A Colombian mother holds her baby boy, having a tumor in his chest, during the religious healing ritual performed at a house church in Bogota, Colombia, 28 January 2013. Hundreds of Christian belivers, joined in nameless groups, gather every week in unmarked home churches dispersed in the city outskirts, to carry out prayers of liberation and exorcism. Community members and their religious activities are usually conducted by a charismatic pastor or preacher. Using either non-contactive...
more »

A Colombian mother holds her baby boy, having a tumor in his chest, during the religious healing ritual performed at a house church in Bogota, Colombia, 28 January 2013. Hundreds of Christian belivers, joined in nameless groups, gather every week in unmarked home churches dispersed in the city outskirts, to carry out prayers of liberation and exorcism. Community members and their religious activities are usually conducted by a charismatic pastor or preacher. Using either non-contactive methods (reading religous formulas from bible, displaying Christian symbols and icons) or rough body-pressure-points techniques and forced burping, a leading pastor commands the supposed evil spirit, which is generally believed to come from witchcraft, to depart a person’s mind and body. The demon’s expulsion often consists of multiple rites and may last for several months.
« less