“She is there blessing this beloved diocese that we have placed under her guardianship”: cultural practices around the Marian monument on Morro da Conceição in the city of Recife (1904-1953)

The article analyzes the formation and development of the Morro da Conceição festival, in the city of Recife, during the first half of the 20th century. In 1904, the Diocese of Olinda installed a monument in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the dogma of the Imaculada Conceição, in one of the most visible points of the region, as part of the re-Catholicization project in Brazil. The article is inserted in the debates of Cultural History, we analyze ecclesiastical documents and periodicals, with the aim of understanding how devotion was built, developed and consolidated around the place. With this, we observe that the Catholic hierarchy articulated the construction of a cult and monumentality for socio-political purposes, aligned with evangelization projects and occupation of social spaces by the believers.

Keywords:
Catholic Church; Our Lady of Conception; Catholic Restoration; Religious Devotion