A Glória desta santa é uma glória milagrosa: a Romaria do Engenho Velho e a romanização em Bonfim – Goiás

Abstract

This dissertation presents an analysis of Marian apparitions around the world, seeking to understand the social and symbolic processes that sustain the formation of collective convictions surrounding these events, which invariably begin with personal testimonies of visions of the Virgin. The research is based on a case study of the apparitions of Our Lady of the Conception (the “Saint of Bonfim”) in Engenho Velho, a region of the former city of Bonfim—currently Silvânia, in the state of Goiás, Brazil—occurring between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which gave rise to a local pilgrimage. The study discusses the intervention of the Catholic Church and the Diocese of Goiás in this pilgrimage, revealing the tensions and conflicts between popular Catholicism and official Catholicism, especially the mechanisms of control employed by the Portuguese Redemptorist priest Salomão Pinto Vieira, and the resilience of the parish laity. The aim is to understand the factors that led to the silencing of what was once one of the major pilgrimages in Goiás, even though the region continues to nurture popular religiosity through other celebrations typical of the Catholic tradition. The research involved literature review, documentary analysis, and participant observation, under the theoretical frameworks of Cultural History, Sociology, and Cultural Geography. Through a historical, religious, and social analysis, the dissertation seeks to understand the practices of rustic Catholicism and the mechanisms of institutional control articulated by the Church in Goiás, particularly in Bonfim. Based on the mapping, cataloging, and collection of data, the study was organized around themes such as popular devotion, institutional repression, and the survival and resilience of religious manifestations in Brazil