Conflicting Views: Catholic Missionaries in Ottoman Cities between Accommodation and Latinization

Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the main cities of the Ottoman Empire became the stage of an intense Catholic missionary activity, mainly directed toward the faithful of the Eastern Christian Churches. My paper examines the different strategies employed by religious orders (especially Capuchins, Jesuits and Franciscans) in their relations with the local Orthodox and pre-Chalcedonian Christian communities. I have chosen three main points of inquiry: the adaptation of the European missionaries to the local social structures, their attitude toward the Eastern rites and traditions (respect vs. “latinization”) and finally the measure of tolerance or intolerance displayed toward the practice of sacramental intercommunion between Catholic converts and non-Catholics. As a result of these divergent views, the years between 1700 and 1730 saw the insurgence of several controversies, motivated not only by ideological rivalry or competition, but also by the different social and political conditions specific to each mission. In particular, I will focus on the cases of Constantinople, Aleppo and Cairo, showing how local circumstances influenced the missionaries in their relationship with the Ottoman Christians, with the officials of the Sublime Porte and with the representatives of the Crown of France and of the Roman Church.