A Igreja Católica na Paraíba republicana: romanização e “males” a serem combatidos.

Abstract

The Republican Constitution established the secular state in Brazil and put the ancient power of the Catholic Church in an awkward situation, since it lost its position as the official religion, and its network of action and influence in society diminished. So to deal with this political situation and ensure its institutional survival, the Church sought to reinforce the Romanization process of Brazilian society, using, for both, strategies in the infield (congresses, opening and reform of seminaries, religious coming from Europe and pastoral unity of the bishops), and the external (public communications through pastoral letters and the press, pastoral visits, conferences and liturgies), which produced its reorganization in the period from 1889 to 1930. The objective of this paper is to analyze some of these strategies.