FROM A CONSERVATIVE MATRIX TO A PROGRESSIVE ATTITUDE: SOCIAL CATHOLICISM IN RIO GRANDE DO SUL (RS) - BRAZIL

Abstract

In the year 1912 it was celebrated the centenary of the Volksverein (Sociedade União Popular), currently known as Associação Theodor Amstad. Founded by inspiration of Jesuit priests, the association aimed at congregating Catholics of German descent in RS, thus promoting social Catholicism. The organization of cooperatives is one of the main legacies of the Volksverein. The objective of this paper is to analyze the origins of the Sociedade União Popular in the State, whose organization was inspired in a similar one already existing in Germany. Being originally conservative or even reactionary, in Rio Grande do Sul the social Catholicism took on a progressive air, thus contributing for the development of vast colonial regions.

Keywords

• Catolicismo social, cooperativismo, desenvolvimento regional, colonização alemã.