Catholic congregations and education: the case of the Holy Family of Bordeaux

Abstract

This article proposes a discussion about the arrival in Brazil of a great amount of feminine religious congregations whose mission was linked to education. It shows particularly the case of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Bordeaux. Trying to understand their itinerary from the beginning (their arrival in 1908) until the foundation of a school (1953) and comparing it with other cases already studied in the bibliography, it analyzes both the circumstances of the sisters’ on set in Brazil and their accomplishments in the country. The sources that I present here permit the reader to observe the choices and the strategies employed by the sisters in the development of their activities in this country.

Keywords

• Congregações Católicas
• Colégios Católicos
• Igreja e Educação
• Mulheres Religiosas