| The Pentecostal movement has had an explosive growth in Latin America and the Caribbean prompting many social scientists to research the movement in an attempt to understand its attraction to so many people. In this dissertation I explore the question of why this movement is so popular and attractive to Caribbean people in particular Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and the diaspora. In my attempt to address this inquiry I explore how the religious practices of Puerto Rican Pentecostal worship communities in the diaspora are informed by their Puerto Rican African religious and cultural heritage in subtle but significant ways. Some of the religious practices and beliefs that are elaborated in this regard are divination, healing, spirit possession, oral tradition and culturally specific sacred music.; Through participant observation and interviews with Puerto Rican Pentecostal practitioners in many churches as well as through theoretical analysis, I conclude that the Pentecostal movement has many practices that have an affinity with the Afro-Caribbean religious heritage of Puerto Ricans. This reality has lead me to the conclusion that this movement has become very attractive to Puerto Ricans because it offers a religious space in which their cultural and religious heritage can flourish and where it finds a channel of expression. |
