"IT MAY BE THAT THIS IS NOT THE TRUTH”: INTOLERANCE BETWEEN LUTHERANS AND CATHOLICS IN CAXIAS DO SUL – RS

Abstract

The European immigration process to the south of Brazil occurred more systematically throughout the 19th century. German immigrants and latter Italians, occupied as settlers lands destined for this purpose by the imperial and provincial governments. The colony of Caxias do Sul - RS, which is the object of this paper, was occupied by Italian and Catholic immigrants, since 1875, constituting the main colonial attraction pole in the last quarter of the 19th century. Throughout the 20th century, the city became an important center of migrants’ attraction because of the industrial development. In this movement also came to Caxias do Sul workers from German and protestant ancestry. Already as residents and workers of the city, a small Lutheran group built their first chapel in 1947, which was burned four years later. This study aims to analyze the relations of resistance, negotiation and conflicts between Catholics and Lutherans in Caxias do Sul having as background manifestations of intolerance and the burning of the chapel in the middle of the 20th century.