O Padre Leonel Franca e a Obra o Método Pedagógico dos Jesuítas

Abstract

This study examines the influence of the Jesuit pedagogical method on Brazilian education, with a focus on Leonel Franca's contributions to confessional higher education in Brazil, particularly in the establishment of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC Rio). The research revisits the Ratio Studiorum, a normative document that systematized Jesuit pedagogy from the 16th century, and explores how its principles were reinterpreted by Franca in the context of 20th-century Brazil. Franca's work, especially his book The Pedagogical Method of the Jesuits, reflects the fusion of faith and reason, proposing an integral education that extends beyond technical training to include moral and spiritual development. This study seeks to understand the adaptation of Jesuit methods to the Brazilian reality and their contribution to the development of an ethical and humanistic higher education. The research is based on bibliographic and documentary sources that investigate the educational legacy of the Jesuits and Leonel Franca’s intellectual trajectory.