Padre Vitor: a black educator between slavery and holiness

Abstract:

This article presents aspects related to the life of ‘Padre Vitor’, a black individual who was born free in 1827, in the south of Minas Gerais, where he had a distinguished role as priest and teacher. After his death, in 1905, began a movement of cult to his image giving rise to a process of canonization. His canonization continues to advance and along with it is affirming his image as an ex-slave who has attained holiness. Slavery and holiness are contradictory aspects within the trajectory of ‘Padre Vitor’. We approach this contradiction by portraying it outside the perspective represented by the idea of slave and saint, that is, we seek to recover its process of formation and action treating it as a human being who acted from the conditions and possibilities inscribed in Brazil, of the nineteenth century.

Keywords:
19th century; teacher; South of Minas