Despite rainy weather, Catholics in a Paraguayan town dress as birds to honor their patron saint

EMBOSCADA, Paraguay (AP) — The rainy weather did not prevent Blanca Servín from dressing her 7-year-old son like a bird. They joined a procession honoring St. Francis Solanus, the patron saint of a town in Paraguay about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the capital city of Asunción.

Like her child, dozens of Catholics in Emboscada wear elaborate feathered garments each July 24. Dressing up is a ritual aimed at fulfilling promises made to the Spanish friar, who was a missionary in South America during the 16th century and is believed to grant miracles.

“I couldn’t have children,” Servín said. “I underwent several treatments and when I finally got pregnant and my child was born, the doctors said he would barely live for a few days.”

She then prayed to St. Francis Solanus and made a promise many parishioners make: If you do this for me, I will honor you on your feast day for seven years.

“My son is almost 7, and I have kept my promise,” Servín said. “But we will keep coming.”

Participants dressing up in feather garments are known as “promisers.” As part of the rituals, they cover their faces, imitate birds and distort their voices when speaking.

Marcos Villalba said he spent three months crafting his costume. He worked on it every other day and said his father and brothers have also been long-time promisers.

Sulma Villalba — not related to Marcos — devoted six months to the task. Rather than wearing a costume herself, she patiently glued hundreds feathers to her children’s and husband’s clothing. Like Servín, she has already fulfilled the promise she made to St. Francis to protect her family, but she said they still honor him because it has become a tradition they enjoy.

According to Ireneo López, a layperson in charge of recreational activities at the Emboscada parish, St. Francis is remembered as a missionary who evangelized the Indigenous people through music. The first church in his honor was erected in the 1930s. As parishioners increased, a new building was built later.

López said that participants use up to 30 hens, guinea fowls and geese to craft their costumes.

“These garments represent what people used to wear in ancient times,” he added. “Gala suits were made with what nature provided: birds.”

Jessica López, who attended the festival with her two children and a niece, said she gathered feathers for months. Before crafting the costumes a week ago, her family enjoyed a banquet with a hen they specifically picked for the occasion.

She, too, asked St. Francis for good health, but said parishioners request all sorts of miracles. About 2,500 area residents join the feast every year.

Processions and dances honoring St. Francis start on July 22. The night before the feast day, a local family takes home a wooden figure depicting the friar in order to decorate it for the festivities.

On July 24, promisers and parishioners attend Mass at the St. Francis chapel, then lead a procession and end up dancing in front of the church.

According to historian Ana Barreto, the ancient context of the feast is as fascinating as the feast itself. It is celebrated in a territory that was disputed by two Indigenous people — the Guaraní and the Chacoan — before the Spaniards came in the 16th century.

The Europeans eventually subdued the Guaraní, but the Chacoan kept defending the land even after descendants of formerly enslaved people from Africa settled there.

“The Indigenous people sought to steal young women, take weapons and other valuable objects, and set the ranches on fire,” Barreto said.

Not all current participants in the St. Francis feast are aware of this, but their costumes and celebrations are a remembrance of this historic episode.

According to Barreto, the Guaraní name of the event, “Guaykurú Ñemondé,” translates as “dressing like a barbarian.” Thus Guaraní participants are dressing as their ancestral enemies.

The reason might be hidden in an ancient Guaraní rite. After battling the Chacoan, the Guaraní people kept their prisoners alive. They provided them with food and energizing drinks, and encouraged them to have sex with their women. Afterwards, they killed the prisoners and cooked them, serving them as a meal at a community banquet.

“In this way, the enemy strengthened the Guaraní,” Barreto said.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

An altar server receives communion during a Mass celebrating Saint Francisco Solano, in Emboscada, Paraguay, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Hundreds of Catholic parishioners in Paraguay don bird-like costumes and parade down the streets to honor the 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Children dressed in feather costumes attend a Mass celebrating Saint Francisco Solano, in Emboscada, Paraguay, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Hundreds of Catholic parishioners in Paraguay don bird-like costumes and parade down the streets to honor the 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

A musician plays an accordion during a Mass celebrating Saint Francisco Solano, in Emboscada, Paraguay, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Hundreds of Catholic parishioners in Paraguay don bird-like costumes and parade down the streets to honor the 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

A child dressed in a feather costume plays a drum after attending a Mass celebrating Saint Francisco Solano, in Emboscada, Paraguay, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Hundreds of Catholic parishioners in Paraguay don bird-like costumes and parade down the streets to honor the 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Priest Modesto Martinez joins in a procession after leading a Mass celebrating Saint Francisco Solano, in Emboscada, Paraguay, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Hundreds of Catholic parishioners in Paraguay don bird-like costumes and parade down the streets to honor the 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Lucas Darrel poses for a photo in his feather costume during a Mass celebrating Saint Francisco Solano, in Emboscada, Paraguay, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Hundreds of Catholic parishioners in Paraguay don bird-like costumes and parade down the streets to honor the 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Faithful attend a Mass celebrating Saint Francisco Solano, in Emboscada, Paraguay, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Hundreds of Catholic parishioners in Paraguay don bird-like costumes and parade down the streets to honor the 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

A man touches a statue of San Francisco Solano after attending a Mass celebrating Saint Francisco Solano, in Emboscada, Paraguay, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Hundreds of Catholic parishioners in Paraguay don bird-like costumes and parade down the streets to honor the 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

A parishioner dressed in a feather costume and a riot police mask poses for a photo during a Mass celebrating Saint Francisco Solano, in Emboscada, Paraguay, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Hundreds of Catholic parishioners in Paraguay don bird-like costumes and parade down the streets to honor the 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Children dressed in feather costumes attend a Mass celebrating Saint Francisco Solano at his namesake chapel in Emboscada, Paraguay, Thursday, July 24, 2025. Catholic parishioners in Paraguay don bird-like costumes and parade the streets to honor the 16th century saint said to possess miraculous powers. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Vote counting was underway Friday in Uganda’s tense presidential election, which was held a day earlier amid an internet shutdown, voting delays and complaints by an opposition leader who said some of his polling agents had been detained by the authorities.

Opposition leader Bobi Wine said Thursday he was unable to leave his house and that his polling agents in rural areas were abducted before voting started, undermining his efforts to prevent electoral offenses such as ballot stuffing.

Wine is hoping to end President Yoweri Museveni's four-decade rule in an election during which the military was deployed and heavy security was posted outside his house near Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after the vote.

The musician-turned-politician wrote on X on Thursday that a senior party official in charge of the western region had been arrested, adding there was “massive ballot stuffing everywhere.”

Rural Uganda, especially the western part of the country, is a ruling-party stronghold, and the opposition would be disadvantaged by not having polling agents present during vote counting.

To try to improve his chances of winning, Wine had urged his supporters to “protect the vote” by having witnesses document alleged offenses at polling stations, in addition to deploying official polling agents.

Wine faced similar setbacks when he first ran for president five years ago. Museveni took 58% of the vote, while Wine got 35%, according to official results. Wine said at the time that the election had been rigged in favor of Museveni, who has spoken disparagingly of his rival.

Museveni, after voting on Thursday, said the opposition had infiltrated the 2021 election and defended the use of biometric machines as a way of securing the vote in this election.

Museveni has served the third-longest tenure of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military, which is led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station, during the presidential election, in the capital, Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Election officials count ballots after the polls closed for the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

An election official holds up unmarked ballots during the vote count after polls closed for the presidential election, at a polling center in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A political representative speaks as he works to observe and verify the counting of ballots after polls closed in the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A supporter of leading opposition candidate Bobi Wine cheers while watching election officials count ballots, after polls closed at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)