FILE PHOTO: Members of Venezuelan brotherhood "Dancing Devils" dance during their annual Corpus Christi celebration with a call for the end of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Naiguata, Venezuela June 3, 2021. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo
NAIGUATA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Members of a Venezuela ceremonial brotherhood known as the Dancing Devils on Thursday held their annual Corpus Christi celebration by calling for the end of COVID-19 pandemic in the country and the world.
Groups of adult men and youth in towns along Venezuela's central coast have since the 1700s dressed as masked devils who hold a ritual in which they surrender to God as part of a symbolic victory of good over evil. The celebration of the Roman Catholic holiday mixes indigenous, African and Spanish traditions, according to the cultural ministry.
