The fire of tongues

"This important contribution to the biographical literature on Antônio Vieira demonstrates how his experiences in Brazil, and his detention by the Inquisition in Portugal, convinced him that the missionary enterprise must be separated from Portugal's imperial project. Vieira concluded that the Jesuits' special talents (especially their talent for languages) equipped them to build the Christian church in the New World"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.