Ralph Della Cava Papers

The Ralph Della Cava Papers collection is an extensive and comprehensive collection consisting of Ralph Della Cava's research on Brazilian priest Padre Cícero Romão Batista, the social, religious and political history of Juazeiro do Norte, and issues pertaining to the Catholic church in Latin America. The collection contains materials gathered over a period of forty years, including primary resources, late 19th-century and early 20th-century archival and printed materials, research documents, essays, photographs, microfilms, ephemera, correspondence and audiovisual materials. The collection includes the materials donated to the University of Florida which were featured in the exhibit "Brazil's Padre Cícero: Views from the Ralph Della Cava Gift to the UF Libraries", in 2007. These materials, collectively known as the Gift of Ralph Della Cava, are available as the "Ralph Della Cava Gift on Padre Cícero and Popular Religion in Brazilian Northeast" at the University of Florida Digital Collections.

The Ralph Della Cava Papers collection primarily focuses on the life of Padre Cícero Romão Batista (1844-1934), familiarly known as Padre Cícero, and the popular religious movement he inspired in Brazil. Padre Cícero was born in Crato, Ceará, and presided as pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows. Padre Cícero was a controversial figure, reprimanded twice by the Vatican, but revered by the Church in Brazil. Padre Cícero has been declared a Servant of God and is now in the process of canonization, to be declared a saint. The collection contains valuable materials that include Padre Cícero's personal correspondence, telegrams, and photographs. The collection also contains research materials about the Catholic Church in Brazil, Liberation Theology, the role of priests in South America, and diverse research materials, many in microfilm form, such as the relationship between the Church and Marxism and Communism, and Vatican finances. Please note that throughouht the collection, some materials refer to the city Juazeiro do Norte as "Joaseiro", as it was written in an earlier orthography, and sometimes as Joazeiro, or even Juazeiro. Juazeiro do Norte, located in the State of Ceará, was the hamlet Joaseiro. As the population in the hamlet grew and became a city, in order to distinguish it from the city Joaseiro in the state of Bahia, the name was changed to Juazeiro do Norte. Resources in the collection are described and titled as they are in the original items, some of which may use the older spelling of the name, but it should be understood that any spelling variation refers to the city Juazeiro do Norte, State of Ceará, associated with Padre Cícero.

The collection is arranged into seven series, and four sub-series: Series 1, General Files and Research; Series 2, Correspondence; Series 3, Ephemera; Series 4, Publications, with sub-series Booklets, Books, Newspapers, and Other; Series 5, Photographs; Series 6, Audiovisuals; Series 7, Microfilms.

Series 1, General Files and Research, contains documents such as hand and typewritten copies of United States consular files on Ceará between 1780 and 1930 from the National Archives, notes of monetary offerings from individuals with particular requests to be celebrated at mass, research and field notes by Ralph Della Cava, including his research on Vatican finances, research and essays related to Christians for Socialism, notes on Padre Cícero's exhibit and display at the University of Florida, and his keynote speech at SALALM's 50th Annual Conference.

Series 2, Correspondence, contains original and copies of telegrams sent and received by Padre Cícero, letters by José Ferreira, and various original and copies of diverse correspondence.

Series 3, Ephemera, contains artifacts and documents such as postcards, posters, flyers, illustrations, programs. Some of the artifacts are carved figurines of Padre Cícero, but there are other items such as medals, a shoulder patch, and a woven, circular basket placemat.

Series 4, Publications, contains four subseries: Booklets, Books, Newspapers, and Others. The Booklets Subseries contains over forty booklets, including rare Cordel Literature booklets, about topics such as the publicity booklet of the first and third celebrations of Padre Cícero's Week in Juazeiro do Norte, a copy of the speech given by Dr. R. Gomes de Mattos regarding Padre Cícero's statue in Juazeiro do Norte, Gonçalo Ferreria da Silva's O Evangelho Primeiro do Padre Cícero Romão, and a series of basic catechism lessons for adults by Dewet Virmon Taques. The Books Subseries contains over forty books about Padre Cícero, the miracle at Juazeiro, and the history of Ceará. The Newspapers Subseries contains copies and originals of newspapers dating from 1890 to 2011 about Padre Cícero, the miracle at Joazeiro (Juazeiro), and general historical, social and political issues on the history of Ceará and more. The "Other" Subseries contains copies and originals newsletters, publicity pamphlets, articles about Padre Ibiapina, original issues of "Dados Base, Instituto Brasileiro de Analises Sociales e Económicas", Revista do Cinqüentenário de Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará, and D.I.A.L. (Diffusion de L'Information sur L'Amerique Latine).

Series 5, Photographs, contains photographs of Padre Cícero, his mother and father, of Padre Cícero's funeral, of various political personalities important to the history of Ceará such as João Rodrigues Neto, Captain Domingos and José Geraldo da Cruz. The series also contains hundreds of photographs by Dave Denslow Sr. of Juazeiro and its people. The series also contains a folder of microfilm negatives containing copies of documents on research of diverse topics including Teología de la Liberación, Catholic Church, Priests and the Catholic Church in Latin America, and Sacerdotes del Tercer Mundo.

Series 6, Audiovisual, contains cassettes, CDs, and VHS videos pertaining to Juazeiro do Norte, a historiography on Padre Cícero and interviews with various Juazeiro do Norte residents.

Series 7, Microfilm, contains the microfilms made by the University of Florida of the Gift of Ralph Della Cava for the Padre Cícero Program and Exhibit of 2007. A majority of the items housed in the collection are included in the Gift of Ralph Della Cava digital collection, and copies of the microfilms are available for viewing at the Latin American and Caribbean Collection of the Smathers Library of the University of Florida.

The Ralph Della Cava Papers collection provides unique rare materials that are of great value to scholars of Padre Cícero Romão Batista, of Church history in Latin America, and the social, political and religious history of the city of Juazeiro do Norte, State of Ceará, Brazil.