An exile among the Kaingang: the trajectory of Bartomeu Melià S. J. in Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the period in which Fr. Bartomeu Melia S.J. lived in Rio Grande do Sul, in Miraguaí, a city bordering the Guarita Indigenous Land, belonging to the Kaingang people with the presence of a Guarani community. Melià was in exile in Brazil after being expelled from Paraguay by the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. For eight years Melià worked in the coordination of the Pastoral Indígena do Interdiocesano Norte, an organization composed of the dioceses of Frederico Westphalen, Erexim, Passo Fundo and Vacaria, which had in their ecclesiastical districts the presence of the Kaingang peoples, in their great majority, and a smaller number from Guarani. To analyze the presence of Fr. Melià, we went through his publications and actions carried out in the period, both in the Interdiocesan and in the academic activities developed at Fundames and Unisinos. We analyzed interviews given to different researchers and news agencies, in which their academic, professional and pastoral trajectory is discussed. Finally, without conclusive pretensions, we inquire into the reasons that led to Melià's transfer to RS and his prompt departure as soon as conditions in Paraguay became favorable. We conclude that this was, in fact, Melià's exile, the most difficult moment of her personal and pastoral trajectory.