The article analyzes the dialogue between eugenicist Renato Kehl and a group of Brazilian psychiatrists who turned their interest to so-called negative eugenics in the early 1930s. Enthused about research into eugenics and the application of eugenic methods in countries such as the United States and Germany, authors like Ernani Lopes, Ignácio da Cunha Lopes, Alberto Farani, and Antonio Carlos Pacheco e Silva blamed Catholicism for impeding Brazil from moving in a similar direction, especially the church's resistance to the sterilization of 'degenerates', which entered into effect in Germany in 1934. The article charts the various strategies these authors proposed for engaging in dialogue with the Catholic Church.
history of eugenics; history of psychiatry; Catholicism; degeneration and sterilization; Renato Kehl (1889-1974)