from the faithful regarding the measures of protection and the search for a cure.

Keywords
Spanish flu; Smallpox; Catholicism; Lay associations; Salvador (Bahia

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