In the south of Mozambique each time there are more and more "maziones". They follow the church of Sião which mixes christianity with the african aninistic faiths.

On Saturdays and Wednesdays the faithful "maziones" leave their quarters in the area of Maputo heading to the holy sea waters in order to practice their worships.
They expect to find a liberating power in the waters of the Indian Ocean, like the great God of the Universe, personified as Jesus Christ. While bathing in those waters they expect to get purified and to send the evil spirits away.

The "mazione" cult arrived from South Africa some fifty years ago, from the poor quarters of Johannesburg. Every year during Easter time hundred thousand people come to Moria’s main temple. This year several members of the South African Government were present, including President Nelson Mandela.

The church of Sião appeared for the first time in Johannesburg in 1904 with the american negro Daniel Bryant and soon had followers.

In the 50’s this fact did not go unnoticed to the Portuguese authorities, which then showed some concern with the exacerbated africanism of the syncretical churches.
Today, worship places arise in every hovel in slums, and neither white priests nor anybody that might relate to the European oppressor are allowed to go in.

A coverage made by Fernando Magalhães - RTP’s correspondent in Mozambique.

(Source: RTC)