Source: The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40058-2004Dec31.html
On January 1, 2005 The Washington Post reported, "Candomble, a religion once banned in Brazil, [is] now emerging into public acceptance while overcoming fierce and even violent competition. Brought to Brazil by African slaves, religions such as Candomble, Tambor de Mina, Batuque and Umbanda long had to be practiced in secret. The deities were disguised as Catholic saints -- the sea goddess Iemanja, for instance, became the Virgin Mary. But even after slavery was abolished in 1888, Candomble was still considered backward, if not blasphemous -- the province of the poor and dispossessed. Now Afro-Brazilian religions are flourishing throughout Brazil, even among the middle class."