Paper short abstract:

The paper examines the church festivals of the Latin Catholics of Kerala/South India within the framework of ritual theory. It focuses on changes which occur when formally orally transmitted ritual knowledge is no longer passed on from generation to generation.

Paper long abstract:

The church festivals, dedicated to different saints and organised by their respective brotherhoods, are the most elaborate religious rituals among the Latin Catholics of coastal Kerala. They are characterised by a highly complex system of redistribution of rights and honours, which amply shows the hierarchical ordering of members of the brotherhoods as well as the Latin Catholic community as a whole.

Written statutes of the brotherhood are said to exist, but play no role in ritual practice. The knowledge about the redistributive process, the responsibilities and honours, is handed down orally from generation to generation. However, fewer and fewer people today seem to be familiar with the details of the ritual.

The paper examines the Latin Catholic church festivals within the framework of ritual theory, thereby focusing on changes which occur in ritual practice when formally orally transmitted ritual knowledge - understood as 'text' - is no longer passed on.