Suppression of the Society of Jesus
In 1782, when the Marquis of Pombal instituted a series of reforms in Portugal and its overseas possessions, which importantly included the Suppression of the Society of Jesus, and other missionaries expelled as well. Pombal was an advocate of monarchical power over the church, often known as regalism, and state autonomy from the papacy, or Gallicanism (after the model in France). The Brazilian church was in no position to protest, since "it had little influence and in fact almost disappeared as a body."