Signes de la conversion au catholisme dans l'Inde des XVIe-XVIIe siècles

Between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, conversion to Catholicism in southern India meant a change in the status of converts within the traditional society in which they lived. It is well known that the polemic over the Malabar rites began with the accusation of various religious orders and Roman congregations against the Jesuits, who were accused of propagating a form of syncretism between Catholicism and Hinduism. The Jesuits defended themselves claiming that the maintenance of certain exterior signs affected only the civil and political sphere and was intended to protect converts from persecution by political authorities. Here we retrace the history of polemics about the maintenance of Hindu signs after conversion and the display of new Catholic ones, particularly with regard to Roman congregations and the political powers in place in Indian territory. We seek to understand if the justifications advanced by Jesuit missionaries were corroborated by the dangers that converts actually faced