Burning of Judas

Burning of Judas

The Burning of Judas is an Easter-time ritual in many Orthodox and Catholic Christian communities, where an effigy of Judas Iscariot is burned. Anthropologists generalize these type of activities as "scapegoating rituals". A similar ritual would be the hanging or burning of Haman during Purim.

Though not an official part of the Easter liturgical cycle, the custom is typically a part of the reenactment of the story of the Passion that is practiced by the faithful during Easter. Customs vary, but the effigy of Judas is typically hanged (reenacting ) on Good Friday, then burned on the night of Easter Sunday.

The custom is also known in Spanish as "la quema del judio" ("the burning of the Jew").

Practice

The burning of Judas was once widely practiced across Europe, and is still practiced in parts of Greece [http://whatsonwhen.com/events/event.asp?/events/~11558.jml] , Mexico [http://zedilloworld.presidencia.gob.mx/PAGES/culture/note_semanasanta.html] , Brazil [ [http://www.novomilenio.inf.br/santos/h0116.htm Novo Milênio: Histórias e Lendas de Santos: Malhação do Judas. Quem lembra? ] ] , Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela and elsewhere.

Judas burnings also took place in the district of Dingle, in Liverpool, England in the early 20th Century [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2006/04/12/faith_judas_burning_feature.shtml BBC - Liverpool - Local History - Judas Burning ] ] , until it was banned by the authorities. The burning of Judas is not traditional to England, although a very similar custom of burning Catholic rebel Guy Fawkes in effigy exists.

Allegations of antisemitism

The practice was once incorrectly cited in the "United States State Department's Religious Freedom Report for Greece" as alleged evidence of antisemitism in Greece. The report incorrectly referred to the custom as the "burning of the Jew", whereas in Greece the term always used is "burning of Judas". In response, Archbishop Christodoulos, head of the Greek Orthodox Church, denied such allegations, stating that this practice refers to the image of "Judas the traitor" and not Jews in general [ [http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100023_10/01/2005_51560/ ekathimerini.com | Greece is not racist, says irked archbishop ] ] . This incorrect reference to the custom has since been removed from the State Department report.

References

External links

*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Judas Iscariot — Judas Iscariot, , , , ), implying that it was not Judas, but his father, who came from here. [Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony , Eerdmans (2006), page 106.] Some speculate that Kerioth refers to a… …   Wikipedia

  • Burning Angel — Burning Angel …   Википедия

  • Judas Priest — Retribution Tour 2007 Datos generales Origen Birmingham …   Wikipedia Español

  • Judas Priest — Judas Priest …   Википедия

  • Judas Machabeus — • Third son of the priest Mathathias who with his family was the centre and soul of the patriotic and religious revolt of the Jews against the King of Syria (I Mach., ii, 4) Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Judas Machabeus      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Burning Angel — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Burning Angel EP de Arch Enemy Publicación …   Wikipedia Español

  • Burning Point — Жанры пауэр метал[1] Годы 1999 наше время Страна …   Википедия

  • Burning Bridges (album) — Arch Enemy Arch Enemy Arch Enemy en concert Pays d’origine Suède Genre(s) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Judas Priest — Infobox musical artist | Name = Judas Priest Img capt = Judas Priest onstage in Moline, Illinois. Img size = 250 Landscape = Yes Background = group or band Origin = Birmingham, England Years active = 1970–present Label = Epic, Columbia, CMC, Koch …   Wikipedia

  • Burning Angel (EP) — Infobox Album | Name = Burning Angel (2002 EP) Type = EP Artist = Arch Enemy Released = March 6 2002 Recorded = Genre = Melodic death metal Length = 11:46 Label = Century Media Producer = Fredrik Nordström Last album = Wages of Sin (2001) This… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”