The role of the Capuchin Congregation in the formation of regional middle classes and elites

Abstract This article discusses the impact of the Capuchin Missionary Sisters educational work on Brazilian middle classes and elites, inscribing this congregation in a larger history, which articulates religious, political and educational matters in the missionary and socio-educational context of the state of Maranhão, in the northeastern region of Brazil, where these women were widely settled. Courageous and skilled, they arrived in a rudimentary mission field and, perhaps for this reason, they had to devote themselves to the formal education of middle classes and regional elites in order to fill regional educational gaps and, at the same time, to constitute the financial and patrimonial capital that would allow them to support the congregation.

摘要 本文探讨了嘉布遣传教修女会（Capuchin Missionary Sisters）的教育工作对巴西中产阶级与精英阶层的影响，并将该修会置于更宏大的历史脉络中进行考察：该脉络将巴西东北部马拉尼昂州（Maranhão）传教与社会教育语境下的宗教、政治与教育议题加以联结，而这批修女正是在该州实现了广泛扎根。勇敢且干练的修女们初抵之时，传教场域尚处于简陋未兴的状态，或许正因如此，她们不得不致力于为中产阶级与地区精英群体提供正规教育，以填补区域教育的空白，同时积累可供修会存续的财务与资产资本。