Religion

Nearly 90% of the Cape Verdean population is Catholic, 8% is Protestant, and there are still small religious communities.
The masses are held in churches.

On the island of Santiago, the Rabelados are a sect that broke apart from the rest of the society back in the 1940’s. At this time, the Catholic church sent a few priests to the island to take over the religious teachings, thus introducing some changes on the way masses were held and on the religious customs of the people.
A few groups of people did not agree with these changes, so they chose to keep practicing their religion as they had done until then, only this time they did so in secrecy. These groups were then ridiculed by society and some were actually prosecuted and relocated to other islands.

Forced to create small cohesive communities, these groups sought refuge on the countryside of Santiago Island, primarily in the inaccessible mountain areas around Tarrafal and Santa Cruz. Still existing until today, these communities traditionally live in bamboo huts, usually in the home of the family of the head of the community.

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