European travelers in Italian colonies

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the letters written by a European traveler who came to Rio Grande do Sul on a religious mission in order to verify the conditions of spirituality in the Italian colonies. This traveler was an apostolic entrepreneur, considered as a strategist by his religious order. The study of his letters opens the possibility to know his impressions of the Italian colonies and the strategies outlined for the foundation of the Capuchin mission in Rio Grande do Sul. The letters were taken from the book "A Igreja e os Capuchinhos do Rio Grande do Sul", from 1895-1909, written by Father Bruno Gillonnay. They consist of fifteen letters, ranging from the departure of Bordeaux, landing in Rio Grande Port, arrival in Porto Alegre, the route to Garibaldi, the impressions that the foreigner had of the Italian colonies and the way he describes them to his superiors, explaining the free land and the future work that they would have to settle these colonies.