O rebanho de Pedro e os filhos de Lutero: o Pe. Júlio Maria De Lombaerde e a polêmica antiprotestante no Brasil (1928- 1944)

Abstract

In this research we analyze the antiprotestant polemic in Brazil, from the works published by Father Julio Maria De Lombaerde, whose activity in the city of Manhumirim, Minas Gerais, between 1928 and 1944, was highlighted by constant struggles with the sons of Luther . Through his writings, Father Julio Maria became nationally known as a polemist, receiving the title the hammer of Brazilian Protestantism . The antiprotestant polemic contributed to Roman Catholicism s doctrinal and social affirmation, in the context of the so-called movement of catholic restoration initiated in the 1920 s, aiming to rechristianize the nation. Understood as an exercise of representation, through the polemic against Protestantism, the Catholic Church constructed a meaning not only for its religious opponent, but for itself, affirming to be the holder of the only true and truly national faith. In the works of Father Julio Maria, in particular, Protestantism was represented through fear and mockery, having to be, at the same time, feared and despised. Based, on a great extent, on a discourse about the past, the antiprotestant polemic enters the field of historical culture, reproducing a historiography and configuring a territoriality both of representational order , aiming for the affirmation of Brazil as a catholic nation .