DESCENDANTS OF EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL AS PARTICIPANTSAND HEADS OF AFRO-BRAZILIAN RELIGIOUS CENTERS

This article is about a unique case of assimilation: the entry of desc endants of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century European immigrants to southern Brazil into Afro-Brazilian religious groups, some as head s of their own centres. The discussion is placed within the framework of the contemporary multiculturalist debate over assimilation. The emi gration of Europeans to rural southern Brazil is summarized. African s laves are shown to have been established - with their syncretized Afro -Catholic religions - in the incipient urban centres. The transformati on of Brazilian society in the second half of the twentieth century is examined focusing on 1) the massive growth of the population and 2) i ts urbanization. The difficulties faced by the migrants to the cities and their descendants is discussed. Umbanda, a secondary religious syn cretism of the Afro-Catholic tradition with European Spiritism, is sho wn to provide help to those in need as it competes with Catholicism an d other religions for converts. Large numbers of Brazilians have conve rted to Umbanda, with some of them later turning to the more 'African' Candomble, Batuque, etc. Cases of European immigrants who joined Umba nda and Batuque centres in Porto Alegre are presented.