Catholic Mission in Tunisia from 1830 to 1956.

Educational, confessional, and political issues

Abstract

In the 19th century, the missionary movement introduced new forms of education and assistance to poor and orphaned children of all faiths in Tunisia, however it became an instrument of colonization of a "Christian" and "French" land. Applied before the Great War, the secularization of education was undermined by the involvement of the colonial authorities in religious propaganda during the interwar period. Although socialists and nationalists opposed the financing of the Eucharistic Congress at the expense of the population and children, the missionaries displayed their neutrality, then their support for the national struggle for independence before devoting their vocation to knowledge and culture.

Keywords: childhood, Tunisia, 19th-20th century, missionaries, congregational education, colonization