Conquering the word as a form of resistance in the Diocese of Crateús

Abstract

Inaugurated on August 8, 1964, with Dom Antônio Batista Fragoso (1964-1998) as its first bishop, the Diocese of Crateús emerged as a space for the fertilization of a popular theology, bringing a proposal based on the liberation process of peasant subjects. Sustained from the grassroots, by the protagonism of the peasants, the pastoral develops a series of works to encourage writing and reading, in the popular and radical perspective, having as a focus of reflection the lives of these subjects and their space of social action. This article proposes to think about how the conquest of the word influenced the formation of resistance, led by men and women from the countryside of the backlands of Crateús and Inhamuns. The letters sent to the newspaper “O Roceiro”, a vehicle created by the diocesan team of Crateús, starting in 1984, and the Open Letters that circulated between parishes and communities, demonstrate how the conquest of the word served as a form of articulation of resistances.