The Fabric of the Ordinary

The Council of Trent and the Governance of the Catholic Church in the Empire of Brazil (1840–1889)

Anna Clara Lehmann Martins

Global Perspectives on Legal History 23
Frankfurt am Main: Max-Planck-Institut für Rechtsgeschichte und Rechtstheorie 2024. XXIV, 511 S.
Online-Ausgabe: Open Access (PDF-Download, Lizenz: Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 International)
Druckausgabe: 33,06 € (Print on Demand bei ePubli)

ISSN 2196-9752
ISBN 978-3-944773-44-5
eISBN 978-3-944773-45-2

Zitatlink für die Online-Ausgabe: http://dx.doi.org/10.12946/gplh23

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Muito se escreveu sobre a tensão política entre ultramontanos e jurisdicionalistas liberais no Império do Brasil durante o reinado de D. Pedro II (1840-1889), tendo em vista o regime de padroado sui generis do país e, em particular, o escândalo da Questão Religiosa na década de 1870. Entre os lugares-comuns desta historiografia está a ideia de que o Concílio de Trento foi um conjunto normativo exclusivamente interpretado e implementado pelo clero e pelos ultramontanos, quando não uma imposição de Roma de cima para baixo e uma bandeira de luta contra as políticas liberais. Mas será que poderíamos manter esta interpretação se, em vez dos discursos eloquentes da correspondência diplomática e da imprensa, colocássemos em primeiro plano as práticas administrativas ordinárias?

Este livro debruça-se sobre estas práticas – nas palavras da autora, sobre este “tecido do ordinário” – tal como aparecem em dois conjuntos de fontes: por um lado, as consultas sobre assuntos eclesiásticos que autoridades locais e centrais submeteram ao Conselho de Estado brasileiro; por outro, os casos enviados por atores brasileiros à Santa Sé e examinados pela Congregação do Concílio, o órgão da Cúria Romana encarregado de interpretar o Concílio de Trento para o mundo católico.

Ao procurar intersecções entre essas fontes, a autora convida o leitor a contemplar a Igreja como uma estrutura de governança multinível, que envolvia múltiplas jurisdições e uma série de atores eclesiásticos e leigos, todos interagindo num cenário de intensa multinormatividade. Isso significa que, para resolver dúvidas e problemas quotidianos, esses entes recorriam a um repertório normativo que continha certamente o direito canônico, mas que, ao mesmo tempo, compreendia diferentes formas de o interpretar, bem como de o combinar com outras normas e normatividades.

A análise permite-nos ver o Concílio de Trento como um recurso bastante plástico nas mãos de clérigos, burocratas e juristas. Ele assumiu não apenas o papel de arma, mas também de modelo para outras leis, de suporte retórico, de parte da tradição, de recurso negociável e até dispensável. Além disso, a observação dessas práticas traz a surpreendente conclusão de que a polarização entre ultramontanos e jurisdicionalistas foi um elemento precário na governança da Igreja no Brasil, cedendo lugar, muitas vezes, a mecanismos de controle da novidade normativa e à evocação de objetivos comuns e necessidades concretas.

Deutsch

Über die politischen Spannungen zwischen Ultramontanisten und liberalen „Jurisdiktionalisten“ im Kaiserreich Brasilien während der Regierungszeit von Pedro II. (1840–1889) ist viel geschrieben worden; dazu trugen das besondere Patronatssystem dieses Landes und vor allem der Skandal um die Religionsfrage in den 1870er Jahren bei. Zu den Gemeinplätzen dieser Historiographie gehört die Vorstellung, dass das Konzil von Trient ein normatives Regelwerk war, das allein vom Klerus und den Ultramontanisten interpretiert und umgesetzt wurde, wenn es nicht sogar als eine von Rom verordnete Vorgabe verstanden wurde, hinter der man sich gegen liberale politische Maßnahmen versammeln konnte. Aber lässt sich diese Interpretation aufrechterhalten, wenn wir anstelle der in der diplomatischen Korrespondenz und der Presse vernehmbaren wortgewaltigen Diskurse die alltägliche Verwaltungspraxis in den Mittelpunkt der Betrachtung stellen?

Das Buch konzentriert sich auf solche Praktiken – in den Worten der Autorin: das „Gewebe des Gewöhnlichen“ –, wie sie in zwei Quellengruppen greifbar werden: einerseits in Konsultationen über kirchliche Angelegenheiten, die lokale und zentrale Behörden dem brasilianischen Staatsrat vorlegten; andererseits in Fällen, die von brasilianischen Akteuren an den Heiligen Stuhl gesandt und von der Konzilskongregation geprüft wurden – jenem Organ der römischen Kurie, das für die Auslegung des Tridentinums in der katholischen Welt zuständig war.

In ihrer Untersuchung von Überschneidungen zwischen diesen Quellen schlägt die Autorin vor, die Kirche als eine Struktur mit mehreren Verwaltungsebenen zu betrachten, an der verschiedene Gerichtsbarkeiten und eine Reihe von kirchlichen und weltlichen Akteuren beteiligt sind, die alle in einem Szenario intensiver Multinormativität interagieren. So griffen diese Instanzen bei der Lösung alltäglicher Zweifelsfälle und Probleme auf ein normatives Repertoire zurück, das neben dem kanonischen Recht auch verschiedene Arten seiner Auslegung sowie die Kombination mit anderen Normen und Normativitäten umfasste.

Die Analyse lässt das Konzil von Trient als eine sehr plastische Ressource in den Händen von Klerikern, Bürokraten und Juristen erscheinen. Es diente nicht nur als Waffe, sondern auch als Modell für andere Gesetze, als rhetorische Stütze, als Teil der Tradition, als verhandelbare und sogar entbehrliche Ressource. Die Beobachtung dieser Praktiken führt zu der eher überraschenden These, dass die Polarisierung zwischen Ultramontanisten und Jurisdiktionalisten ein weniger fest gefügtes Element innerhalb der governance der brasilianischen Kirche darstellte, das häufig Mechanismen zur Kontrolle normativer Neuerungen und einer Neuausrichtung auf gemeinsame Ziele und konkrete Erfordernisse wich.

Inhalt 

XV        Acknowledgements

XXI       List of Abbreviated References

XXV      List of Charts, Tables and Images

1           Introduction

             Chapter 1

19         Exploring the Repertoire of the Culture of Ecclesiastical Law in Brazil During the 19th Century

24         1.1
             The rise of Brazilian handbooks on ecclesiastical law

37         1.2
             Ecclesiastical law as a mystery. Fluctuations of a concept between canon law and civil law on Church affairs

53         1.3
             Independent and in harmony: on what terms? Disputes on the fair relationship between Church and state.
             The thorny issue of the placet

92         1.4
             The Brazilian padroado: a pontifical concession or a constitutional right?

110       1.5
             Between past and present: the Council of Trent as a persistent and multifaced normative reference

             Chapter 2

131       Mixed Matters from the Perspective of Governance. Analysis of Petition and Decision Flows

135       2.1
             The global level of governance of the Church: the Congregation of the Council

160       2.2
             The national level of governance of the Church: the Council of State

184       2.3
             Strong mixed matters in the governance system.
             A comparison between the petitioning to the Congregation of the Council and to the Council of State

             Chapter 3

209       Governance and Multinormativity. Tracking the Roles of the Council of Trent in Practice

215       3.1.
             Before, during, and after a clash between the Congregation of the Council and the Council of State.
             Uses of the Council of Trent in examinations for ecclesiastical benefices

218       3.1.1
              The case of Francisco Vieira das Chagas (1879–1881) as a turning point

224       3.1.2
             Before Vieira’s case.
             The transition from a normative convention of amalgam to a normative convention of separation

235       3.1.3             
             After Vieira’s case.
             Trent to the Church, Faculdades to the state          

239       3.1.4             
             Exploratory remarks.
             The uses of the Council of Trent alongside the transformations of ecclesiastical law as a legal field  

243       3.2
             A dance of opposites.
             The Council of Trent at the centre stage of the elections of vicar capitular

247       3.2.1
             How many days does it take to make a vicar capitular? Olinda

257       3.2.2
             The most suitable vicar capitular, though titleless. Salvador da Bahia, 1874

269       3.2.3
             Could the civil government suggest a vicar capitular?
             Normative and practical limits of the changes of convention in the Council of State

274       3.3
             The obligation of residence and its inconvenient civil double.
             The Council of Trent at the height of its plasticity

276       3.3.1
             Consolidation of the obligation of residence also as a civil duty.
             The Council of Trent as a resistance weapon for the episcopate and a rhetorical support for the state

293       3.3.2
             Not everything is resistance.
             The Council of Trent as a flexible resource in the convergence of councillors, bishops,
             and cardinals for the governance of cathedral chapters

302       3.4
             Precarious belonging, strong duties.
             The Council of Trent and the forging of openings and restrictions for foreign priests
             in 19th-century Brazil

303       3.4.1
             The perspective of the state.
             The migrant priest as a foreigner with the obligations of the citizen priest.
             The Council of Trent as a bridge between ecclesiastical and civil duties

317       3.4.2
             The perspective of the Holy See.
             The migrant priest divided between two dioceses, navigating according to the needs of the Church.
             Metamorphoses of the Council of Trent to control migration

332       3.5
             Reform of seminaries:
             a puzzle of tensions on a converging horizon.
             The Council of Trent as a normative set evoking episcopal liberty and responsibility

337       3.5.1
             The Council of Trent versus the Decree n. 3.073 of 22 April 1863.
             Ultramontane bishops resist, and the Council of State unexpectedly decides contra legem

358       3.5.2
             Convergence between levels of governance is no guarantee of local success

363       3.6
             Bishops discipline priests, and the state protects the Council of Trent.
             Suspension ex informata conscientia and appeal to the Crown

371       3.6.1
             The Council of State shields the suspension ex informata conscientia.
             The Decree of 1857, on the appeal to the Crown, as a victory for the Council of Trent and the bishops

382       3.6.2
             Countering and adjusting the discourse of the state on the suspension ex informata conscientia.
             Deference to the Council of Trent becomes detached from shielding the acts of bishops

397       3.7
             Retrieving the fil rouge

405      Conclusion

419      Sources and Bibliography

419      Archival Sources

423      Printed and Online Sources

434      Bibliography

465      Annexes

465       1.
             Table of Brazilian cases presented to the Congregation of the Council, 1840–1889

476       2.
             Table of Brazilian cases of strong mixed matter presented to the Congregation of the Council,
             1840–1889.

482       3.
             Table of cases on ecclesiastical affairs presented to the Council of State, 1840–1889

502       4.
             Table of cases of strong mixed matter presented to the Council of State, 1840–1889

515      About the Author