Como se fabrica um herói católico para a educação: um estudo prosopográfico da Ação Social Brasileira e da Associação dos Antigos Alunos da Companhia de Jesus (1930 - 1934)

Abstract

This research investigates the political and ideological appropriations made around the image of the Companhia de Jesus and its martyr José de Anchieta (1534-1597) in the early 1930s of the twentieth century. In this sense, it discusses Jesuitism and its antithesis, anti-Jesuitism, phenomena prevalent in that same historical period. The objective is to analyze some fundamental moments of the process of positive mythification of the Companhia de Jesus, as a model of educational Order, and of the heroification of Anchieta, as master and teacher, carried out by members of the Catholic societies Ação Social Brasileira (ASB) and Associação dos Antigos Alunos da Companhia de Jesus (AAACJ), which will be done through a prosopographic approach that allows the capture of individual and collective experiences that contributed to this consecration. The work identifies not only the actors but also the strategies used by them to build and legitimize the Companhia de Jesus as an exemplary archetype of an educating missionary congregation and, at the same time, of Anchieta as a national symbol identified with the precepts of Christian education and, for that, sought to investigate the different moments in which his mythological figures were imbued with meanings. The justification for the proposed periodization was based on the fact that it was at this stage that the group above published their ideas, disseminated their projects, and worked in organizations linked to education and culture in general. Based on the theoretical-analytical references suggested by A. Gramsci, J. F. Sirinelli, B. Baczo, R. Girardet, M. Eliade, P. Ansart, and C. Ginzburg, the investigation aimed to understand the close relationship between religion, myth, intellectuals, symbols and political ideology. As for the sources, those available in the archives of Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa (FCRB), Centro Alceu Amoroso Lima pela Liberdade (CAALL), and Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) were used for the research. In the periodical press, the performance of the ASB group, the AAACJ, and their collaborators in newspapers and magazines were analyzed. The results of the work indicate that the Brazilian Catholic body moved from one extreme to another in the relationship between religion and politics in the period studied, and that, under the leadership of 127 intellectuals, it bet on the realization of political mythologies to build a militarized catholic identity of politicalJesuit ethos capable of guiding and centralizing its actions for the organization of the entire institution