Remembering Christ's death or the promise of salvation: Reinterpreting communion in Southern Tanzania

The present article explores the apparent universality of Christian symbols with reference to the ritual of communion in part of Catholic Southern Tanzania. Despite the significance of ideologies of salvation in both Christian doctrine and social theory, many popular interpretations of core Christian rituals in Africa and elsewhere emphasise the remembrance of Christ rather than his resurrection. Theories of Christianity as a universal religion may have overplayed the extent to which Christian symbols are universally interpreted.