Missionaries in Persia: Cultural Diversity and Competing Norms in Global Catholicism

Isfahan, the Safavid Empire's capital, attracted Catholic missionaries from various affiliations in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They acted as diplomatic agents, hosts to Protestant merchants, and healers of Armenians and Muslims, gaining social acceptance locally. This book examines the activities of Discalced Carmelites and other missionaries, revealing their flexibility in dealing with cultural diversity. It highlights how missionaries became local actors who built reputations by defining their social roles in accordance with the expectations of their host society, leading to controversies that were fought out in public spaces. The Roman Curia initiated a process of doctrinal disambiguation and centralization in the nineteenth century, using the missions to Safavid Iran as a case study for global Catholicism.

Format: Hardback
Length: 408 pages
Publication date: 22 February 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Isfahan, the capital of the Safavid Empire, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, became a hub for Catholic missionaries from various affiliations, surpassing many other Asian cities in its diversity. These missionaries were drawn to the city with the hope of converting the Shah, serving as diplomatic agents for Catholic rulers, providing hospitality to Protestant merchants, and offering healing to Armenians and Muslims. By engaging in these unique activities, they gained social acceptance within the local community.

This book delves into the activities of Discalced Carmelites and other missionaries, highlighting their remarkable adaptability in navigating cultural diversity. This characteristic was a prevalent aspect of missionary work across emerging global Catholicism. While missions played a crucial role in shaping the Counter-Reformation Church, the clerics who embarked on them transformed into local actors who established their reputations by aligning their social roles with the expectations of their host societies. These practices sparked controversies that were contested in newly emerging public spaces.

In response to the threat this posed to its authority, the Roman Curia initiated a process of doctrinal disambiguation and centralization that reached its culmination in the nineteenth century. By utilizing the missions to Safavid Iran as a case study for "a global history on a small scale," the book offers a fresh perspective on the study of global Catholicism. It establishes a new paradigm that challenges traditional narratives and provides a deeper understanding of the complex and multifaceted nature of Catholicism's global expansion.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780755649365