"Por enquanto deixemos o povo em sua boa fé": os missionários redentoristas e o catolicismo popular na devoção ao Divino Pai Eterno em Trindade/GO, do final do século XIX ao início do século XXI

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the process of the appropriation of the Feast of the Divine Eternal Father in Trindade, Goiás, by the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, focusing on the shift from lay Catholic brotherhoods to a Romanized regime of worship and administration that began in 1894. Our guiding question is: how did the Redemptorist Congregation's process of appropriation and intervention affect the popular Catholicism of the Feast of the Divine Eternal Father in Trindade? The time frame begins at the end of the 19th century with the arrival of the Redemptorists when they took over the administration of the sanctuary, and extends to the beginning of the 21st century, a period in which the Congregation had already consolidated its Romanization project in Trindade, with particular emphasis on the work of missionaries such as Gebardo Wiggermann, Francisco Wand and Pelágio Sauter, as well as other members of the congregation. The overall objective is to understand how the Redemptorist Congregation's process of appropriation and intervention impacted popular Catholicism in the context of the Feast of the Divine Eternal Father in Trindade. This is broken down into three specific goals: (a) to examine the Redemptorists' role in implementing the Roman Catholic Apostolic model at the expense of lay administration; (b) to analyze the dynamics of local cultural and religious transformation; and (c) to discuss the consolidation of this new perspective and the meanings attached to it by the faithful. The primary source corpus includes the missionaries' personal letters, Catholic and secular newspaper editions, and public archives from Trindade. The study, therefore, combines documentary and historiographical analysis to reconstruct the practices, norms, and management disputes of the feast, as well as the specific actions of the missionaries. The research maps out conflicts between ecclesiastical agents and local elites, including the confrontation with Colonel Anacleto Gonçalves and the administrative reorganization of the pilgrimage. This highlights mechanisms of control, resistance, and negotiation. It also examines the tension between liturgical standardization and popular religious practices, identifying selective accommodations that ensured the continued adherence and continuity of the cult. The dissertation is structured as follows: (1) the historicization of the devotion and the Redemptorist missionary field; (2) conflicts, difficulties, and institutional arrangements; and (3) popular religiosity and pastoral mediations (including ex-votos). The result is a historical interpretation of how the Church redefined the feast, reorganized its finances and rituals, and stabilized a new form of devotional participation without completely suppressing local practices.