In 1889 Juazeiro was no more than a tiny hamlet. There was nothing unusual about its young priest, Padre Cícero Romão Batista, until a woman in Juazeiro claimed the wine he gave them at Communion had turned to blood in their mouths. At first it was only people from Crato who came, and they […]

The main centre of the deep sertão is 500km west of Campina Grande – actually in the south of Ceará state – where a series of hill ranges, higher ground blessed with regular rainfall, provides a welcome respite. Food crops can be grown here, and every available inch of land is used to grow […]