Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On February 7, 2002, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch featured an article on "Voodoo -- or Vodou as scholars and practitioners prefer... 'Vodou may be the most misunderstood and maligned religion in the world,' said Terry Rey, an assistant professor of religion studies at Florida International University in Miami. 'Its similarities and ties with Christianity and, especially, Catholicism are abundant'... Rey says is practiced by roughly 250,000 people in the United States and 80 million worldwide... Vodou originated in central and western Africa but was shaped by the slave trade to Haiti and the Caribbean in the 1600s and 1700s... Many scholars ignore the fact that many people in the Congo had already converted to Catholicism before they were taken in the slave trade to Haiti... Pentecostal Protestantism and charismatic Catholicism have become very popular in Caribbean and South American countries, Rey said... 'The whole notion of being possessed by a spirit, whether it be a Vodou spirit or the Holy Spirit, is something these people are very comfortable with,' he said... Miami is the center for Haitian refugees in the United States, and many still practice a Haitian form of Vodou, Rey said... Miami also is home to many Cubans who practice Santeria, also known as Lukumi, a similar religious practice, he said. The main difference between the two religions is that Santeria has far fewer spirits, which are called saints, and spirit possession is not a major part of the practice... Even in this conservative Midwestern city [of St. Louis], voodoo has its followers. Papa Legba, owner of a spiritual-supply store at 4535 Gravois Avenue in St. Louis, said he has about 200 regular customers. Legba... has been practicing voodoo since 1973 and has owned his store for eight years."