HEALTH, SYMBOLISM AND FAITH: reflections on the brazilian pentecostal liturgy in pandemic times

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought deep marks to the Brazilian population. Faced with this reality, scholars from the most diverse areas seek to understand how society was affected by the circulation of the new coronavirus. Although, at first, the possibility of an almost zero impact in Brazil was raised, an idea anchored in a possible difficulty of the coronavirus in spreading in a tropical climate, the reality proved to be different, since, at the end of February 2020, the virus was detected in the country and from then on, several damages were caused by it. This article aims to analyze how the COVID-19 pandemic changed the basis of Brazilian Pentecostal worship, in particular, how the structural elements of this rite needed to be rethought so that churches could adapt to the new realities of society in the face of imminent challenges. of public health. In this perspective, we sought to investigate the symbolic elements of the Pentecostal liturgy, from the perspective of Bourdieu. Finally, it was possible to understand that Pentecostalism as a religious segment values the interaction of the faithful with the sacred, which can facilitate the adaptation of this doctrine in the most adverse situations.