Church and state relations in the colonial period

Relations between Christian missions and colonial states varied greatly. In Catholic contexts, the systems of patronato or padroado produced one pattern of relationships, and direction of missionary orders by the Propaganda Fide quite another. Protestant missions were often only very loosely connected to state structures, although Anglican missions in British imperial contexts tended to develop close ties to the colonial state, especially in the high colonial period from the 1880s through to World War II. Even where missions openly promoted the interests of colonial states, their reasons for doing so were generally evangelistic rather than nationalistic. In the long run, mission education probably did more to subvert colonial rule than to reinforce it.