The desafios para a universalização da Congregação da Missão no superiorato do pe. Jean-Baptiste Étienne (1843-1874)

Abstract

This article aims to present some reflections that help deepen research on the transnational and universalization aspects of the Congregation of the Mission, a Catholic religious institute of male apostolic life. We seek to reflect on the efforts of this congregation to overcome internal tensions of the institution and those regarding centralizing and expansionist tendencies between the local and the universal context. We analyzed how these priests acted in the process of Catholic evangelization through missions during the administration of Superior General Jean-Baptiste Étienne (1801-1874). For this we divided the text in two parts. In the first, it is briefly presented the historical course of this Catholic institution, with its normative and formulation of a missionary model or culture. In the second part, some aspects of the reform carried out by Étienne are analyzed, paying special attention to the expansion of the congregation around the world, the hierarchy, the discipline and the informative instruments. We will conclude by analyzing two practical cases of the Lazarist missions in Ceará, province of the Empire of Brazil, in which we will seek to understand the process of relaxation of the central rules and guidelines, as well as the consequences of disobedience to them.