Our world in photos: September 16

RIO DE JANEIRO — A peaceful, joyous way to combat intolerance: Faithful from various religions participate in the Defense of Religious Freedom march at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. The march, now in its 17th consecutive year, seeks to bring attention to religious intolerance, which has doubled in Brazil over the past six years. Hundreds of men, women and children from more than a dozen faiths, many of them practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions, participated in the event. Brazil’s recently appointed Minister for Human Rights, Macaé Evaristo, also joined the march. Members of Christian groups, particularly evangelical and neo-Pentecostals, have allegedly launched attacks — including destruction of worship space and expulsion from their homes — against people who practice the more indigenous Afro-Brazilian traditions. Many of the targeted groups believe that the motives for these attacks are more about their race than their beliefs.

“Everything that comes from Black people, everything that comes from people of African origin is devalued; if we are not firm in our faith, we will lose strength,” Vania Vieira, a practitioner of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé, told the National Catholic Reporter.