Anna Clara Lehmann Martins successfully defended her doctoral thesis on 8 July 2021 at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Law), with a cotutelle agreement with the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (History). The thesis was evaluated by a commission formed by: Ricardo Sontag (supervisor), Olaf Blaschke (supervisor), Benedetta Albani (co-supervisor), Carlos Salinas Araneda, José Pedro Paiva, François Jankowiak, and Ítalo Santirocchi.
In her work, Anna Clara dived into the realm of the legal practices of governance of the
Catholic Church during Brazil’s Second Reign (1840-1889). She analysed how local priests, state bureaucrats and cardinals employed the disciplinary part of the Council of Trent when dealing with administrative problems of mixed nature.
It was the Research Group’s first thesis to examine sources of the Congregation of the Council from the 19
th century. Exchanges between the Brazilian clergy and the dicastery were witnessed in 106
positiones and 79
resolutiones, encompassing topics like the following: examination for benefices, elections of the vicar capitular, residence, ecclesiastical migration, seminaries, and discipline of the clergy. The thesis also shed light on the entanglements between the Congregation of the Council and other institutions: those that were part of the Holy See (the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs) or that represented it (the Apostolic Internunciature in Brazil), and those from national states (the Brazilian Council of State), besides a wide range of local actors.
In short, Anna Clara’s work provided a colourful and precise picture of the Catholic Church’s everyday administration – as grounded in multilevel interaction and multinormativity.
Image: Saint Francis Convent, Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil.
