San Tiago Dantas and Guerreiro Ramos

Two receptions of the catholic thought in Brazil in the 1930s

Abstract

San Tiago Dantas (1911-1964) and Guerreiro Ramos (1915-1982) have similar trajectories. Both began their public and intellectual life in the 1930s, linked to the Catholic and integralist fields and, in the 1950s and 1960s, they became ideologues and politicians of the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB). Despite the coincidences, their ideas presented divergences. In this article, we seek to understand the peculiarities of their thought in the 1930s, focusing on the different receptions of Catholicism by the authors and on the combinations between Catholic and Fascist ideas. We argue that the differences found are largely explained by the social trajectory and the position of each of them within the Catholic field, assuming a more conservative character in San Tiago Dantas and a more heterodox character in Guerreiro Ramos. In this way, this work contributes to a better understanding of the youth phases, little studied, of the two intellectuals, as well as of the constitution of the Catholic field in Brazil – and its relations with the integralist field.