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L’article relate les étapes de l’installation de la verrerie impériale à côté de l’église catholique de la mission jésuite française de Pékin et le rôle des acteurs qui ont travaillé à la production d’objets émaillés. Il suit un ordre chronologique reconstitué à partir des correspondances en français des religieux travaillant au service de la cour sous les trois premiers empereurs de la dynastie des Qing (1644-1911). L’étude met l’accent sur la part prise par les missionnaires dans la diffusion des productions italiennes et françaises dans les provinces où elles étaient offertes comme cadeaux aux mandarins locaux pour favoriser l’installation d’églises. Les coadjuteurs temporels ont tenu une place éminente dans les activités de la verrerie célèbre pour sa fabrication de chefs-d’œuvre artistiques et la production d’objets scientifiques qui ont servi aux observations astronomiques et aux travaux de cartographie sous patronage impérial. Following a chronological order, the article presents the different stages of the installation of the imperial glassworks next to the Catholic church of the French Jesuit mission in Beijing from the correspondence of the French missionaries working in the service of the Court under the three first emperors of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Enameled glass objects were appreciated at the Court and sought after in the provinces as gifts to encourage the establishment of churches. The eminent role of temporal coadjutors in the production of glass, including scientific objects used for astronomical observations and cartographic work, is highlighted despite the limited number of archives concerning them.

International audience; Catholic missionaries were active among rural populations in Manchuria, in northeast China, around the turn of the 20th century. Their presence influenced everything from the role of women in religious and family life, to the adoption of new material culture, to local burial customs. This investigation of the Pianliancheng cemetery in Jilin Province, in use from the 1890s to the 1930s, reveals the material and embodied traces of this history. Archaeological, bioarchaeological, and historical evidence for cultural hybridization and transnational connections are presented. Specific findings include the history of individual Catholic priests in the mission, the hybridization of Catholic and Confucian burial practices by the Chinese converts, material connections to Chinese immigrant communities abroad, the labor burden and nutritional status of various members of the community, the continuation of foot binding in rural Manchuria, and the influence of conversion on gender roles and family life.; Vers le début du 20ème siècle, les missionnaires catholiques étaient actifs au sein des populations rurales de Mandchourie, dans le Nord-Est de laChine. Leur présence a exercé une influence considérable, notamment sur le rôle des femmes au sein de la vie religieuse et familiale, l'adoption d'une nouvelle culture matérielle et les coutumes funéraires locales. Cette étude portant sur le cimetière de Pianliancheng dans la province du Jilin, utilisé des années 1890 jusqu'aux années 1930, met en évidence les traces matérielles de cette histoire. Les données archéologiues, bioarchéologiques et historiques dévoilent une hybridation culturelle et des connexions transnationales. Ces découvertes mettent en lumière l'histoire individuelle de prêtres catholiques et de leur mission, l'hybridation des pratiques funéraires catholiques et confucéennes au sein des convertis chinois, des connexions matérielles aux communautés demigrants chinois à l'étranger, les conditions de travail et l'alimentation desdifférents membres de la communauté, la pérennité de la pratique du bandage des pieds dans les campagnes de Mandchourie et l'influence des conversions dans les dynamiques des genres et la vie familiale.

In this paper I intend to address the issue of crypto-Catholicism in the early Ottoman Balkans, a complex phenomenon which has drawn historians’ attention over the decades. More specifically, I will attempt to define and clarify the difficult and unresolved issue, taking into account the characteristics of the Balkans where many religious and social groups co-existed. That produced interaction and enmeshment between the various religions and, as a result, identities developed specific distinctive traits and often overlapped. Within that unique Balkan environment – a real confessional melting pot – crypto-Christianity naturally arose. Crypto-Catholics or Orthodoxies, living under Ottoman rule, publicly decided to embrace the Islamic religion but secretly identified themselves as Christians. I have set out to investigate this phenomenon by considering letters and reports produced by Catholic missions involved in the Balkan peninsula.

Among the Sheyk ül-islams, the chief religious authority of the Ottoman Empire, Feyzullah Efendi is one of the best known and most studied. This is certainly due to the incredible amount of power and wealth he was able to obtain during his tenure, as well as to his sudden and tragic end during the Rebellion of 1703. What is less known is that he played a central role in the religious and social turmoil which affected the Eastern Christian communities of the Empire at the turn of the eighteenth century, interfering directly in the ecclesiastical organization of the Syriac and especially Armenian Church. Already in 1692, when he was still a qadi in Erzurum, he meddled in the disputes between Catholic missionaries and Armenian Apostolic prelates, supporting the latter against the former and provoking the intervention of the French Ambassador, who obtained the exile of the local Armenian bishop. Few years later, once reached the summit of power, he resumed his fight against Catholic propaganda by appointing as Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople (and later of Jerusalem too) the very same bishop he had sided with in Erzurum, Awetik' Ewdokac’i. The condition behind these appointments was that Awetik‘ would have directed his efforts to stop the work of Catholic missionaries among the Armenians, punishing those who had been converted to the «Frank» religion. But why a high-ranking Ottoman officer should have been concerned by the doctrinal quarrels going on within the Eastern Christian communities? By cross-checking Ottoman, Western and Armenian sources, my chapter addresses this question, highlighting the political and entangled dimension of the Ottoman Confessionalization.

Les années entre la fin du XVIIe siècle et le début du XVIIIe siècle ont été témoins d’une vaste controverse mettant en question les conditions de possibilité d’un catholicisme adapté aux territoires de mission au Proche, Moyen et Extrême-Orient. Il ne s’agit pas seulement des querelles des rites chinois et malabares, mais aussi du problème des relations entre catholiques et orthodoxes dans l’Empire ottoman. Dans la discussion de ces questions, on se focalise normalement sur les acteurs les plus visibles – les missionnaires sur le terrain – en oubliant les protagonistes cachés et silencieux de cette histoire : les docteurs et bureaucrates romains qui avaient la charge d’examiner et de résoudre les dubia des religieux. Cet article se focalise justement sur le rôle des consulteurs du Saint-Office et en particulier sur leurs archives, dans l’effort de mieux comprendre le processus de prise de décision au sein de l’Inquisition romaine. The consultors’ papers. The decision-making process of the Roman Inquisition with regard to the missionary questions, XVIIth-XVIIIth centuries. Between the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century, a vast controversy questioned the possibility of adapting Catholicism to the different mission fields in the Middle and Far East. It was not just about the Chinese and Malabar rites controversy, but it concerned also the problematic relations between Catholics and Orthodox in the Ottoman Empire. In addressing these issues, it is common practice to focus on the most visible actors – the missionaries on the ground –, forgetting the other, hidden protagonists of this story: the Roman doctors and curial bureaucrats in charge of examining and answering the dubia of the religious. This article focuses precisely on the role of the consultors of the Holy Office and in particular on their archives, in the effort to better understand the decision-making process within the Roman Inquisition.

O artigo caracteriza uma dimensão recorrente, antissincrética, no discurso de missionários católicos em Timor Leste no século XX e algumas das suas correspondentes ações evangelizadoras, sensivelmente até 1974, em torno da seguinte problemática : em que medida se dissociam ou se confundem, nas etnografias ou antropologias católicas, o momento colonial cristão e a realidade pré-colonial pagã ? Procura-se demonstrar que os processos de indigenização de objetos ou representações de origem católica foram enjeitados pela Igreja, mesmo que fossem derivações históricas da ação missionária de outros séculos. A antropologia católica veiculava uma possível leitura intelectual de certos aspetos da complexa realidade timorense, em particular no que se refere às apropriações indígenas de traços materiais ou imateriais do catolicismo. O problema da interação multissecular entre a “religião timorense” e o cristianismo foi assim resolvido através da sua renegação. The article analyzes anti-syncretic dimensions in the discourse and praxis of Catholic missionaries in East Timor in the 20th century (until c. 1974), exploring the concept of continuity. In what ways are the Christian colonial moment and the pagan pre-colonial reality dissociated or mixed up in Catholic ethnography and anthropology? The article shows that local representatives of the Church rejected all kinds of indigenization of Catholic items, even if those processes were a historic outcome of the Portuguese missionary experiences of other centuries. Catholic anthropology represents, in any case, a possible intellectual reading of some aspects of the complex Timorese reality, by accentuating the power of indigenous religion and the strictly indigenous sense of any appropriations, even to the detriment of Christianity. The problem of the centuries-old interaction between the “Timorese religion” and Christianity was thus resolved through its denial.

Resumo: À luz das discussões antropológicas contemporâneas acerca das relações entre o religioso e o secular, este artigo faz uma descrição da atividade missionária católica na região do Vale do Ribeira (São Paulo) em defesa dos direitos de comunidades negras e quilombolas. Neste contexto, atuam duas importantes entidades - MOAB e EAACONE - cujas fundação e atuação estão intimamente associadas aos trabalhos desenvolvidos por missionários católicos que, em defesa da vida e da dignidade, e sob inspiração de categorias bíblicas, mobilizam lideranças comunitárias, ressignificam práticas, promovem encontros e manifestações a fim de reclamar os direitos das comunidades negras e quilombolas no espaço público. Por meio da descrição da atividade missionária desses religiosos, pretende-se lançar luz sobre sua participação na produção da política e sobre a maneira como constroem sua experiência religiosa em intersecção com a política e o Estado. Abstract: In light of contemporary anthropological discussions about the relationship between the religious and the secular, this article describes catholic missionary activity in the Ribeira Valley region in defense of the rights of quilombola communities. In this context, two important entities act - MOAB and EAACONE -, whose foundation and work are closely associated with the work of catholic missionaries who, in defense of life and dignity, and under the inspiration of biblical categories, mobilize community leaders, redefine practices, promote meetings and political demonstrations to claim the rights of quilombola community in public space. By describing the missionary activity of these religious, it is intended to shed light on their participation in the production of politics and on how they build their religious experience in intersection with politics and the state.

Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the main cities of the Ottoman Empire became the stage of an intense Catholic missionary activity, mainly directed toward the faithful of the Eastern Christian Churches. My paper examines the different strategies employed by religious orders (especially Capuchins, Jesuits and Franciscans) in their relations with the local Orthodox and pre-Chalcedonian Christian communities. I have chosen three main points of inquiry: the adaptation of the European missionaries to the local social structures, their attitude toward the Eastern rites and traditions (respect vs. “latinization”) and finally the measure of tolerance or intolerance displayed toward the practice of sacramental intercommunion between Catholic converts and non-Catholics. As a result of these divergent views, the years between 1700 and 1730 saw the insurgence of several controversies, motivated not only by ideological rivalry or competition, but also by the different social and political conditions specific to each mission. In particular, I will focus on the cases of Constantinople, Aleppo and Cairo, showing how local circumstances influenced the missionaries in their relationship with the Ottoman Christians, with the officials of the Sublime Porte and with the representatives of the Crown of France and of the Roman Church.

Nowadays, yarlyks of the most outstanding ruler of the Golden Horde, khan Uzbek, have been preserved only in translations into Russian, Italian, and Latin. This paper analyzes in detail the first of these yarlyks preserved in translation into Latin. The author presents arguments for and against the religious tolerance of Uzbek and makes assumptions about belonging to Christianity of the persons close to the Golden Horde throne. Based on the data from selected and previously published Latin sources of that period, the author tries to comprehend the religious policy of khan Uzbek characterized by the traditional religious tolerance. The current historiographical evaluation of the religious policy of khan Uzbek is mainly based only on the text of his letter to the Mamluk Sultan Malik al-Nasir compiled at the beginning of his reign. Khan Uzbek’s yarlyk dated back to the early period of his rule, represents his religious policy in a completely different light. This as well as other Latin documents directly indicate that the khan of ulus of Jochi was guided in his religious policy by the same principles as his uncle, khan Tokhta.

В статье рассматривается влияние концепта меланхолии и идеи гения-меланхолика, сформулированной в псевдо-аристотелевых «Проблемах» на богословскую мысль и миссионерскую практику английских католиков конца XVI в., а именно, на представления о роли меланхолического состояния в познании религиозной истины и обращении в «истинную» веру., The article discusses the influence of the concept of melancholy and the idea of a melancholy genius, first formulated in the “Problemata” by pseudo-Aristotle, on theology and missionary practice of English Catholics in the late 16th c., namely, on their views of the role of melancholy state in perception of religious truth and in conversion to a “true” faith., №60 (2017)

Religious changes and reforms which occurred in most European countries in the fifteenth century, Ottoman danger which was an important issue in the Christian world and Europe, and some other factors made European countries seek to disseminate Christianity and promote Catholicism by collaboration and advice from Pope. Therefore, any European country selected missionaries among Catholic sects and sent them to other areas including Iran. What was governments` main motivation to send missionaries to other areas? Were religious factors influenced by political and economic issues? The present article attempts to have an analytical view and to utilize the reports related to the presence and activities of missionaries in Iran, Travelogues, and all historic documents and books to answer the two questions. According to political, economic and religious situation of Europe, it seems that the missionaries were sent by the support from European governments. However, because of the especial importance of the religious issues in Europe, the factor of religion was the most important matter in sending missionaries. On the other hand, due to a feud with Ottomans, commercial competitions in Europe, and development of capitalism, political and commercial issues had attracted the attention of European governments and the Pope. Priests and missionaries were very influential in development and success of political and commercial relations among European governments. But, the claim that the missionaries were sent just for political and commercial purposes is not acceptable.

In 1549 Francisco de Xavier, a Catholic missionary, went to Japan, and from then on missionaries continued to arrive there throughout the 16th century. Notably Luís Fróis, who arrived from Portugal in 1563, lived in Japan for more than 30 years, and wrote “Historia de Japam” and other works comparing the cultures of Japan and Europe, considered invaluable historical materials for understanding the Japanese culture of that period: for example, pronunciation, music and theatre. In addition, European religious music was taken to Japan by missionaries. They founded theological schools called Seminarios or Correggios where Japanese boys were taught vocal and instrumental music. Later, a commission of four boys was dispatched to Rome, and they came back with some musical instruments and typographic machines. This paper focuses on the description by the missionaries of Japanese music and plays of that time in this intercultural setting, which enabled them to become acquainted with those concrete images., En 1549, empezando por Francisco de Javier, misioneros católicos llegaron a Japón. Luís Fróis llegó en 1563, pasó tres décadas en Japón y escribió “Historia de Japam” y libros sobre comparación cultural entre Japón y Europa, considerados como material invaluable para entender la cultura japonesa de aquel entonces. Por ejemplo, habla sobre la pronunciación del japonés de esos días, la música, el teatro, etc. Además se especula que hay espectáculos de Noh basados en la Biblia. Así mismo, los misioneros trajeron música religiosa europea y fundaron escuelas teológicas llamadas: “Seminario” o “Colegio”. Allí jóvenes japoneses aprendieron música vocal e instrumental como materia. Posteriormente hasta enviaron una misión de cuatro jóvenes a Europa, quienes volvieron con instrumentos y máquinas tipográficas. Este trabajo se concentra en las declaraciones de los misioneros sobre los espectáculos musicales japoneses de aquellos días mediante el intercambio cultural para conocer una imagen concreta., Universidad de Granada. Grupo de Investigación "Desarrollo, Educación, Diversidad y Cultura: análisis interdisciplinar" (HUM742).

Eugene Boré on dokuzuncu yüzyılda Osmanlı coğrafyasında faaliyet gösteren Fransız Katolik misyonerlerden biridir. Onun misyonerliği daha ziyade eğitim alanında temayüz etmiştir. Galata’daki St. Benoit Okulu ve Bebek’teki Fransız Koleji’nde idarecilik ve öğretmenlik yapan Boré bu kurumlarda ciddi yeniliklere imza atmıştır. Öte yandan Osmanlı ve İran şehirlerine birkaç seyahat gerçekleştirmiş ve buralar hakkında raporlar yazmıştır. Bütün bunların yanı sıra Ermenice kitaplar kaleme alması ve bu dilde tercümeler yapması da onun önemli faaliyetleri arasındadır. Görüldüğü üzere Eugene Boré genel anlamda klasik Katolik misyonerliğinden farklı bir çizgi takip etmiştir. Dolayısıyla gerek eğitim tarihimizde gerekse Osmanlı gayrı müslimlerinin Batılılaşma yolculuğunda özgün bir yer edinmiştir. Bu makalede ilk olarak onun hayatı ve eğitim öğretim aşamaları, ardından İstanbul’daki ve başka şehirlerdeki faaliyetleri ele alınacaktır. Bu arada değişik konular ve olaylar hakkındaki görüşleri de bu incelemeye dahil edilecektir. Eugene Boré is one of the French Catholic missionaries operating in the Ottoman geography in the 19th century. He has distinguished himself especially in the field of education. While teaching and administrating at St. Benoit School of Galata and French College at Bebek, he has signed many important innovations. On the other hand, he has made a number of journeys to Ottoman and Iranian cities, and has written reports on these regions. Besides all these, to write some Armenian books, and to do translate into this language are among his major activities. Boré, as can be seen has followed generally a different line from the classical Catholic missionary. Consequently, he has gained an important place in both our history of education and in the Westernization of Ottoman non-muslims. In this article, it will be described at first Boré’s life and school years, and then the activities in Istanbul and other cities. Meanwhile, his views on various issues and events will be included in this review.

In 1583, in the city of Zhaoqing, the first Christian mission obtained imperial permission to be established in China. This mission was led by the Jesuits Michele Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci, who arrived with a vision to preach the gospel of Iesus. But what happens if historically in the Chinese imaginary the archetype of God was never present? In this situation, Ricci understood the importance of the teachings of Confucius in the Chinese mind, so finally he tried to identify and build on his thought the figure of God, even if he had been dead for more than 2000 years. The strategy was to represent the early Confucianism as a natural religion given by divine revelation, but lacking the proclamation of Christ and depraved by Taoism and Buddhism, becoming in Neo-Confucianism. Hence, according to Ricci, it needed cleaning of these influences so that it could experience the light revealed by the Catholic Church. Therefore, the objective of this research is to analyze the construction process of Confucianism as a natural religion emphasizing the invention of a unique, divine and creator being in the Confucian thought. En 1583, en la ciudad de Zhaoqing, la primera misión cristiana obtuvo permiso imperial para instalarse en China. Esta misión estuvo dirigida por los jesuitas Michele Ruggieri y Matteo Ricci, quienes llegaron con la visión de predicar el evangelio de Iesus. Pero, ¿qué sucede si históricamente en los imaginarios chinos el arquetipo de Dios nunca estuvo presente? Ante esta situación, Ricci comprendió la importancia de las enseñanzas de Confucio en la mentalidad china, por lo que intentó identificar y finalmente construir en su pensamiento la figura de Dios, aunquellevara más de 2000 años muerto. La estrategia consistió en representar al temprano confucianismo como una religión natural dada por la revelación divina, pero carente del anuncio de Cristo y depravada a través de los siglos con ideas provenientes del daoísmo y el budismo, transformándose así en el neoconfucianismo. De ahí que, según Ricci, se necesitaba limpiarla de estas influencias para que pudiera experimentar la luz revelada de la Iglesia Católica. Por lo tanto, el objetivo de esta investigación es analizar el proceso de construcción del confucianismo como una religión natural con énfasis en la invención de un ser único, divino y creador en el pensamiento de Confucio.

This paper estimates the causal impact of tertiary education on luminosity across Indian districts. We address the potential endogeneity of tertiary education using the location of Catholic missionaries in 1911 as an instrument for current tertiary education. We find Catholic missionaries have a large and positive impact on tertiary education. Catholics were not at the forefront of tertiary education in colonial India, but they established many high quality colleges following Indian independence. Controlling for a rich set of geographical and historical characteristics, we find a positive causal effect of tertiary education on development, as measured by light density at night. The findings are robust to different measures of development, and are not driven by alternative channels through which missionaries could impact current income.

This paper estimates the causal impact of tertiary education on luminosity across Indian districts. We address the potential endogeneity of tertiary education using the location of Catholic missionaries in 1911 as an instrument for current tertiary education. We find Catholic missionaries have a large and positive impact on tertiary education. Catholics were not at the forefront of tertiary education in colonial India, but they established many high quality colleges following Indian independence. Controlling for a rich set of geographical and historical characteristics, we find a positive causal effect of tertiary education on development, as measured by light density at night. The findings are robust to different measures of development, and are not driven by alternative channels through which missionaries could impact current income. We acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through ECO2011-29283 project, and the Planning and Policy Research Unit at the Indian Statistical Institute (Delhi)

Deriving funding from missionary sources in Ireland, Britain and the USA, and from international leprosy relief organizations such as the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association (BELRA) and drawing on developing capacities in international public health under the auspices of WHO and UNICEF through the 1950s, the Roman Catholic Mission Ogoja Leprosy Scheme applied international expertise at a local level with ever-increasing success and coverage. This paper supplements the presentation of a successful leprosy control programme in missionary narratives with an appreciation of how international medical politics shaped the parameters of success and the development of therapeutic understanding in the late colonial period in Nigeria. A missão católica Ogoja Leprosy Scheme aplicou, em nível local, os conhecimentos internacionais de ponta em lepra, com sucesso e resultados abrangentes, graças ao apoio financeiro de instituições missionárias da Irlanda, da Grã-Bretanha e dos Estados Unidos, assim como de organizações internacionais como o British Empire Leprosy Relief Association (BELRA). Tirou proveito também de avanços ocorridos no domínio da saúde pública internacional sob os auspícios da OMS e Unicef, na década 1950. O presente artigo combina a apresentação de um bem-sucedido programa de controle da lepra, por obra de missionários, com a análise sobre como as políticas médicas internacionais modelaram os parâmetros de sucesso e o desenvolvimento de conhecimentos terapêuticos na Nigéria, no final do período colonial.

Review, Aethiopica, Vol 17 (2014)

International audience; The article discusses the transfor­mation of the outdoor area in which perfor­mances were given in Korea at the time of the modernization process under the inAu­ence of the Western model of the theater. The analysis of the terms used lo designate the new building suggest profound changes in the habitus operated by this modification.; L'article évoque la transformation de l'espace dévolu au spectacle vivant en Corée, au moment du processus de moderni­sation sous l'influence du modèle occidental du théâtre. L'analyse des termes en usage pour designer les nouveaux lieux de spec­tacle suggère les profondes modifications de l'habitus opérées par ce changement.

[No abstract available]

Between 1937 and 1986, Australian Indigenous people diagnosed with Hansen's disease (leprosy) were compulsorily isolated under the care of Catholic religious nursing Sisters in remote leprosaria across the north of the continent. This thesis explores the forces that gave rise to and maintained this policy; the underlying ideals and anxieties; and the ways the policy was executed across the four institutions that form the focus of the study: Derby (WA), Fantome Island (QLD), and Channel Island and East Arm (both NT). Missionary archival documents, oral histories and publications are used to examine the lives, work and traditions of the Sisters and other influential Catholic missionaries. Government records also reveal medical and social objectives implicit in the founding, staffing and ongoing operations of the institutions. Comparisons are made with management strategies for white Hansen's disease patients in Australia to unravel prevailing conceptions about the separate categories of race and disease. The Indigenous leprosaria derived from the Commonwealth government's interwar vision of a healthy White Australia, and the supervision and treatment of the inmates was considered a necessary corollary to this initiative. Catholic women religious were uniquely positioned for this role, being prepared for the incumbent risks, and having the requisite nursing and midwifery qualifications, resulting from a current upsurge in Catholic missionary activity in northern Australia. The Sisters expanded their nursing duties to encompass the holistic care of their patients and to educate them in Western skills, culture and morality. They ushered in the more intensive participation of Catholic Brothers and priests in evangelising the patients. In many ways the Catholic project aligned with government objectives for the social assimilation of the Indigenous population, but in the leprosarium, the object of such efforts was that ‘civilised’ and ‘Christianised’ residents would comply stoically with their enforced detention. Prescribed activities, whether hard work or leisure, were to keep patients occupied, diffusing their yearnings for home, and offering a gentler alternative to more punitive controlling measures. In later years, the Sisters became modern therapists, and agitators for better conditions and less stringent discharge criteria, thus more effectively helping patients regain their health and independence.

Em geral o trabalho missionário é reduzido a compreensão da catequese indígena. Neste estudo constatar-se-á que as missões chegadas ao Brasil no início do século XX estabeleceram práticas de atuação que tinham como base a sede municipal, através inicialmente da instalação das Prefeituras Apostólicas, base territorial para o advento de prelazias e dioceses. A ação missionária se desenvolve na cidade tendo como principais objetivos, além da catequese indígena, a evangelização e a educação para o trabalho, através do seminário (edifício escolar) de ensino de artes e ofícios voltado para o universo masculino e a educação feminina, entregue às freiras, normalmente voltada para a alfabetização e o ensino de prendas domésticas. Assim, o trabalho missionário desempenhou importante papel na afirmação da soberania territorial estatal, na nacionalização da população e no processo de urbanização nas bordas fronteiriças da Amazônia Brasileira., The missionary work, generally, is reduced to the understanding of the indigenous catechises. It will be verified in this study that the missions, which came to Brazil in the beginning of the 20th century, established courses of action that had the municipal seat as base, primarily through the installation of Apostolic Offices, which were the territorial base for dioceses and prelatures advent. The missionary action was developed in the city and had as main purpose, beside the indigenous catechises, the evangelisation and the work education, through the seminary of arts and work teaching for the male universe and the female education, which was dispensed by the nuns and, generally dealt with literacy and domestic accomplishments teaching. Hence, the missionary work played an important role in the territorial sovereignty assertion of the state, in the nationalisation of the population, and in the urbanisation process of the Brazilian Amazon borders.