Um santo sob o sol, uma formação permanente

Abstract

The subject of this research is to understand Father Cícero Romão Batista (1844-1934) as a visionary who established strategies to face the existential challenges of the sertanejo people living in the semi-arid region in northeastern Brazil. He created development solutions for the city of Juazeiro do Norte, in Ceará, and succeeded in encouraging agricultural production, the community spirit among people, ecology principles, local craftsmanship valorization – with his natural skills to dive into the shadows of his time and to discover trends to enlightening the future. The theoretical references used in this research were the Complexity Sciences, mainly Edgar Morin’s ideas, as well as other interlocutors who have been studying the life and work of the mentioned priest. The methodology consisted in consulting documental sources, such as his correspondence, mainly letters, notes and telegrams exchanged with politicians, ecclesiastical authorities, and his followers, and in observing pilgrimages in loco. Among the lessons taught by the priest, I emphasize persistence and compassion as drivers of right-thinking and of doing the right thing. Such lessons are absorbed by the pilgrims as boosters of faith and perseverance. We learn that each pilgrimage event means a strengthened courage, the belief in a new beginning, and the opportunity to rebuild one’s life. Understanding the figure of Father Cícero as the master of many lessons and the intellectual behind multiple strategies is to see him beyond religious precepts, to understand him as a contemporary man as designed by Giorgio Agamben.