Jesa

Jesa is a ceremony commonly practiced in <a href="/facts/Korea/cj2kDBzc">Korea</a>. Jesa functions as a <a href="/facts/Ancestor_veneration/QVkBagnz">memorial</a> to the ancestors of the participants. Jesa are usually held on the anniversary of the ancestor's death. The majority of <a href="/facts/Catholic_Church_in_South_Korea/MV1jgG4c">Catholics</a>, <a href="/facts/Korean_Buddhism/9DesodUn">Buddhists</a> and <a href="/facts/Irreligion_in_South_Korea/b0QqYLh0">nonbelievers</a> practice ancestral rites, although <a href="/facts/National_Council_of_Churches_in_Korea/ULcso30h">Protestants</a> do not.
Since their origins, Jesa has taken on a certain formality as human civilization has developed, which is sometimes called rituals in <a href="/facts/Confucianism/Nlbwgmxw">Confucianism</a>.
The Catholic ban on ancestral rituals was lifted in 1939, when <a href="/facts/Pope_Pius_XII/k2XgCEy2">Pope Pius XII</a> formally recognized ancestral rites as a civil practice (see also <a href="/facts/Chinese_Rites_controversy/l5DwTWz6">Chinese Rites controversy</a>). Many Korean Christians, particularly <a href="/facts/Protestant/NXja4K3g">Protestants</a>, no longer practice this rite and avoid it both locally and <a href="/facts/Korean_diaspora/1BqHH2b3">overseas</a>.

Jesa open-in-new

Jesa