A escravidão africana no Brasil e a Igreja Católica: posicionamentos no contexto de uma sociedade escravocrata

This paper aims to contextualize the relationship between the Catholic Church and slavery and its position on the slavery system, using as methodological basis the literature review on the subject and based on, among others, the theoretical references of BEOZZZO (1984), AZZI (2005), HOORNAERT (1984), FREYRE (2003) and also the provisions of the First Constitutions of the Archbishopric of Bahia of 1707. The slave system that started in the colonial period and lasted until the end of the Brazilian Empire and the relationship between the Church and the Portuguese Crown, based on the patronage, demonstrated the incompatibility of the religious doctrine and the productive model based basically on the exploitation of slave labor. This process resulted in a highly exclusive and prejudiced society. In this sense, the treatment given by the Catholic Church to African slaves or slaves of African descent, in general, points to the non-fulfillment of the very religious precepts characterized by fraternal relationship, even though there was the emergence of several black brotherhoods in the Catholic environment, contrasting with the Roman Catholicism.