History of Christianity in Latin America: Methodological Reflections

Summary

1 Defining concepts

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

4 New hermeneutic category

5 Pioneering historiography

6 Periodization

7 Bibliographic references

1 Defining concepts

Talking about the History of Christianity in Latin America implies, first of all, defining some basic concepts: what is understood by Christianity and what the Latin American context implies.

From the time of the discovery of America (1492) until the third decade of the 19th century, proposing a History of Christianity in Spanish America meant referring almost exclusively to the History of the Catholic Church in the New World. Only at the end of the 20th century did the first systematic historical works on Christianity in Latin America begin to appear. Even so, most of the authors who addressed the topic in their manuals treated Christianity as synonymous with the “Roman Catholic Apostolic Church” and understood Latin America as an eminently “Christian” continent. On the other hand, even authors with a more ecumenical intent treated historical Protestantism (Lutherans, Calvinists, Methodists, Baptists), Anglicanism, and Pentecostalism as appendices to the history of Catholicism in Latin America. Therefore, the history of Christianity in Latin America still lacks a treatment that considers the ecumenical history of the “Church” according to its most proper concept, that is, as a result of the call of Jesus Christ, confessed by Christians, as the son of God. In this sense, more than a human institution, the ecclesiological concept of Church should be treated as a historical movement of the mystical body of Christ, the community of saints, the people of God, mediated by historical signs such as evangelization through the sacraments of baptism, the Eucharist, marriage, confession, priestly ordination; through prayer and devotions, vocations, the cross, sufferings, and persecutions. This ecclesiology would open space for an ecumenical historiography.

The definitions of “Christianity” in different historiographical studies present significant variations. For some, Christianity would identify a current of thought, conduct, education, social, legal, and political order, whose root would be in the experience of faith in the Church. In its broadest sense, it would be the repercussion of the Christian tradition in all areas of life, as it was considered at a certain time.

Latin America, in turn, is a cultural, not a geographical concept. It was coined in France in the 19th century to designate the scope of American countries that were constantly being configured with Latin civilization through the intervention of Spaniards, Portuguese, French, and Italians. Frequently, historiography uses the concept of Ibero-America to designate the countries south of the United States. The concept of Latin America is broader, as it could include the former Spanish possessions that today have English, French, and Dutch traditions. However, this same concept has an important one-sidedness, as it excludes indigenous and African cultural elements and, in a way, perpetuates the conceptual idea of the cultural dependency of the southern hemisphere of America in relation to Europe.

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

A second important element to consider in a history of Christianity is its context, that is, Latin America, as a multifaceted continent. Latin America, far from presenting itself as unitary, as the name seems to suggest at first glance, is fundamentally divided linguistically and culturally between Hispanic and Portuguese cultures. In addition, Latin America has been the stage for actions of the European colonial system, European and North American imperialism, revolutions, ideologies, and theologies.

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

Summary

1 Defining concepts

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

4 New hermeneutic category

5 Pioneering historiography

6 Periodization

7 Bibliographic references

1 Defining concepts

Talking about the History of Christianity in Latin America implies, first of all, defining some basic concepts: what is understood by Christianity and what the Latin American context implies.

From the time of the discovery of America (1492) until the third decade of the 19th century, proposing a History of Christianity in Spanish America meant almost exclusively referring to the History of the Catholic Church in the New World. Only at the end of the 20th century did the first systematic historical works on Christianity in Latin America begin to appear. Even so, most of the authors who addressed the topic in their manuals treated Christianity as synonymous with the “Roman Catholic Apostolic Church” and understood Latin America as an eminently “Christian” continent. On the other hand, even authors who had a more ecumenical intention treated historical Protestantism (Lutherans, Calvinists, Methodists, Baptists), Anglicanism, and Pentecostalism as appendices to the history of Catholicism in Latin America. Therefore, the history of Christianity in Latin America still lacks an approach that considers the ecumenical history of the “Church” according to its most proper concept, that is, as the fruit of the call of Jesus Christ, confessed by Christians as the son of God. In this sense, more than a human institution, the ecclesiological concept of Church should be treated as the historical movement of the mystical body of Christ, the community of saints, the people of God, mediated by historical signs such as evangelization through the sacraments of baptism, the Eucharist, marriage, confession, through priestly ordination; through prayer and devotions, vocations, the cross, sufferings, and persecutions. This ecclesiology would open space for an ecumenical historiography.

The definitions of “Christianity” in different historiographic studies present significant variations. For some, Christianity would identify a current of thought, conduct, education, social, legal, and political order, whose root would be in the living faith in the Church. In its broadest sense, it would be the repercussion of the Christian tradition in all areas of life, as it was considered at a certain time.

Latin America, in turn, is a cultural, not geographical, concept. It was coined in France in the 19th century to designate the scope of American countries that were constantly shaping themselves with Latin civilization through the intervention of Spaniards, Portuguese, French, and Italians. Frequently, historiography uses the concept of Ibero-America to designate countries south of the United States. The concept of Latin America is broader, as it could include former Spanish possessions that today have English, French, and Dutch traditions. However, this same concept has an important one-sidedness, as it excludes indigenous and African cultural elements and, in a way, perpetuates the conceptual idea of the cultural dependency of the southern hemisphere of America in relation to Europe.

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

A second important element to be considered in a history of Christianity is its context, that is, Latin America as a multifaceted continent. Latin America, far from presenting itself as unitary, as the name might suggest at first glance, is fundamentally divided linguistically and culturally between Hispanic and Portuguese cultures. Furthermore, Latin America was the stage for actions of the European colonial system, European and North American imperialism, revolutions, ideologies, and theologies.

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

In the study of Christianity, specifically in Latin America, there is a perspective issue that cannot be disregarded: should one think of a religious history or a non-religious history of Christianity in Latin America? In the case of a religious history, the emphasis would fall on the relationships between the Church or Churches and the States. On the other hand, it is important not to forget that Latin American Christianity has historically presented itself under multiple facets of thought, of spirituality. Each of them expresses a specific era, a specific way of living Christianity, where the main emphasis would be on the relationship of Christian thought with culture. Some forms of Christianity have, until now, been dismissed by scholars as products of “syncretism,” but they should be considered in a global study of Christianity in Latin America.

4 New hermeneutic category

Until recently, the historiographic paradigm that served as the basis for the History of Christianity in Latin America was based on the model of “Christendom.” According to this model, history would be the result of the link between people and institutions that would form the relations between the Church and the State, in which it was sought to show how this articulation, to a certain extent, favored missionary evangelization in the New World. From the Second Vatican Council and, later, the Second General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, in Medellín (Colombia, 1968), and the Third General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, in Puebla (Mexico, 1979), theologians linked to Liberation Theology introduced a new hermeneutic category, which served as the basis for the reinterpretation of the History of Christianity in Latin America: it was the category of the “poor.” From a sociological point of view, “poor” refers to a social class. But as a “historical subject,” the poor are the destitute, the marginalized, the indigenous, the immigrant, the slaves; everyone who is stripped of their most fundamental rights and dignities. In this sense, the History of Christianity from the perspective of the defeated, the marginalized, the poor (see: The history of the defeated: indigenous and Afro-descendants), broadens the historiographic field which, otherwise, would be almost restricted to the relations of the hierarchy and powers of institutions. Without ignoring the due historical contexts, the historiography of Christianity in Latin America must integrate the Latin American man, dependent, dominated, and oppressed, according to the characteristic elements of a society whose loss of autonomy, destruction of ethnic units, and forced submission are essential to understanding the processes that hinder, or completely prevent, techno-scientific development and lead to the loss of control over one’s socio-political destiny.

5 Pioneering historiography

…

6 Periodization

…

7 Bibliographic references

…

Summary

1 Defining concepts

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

4 New hermeneutic category

5 Pioneering historiography

6 Periodization

7 Bibliographic references

1 Defining concepts

Talking about the History of Christianity in Latin America implies, first of all, defining some basic concepts: what is understood by Christianity and what the Latin American context implies.

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

4 New hermeneutic category

5 Pioneering historiography

Until the early 1960s, historiography on Christianity in Latin America was almost entirely limited to the consideration of Latin American Ecclesiastical History. The investigation, and consequently also the periodization, depended entirely on the History of the Church in the various national units. There were no shortages of initiatives for more global historiographies, such as that of Houtart, who, between 1958 and 1962, began the publication of the Estudios religiosos do FERES (Federacíon Internacional de los Institutos Católicos de Investigaciones Sociales e Socio-religiosas), in Fribourg and Bogotá. Although there was an attempt to formulate a new paradigm for historiography on the History of Christianity in Latin America (the first volume addressed evangelization in Latin America; and the third, the Church in the crisis of independence), Brazil was excluded from the investigation. The cultural and linguistic differences between Brazil and the other Spanish-American countries kept investigations on Christianity within the scope of the Church’s implantation and along completely parallel paths until the 1970s. In general, the works that were being published in that decade, including the Historia de la Iglesia de la America española, by the Jesuits Lopetegui, Zubillaga, and Egaña (1965-1966), were confined to Hispanic America. Therefore, the hermeneutic logic was still based on regional diocesan histories and Spanish chronology, such as for the colonial period: from Ferdinand V to Philip II (1508-1556); from Philip II to Charles II (1556-1700); and from Charles II to Ferdinand VII (1700-1833). However, attempts at “syntheses” were already beginning to emerge, as in the case of Egaña (whose titles were: “Acción santificadora de la Iglesia”, “Acción cultural de la Iglesia”, and “Acción artística de la Iglesia”). As can be seen, the scope was still within the History of the Church.

Enrique Dussel (1972) published his Historia de la Iglesia en América Latina, introducing in the subtitle Medio milenio de coloniaje y liberación (1492-1992). However, Brazil was treated only marginally, and Protestantism appeared only in appendices V and VI. Nevertheless, Dussel and Hoornaert (1974), in Brazil, were the first to include in their syntheses the issues raised by the Second Vatican Council and the Medellín Conference. Both influenced the research and publications of the Comisión de Estudios de Historia de la Iglesia en América Latina (CEHILA).

After Kenneth Scott Latourette, with the History of the expansion of Christianity (1939 and 1943 for Latin America), it was the Cuban historian Justo González, with his Historia de las misiones (1970), who was the first to present a synthesis on the spread of Christianity and Protestantism in Latin America. For the Caribbean, Justo presented, in 1969, an ecumenical history of the “development of Christianity,” analyzing, according to the categories of growth and relevance of the Church, its relationship with the social and political problems of Latin America. In this sense, three years earlier, Lloyd Mecham had published Church and state in Latin America. A history of politico-ecclesiastical relations (1966), which already considered the Protestant presence in its analyses.

Finally, major manuals such as the New Catholic Encyclopedia (vol. VIII, 1967) and the Manual de Historia de la Iglesia, by H. Jedin, which dedicates several sections to Latin America (1966-1979), include Christianity in America, but in its relationship with the Church (except for the part treated by F. Zubillaga (1967-1979). In the Protestant field, the manual directed by Kurt Dietrisch Schmidt and Ernst Wolf, Die Kirche in ihrer Geschichte, stands out, which analyzes the development of Protestantism alongside that of Catholicism, also including a section for Brazil.

6 Periodization

…

7 Bibliographic references

…

Summary

1 Defining concepts

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

4 New hermeneutic category

5 Pioneering historiography

6 Periodization

7 Bibliographic references

1 Defining concepts

Talking about the History of Christianity in Latin America implies, first of all, defining some basic concepts: what is understood by Christianity and what the Latin American context implies.

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

4 New hermeneutic category

5 Pioneering historiography

6 Periodization

The periodization of the History of Christianity in Latin America is difficult to determine. First, because Latin American history does not fit into the traditional classification of ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary periods (despite the numerous inconveniences that such a classification may entail). Neither does the artifice of equivalence between higher American cultures and ancient history, the colonial period and the middle ages, the enlightenment period and the European Renaissance, or the period of independence, the formation of national states, and the penetration of Protestantism in the 19th century and the contemporary period, help in defining the periods. Such comparisons do not withstand a deeper analysis of the respective contexts. The colonial period, which since the 16th century was deeply marked by the baroque spirit and the resolutions of the Council of Trent, cannot be equated with the European medieval period. Likewise, the phenomenon of the expansion of Protestantism is not comparable to the era of the Reformation in Europe. This means that there are no prior models of periodization for the History of Christianity in Latin America. What researchers have proposed are more or less comprehensive attempts at a periodization based on the chronology of the History of the Catholic Church in Latin America, besides separating (with some exceptions) the models referring to Spanish-speaking America and Brazil.

An example of periodization, proposed by E. Dussel (1972), is articulated as follows:

The Christendom of the West Indies (1492-1808)

1.1. First stage. The first steps (1492-1519)

1.2. Second stage. The missions of New Spain and Peru (1519-1551)

1.3. Third stage. The organization and strengthening of the Church (1551-1620)

1.4. Fourth stage. The conflicts between the missionary Church and Hispanic civilization (1620-1700)

1.5. Fifth stage. The Bourbon decline (1700-1808)

Agony of Colonial Christendom (1808-1962)

2.1. Sixth stage. The crisis of the independence wars (1808-1825)

2.2. Seventh stage. The crisis deepens (1825-1850)

2.3. Eighth stage. The rupture occurs! (1850-1930)

2.4. Ninth stage. The renaissance of Latin American elites, in a project of new Christendom (1930-1962)

The dawn of a new era (from 1962)

3.1. The Latin American crisis of liberation.

3.2. Description of recent events[1]

Naturally, this model does not fit perfectly for Brazil, which began its missionary movement much later. In addition, only with the creation of the Archbishopric of Salvador da Bahia in 1676 and with the erection of the last diocese in the colonial period, in 1745, Mariana (MG), can the organization and consolidation of the Brazilian Church be considered. Finally, also regarding Brazil, it was the Braganza dynasty that was in power in Portugal from 1640 to 1810.

Therefore, E. Hoornaert, in Para uma História da Igreja no Brasil (1973), proposes another periodization that takes into account the specificity of Brazilian history.

The Brazilian Christendom (1500-1808)

1.1. Evangelization

1.1.1. 1500-1614: Transoceanic or coastal period

1.1.2. 1614-1700: Colonization of the interior of the country through river routes

1.1.3. 1700-1750: Discovery of the “minas gerais” (the rich deposits existing in the federal state of the same name) and the beginning of the “Great Brazil”

1.1.4. 1750-1808: Reaction of the colonial pact of Portugal and Brazil to the new facts created by the Peace of Utrecht (1713)

1.2. Organization (orders, episcopate, clergy, seculars)

1.3. Daily life (clergy, typology of Catholicism)

The Church and the new State (1808-1930)

2.1. Political emancipation and the Church

2.2. The formation of the new State and the Church

2.3. The reorganization of the Church in the face of the liberal State and its crisis

Towards a Latin American Church (from 1930)

3.1. The laity and the social problem (1930-1962)

3.2. The Church of Vatican II, CELAM, and Liberation

As noted, the periodization proposed by Hoornaert adapts to the history of the Catholic Church in Brazil and, at least at the time of its proposition (1973), did not consider the topic of Protestants in Brazil.

There are still other attempts, such as that of the Uruguayan historian Methol (1968). His model, which includes Brazilian history, is articulated under three axes:

The indigenous Christendom (1492-1808)
The first emancipation and the anarchy of the Church (1808-1831)
The Church between restoration and secularization (1831-1962)

Although enormous advances have been made in research, in the current stage of periodization for the History of Christianity in Latin America, it is observed that a fully satisfactory unitary periodization has not yet been achieved. Each model presents advantages and disadvantages. Certainly, the overcoming of the bipartite history of colonial and Latin American history and the acceptance by researchers of the principle of mutual relation between both is already leading to more comprehensive syntheses.

A proposal in this sense is that of Hans-Jürgen Prien’s manual, La Historia del Cristianismo en América Latina (1985), which articulates its historical periodization as follows:

Development of Latin American Christianity under the sign of the “Christendom” model
Crisis of Latin American “Christendom” during the Enlightenment and political emancipation
Church and Society between restoration and secularization. Questioning and suppression of the traditional model of Latin American “Christendom” due to liberalism and Protestantism
Christianity in the era of ecumenism and the crisis of Nation States in the conflict of development

Consequently, whichever periodization is chosen (with the relative advantages and disadvantages), we certainly cannot understand the roots and profound changes that Christianity in Latin America and, specifically, in Brazil has undergone without considering some fundamental factors, which by themselves already indicate an outline of periodization.

For Enrique Dussel, historical periods can be considered as internal moments of epochs, whose limits would be marked by the changes of historical power blocs. Ondina E. González and Justo González, in their book, Cristianismo na América Latina. Uma história (2010), include a period for Catholicism after Vatican II and another for Pentecostalism and indigenous movements.

In this sense, we could think of the History of Christianity in Latin America generically divided as follows:

1^st epoch – From the “discovery” to the mid-16th century. It would cover the time of the implantation of the Hispanic-Lusitanian presence, the process of colonization, and missionary expansion.

2^nd epoch – From the mid-16th century to 1620. Besides continuing with the previous process, this epoch would address the implantation of the structures of the colonial Church and all forms of Christian religiosity in this colonial period. Particularly important would be the Council of Lima (1551), the founding of the Diocese of Bahia, and the arrival of the Jesuits in Brazil (1549). Finally, the organizational structure of the colonial Church already formed.

Summary

1 Defining concepts

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

4 New hermeneutic category

5 Pioneering historiography

6 Periodization

7 Bibliographical references

1 Defining concepts

Speaking of the History of Christianity in Latin America implies, first of all, defining some basic concepts: what is understood by Christianity and what the Latin American context implies.

From the times of the discovery of America (1492) until the third decade of the 19th century, proposing a History of Christianity in Hispanic America meant almost exclusively referring to the History of the Catholic Church in the New World. Only at the end of the 20th century did the first systematic historical works on Christianity in Latin America begin to appear. Even so, most authors who addressed the topic in their manuals treated Christianity as synonymous with the “Roman Catholic Apostolic Church” and understood Latin America as an eminently “Christian” continent. On the other hand, even authors with a more ecumenical approach treated historical Protestantism (Lutherans, Calvinists, Methodists, Baptists), Anglicanism, and Pentecostalism as appendices to the history of Catholicism in Latin America. Therefore, the history of Christianity in Latin America still lacks a treatment that considers the ecumenical history of the “Church,” according to its most proper concept, that is, as the fruit of the call of Jesus Christ, confessed by Christians, as the Son of God. In this sense, more than a human institution, the ecclesiological concept of the Church should be treated as the historical movement of the mystical body of Christ, the community of saints, the people of God, mediated by historical signs such as evangelization by the sacraments of baptism, the Eucharist, marriage, confession, priestly ordination; by prayer and devotions, vocations, the cross, sufferings, and persecutions. This ecclesiology would open space for an ecumenical historiography.

Definitions of “Christianity” in different historiographical studies present significant variations. For some, Christianity would identify a current of thought, conduct, education, social, legal, and political order, whose root would be the experience of faith in the Church. In its broadest sense, it would be the repercussion of the Christian tradition in all areas of life, as it was considered in a given era.

Latin America, in turn, is a cultural, not a geographical concept. It was coined in France in the 19th century to designate the realm of American countries that were constantly being shaped by Latin civilization through the intervention of Spaniards, Portuguese, French, and Italians. Often, historiography uses the concept of Ibero-America to refer to countries south of the United States. The concept of Latin America is broader, as it could include former Spanish possessions that today have English, French, and Dutch traditions. However, this same concept has an important unilateral aspect, as it excludes indigenous and African cultural elements and, in a way, perpetuates the conceptual idea of cultural dependence of the southern hemisphere of America in relation to Europe.

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

A second important element to be considered in a history of Christianity is its context, that is, Latin America, as a multifaceted continent. Latin America, far from presenting itself as unitary, as the name seems to suggest at first glance, is fundamentally divided linguistically and culturally between Hispanic and Portuguese cultures. In addition, Latin America has been the scene of actions by the European colonial system, European and North American imperialism, revolutions, ideologies, and theologies.

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

In the study of Christianity, specifically in Latin America, there is a perspective issue that cannot be disregarded: should we consider a religious history or a non-religious history of Christianity in Latin America? In the case of religious history, the emphasis would fall on the relationships between the Church or Churches and the States. On the other hand, it is important not to forget that Latin American Christianity historically presented itself in multiple facets of thought and spirituality. Each of them expresses a specific era, a specific way of living Christianity, where the main emphasis would be on the relationship between Christian thought and culture. Some forms of Christianity have been discarded by scholars up to the present because they were considered the result of “syncretism,” but they should be considered in a global study of Christianity in Latin America.

4 New hermeneutic category

Until recently, the historiographic paradigm that served as the basis for the History of Christianity in Latin America was founded on the model of “Christendom.” According to this model, history would be the result of the link between people and institutions that formed the relationships between the Church and the State, in which they sought to show how this articulation, to a certain extent, favored missionary evangelization in the New World. From the Second Vatican Council and, subsequently, the Second General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, in Medellin (Colombia, 1968), and the Third General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, in Puebla (Mexico, 1979), theologians linked to Liberation Theology inserted a new hermeneutic category, which served as the basis for reinterpreting the History of Christianity in Latin America: it was the category of the “poor.” From a sociological point of view, “poor” refers to a social class. But as a “historical subject,” the poor are the miserable, the marginalized, the indigenous, the immigrant, the slaves; anyone who is stripped of their most fundamental rights and dignities. In this sense, the History of Christianity from the perspective of the defeated, the marginalized, the poor (see: The history of the defeated: indigenous and Afro-descendants), expands the historiographic field that would otherwise be almost restricted to the relationships of hierarchy and power of institutions. Without ignoring the proper historical contexts, the historiography of Christianity in Latin America must integrate the dependent, dominated, and oppressed Latin American man, according to the characteristic elements of a society whose loss of autonomy, the destruction of ethnic units, and forced submission are essential for understanding the processes that hinder, or completely prevent, techno-scientific development and lead to the loss of control over their own socio-political destiny.

5 Pioneering historiography

Until the early 1960s, historiography on Christianity in Latin America was almost entirely restricted to the consideration of Latin American Ecclesiastical History. Research, and consequently periodization, depended entirely on the History of the Church in various national units. There were no shortages of initiatives for more global historiographies, such as Houtart’s, who, between 1958 and 1962, began publishing the Estudios religiosos do FERES (Federacíon Internacional de los Institutos Católicos de Investigaciones Sociales e Socio-religiosas), in Fribourg and Bogotá. Although there was an attempt to formulate a new paradigm for historiography on the History of Christianity in Latin America (the first volume addressed evangelization in Latin America; and the third, the Church in the crisis of independence), Brazil was left out of the research. The cultural and linguistic differences between Brazil and other Spanish-American countries kept research on Christianity within the scope of the implantation of the Church and along completely parallel lines until the 1970s. In general, the works published during that decade, including the Historia de la Iglesia de la America española, by Jesuits Lopetegui, Zubillaga, and Egaña (1965-1966), were confined to Spanish America. Therefore, the hermeneutic logic was still based on regional diocesan histories and Spanish chronology, for example, for the colonial period: from Fernando V to Felipe II (1508-1556); from Felipe II to Carlos II (1556-1700); and from Carlos II to Fernando VII (1700-1833). Although attempts at “syntheses” were beginning to emerge, as in the case of Egaña (whose titles were: “Acción santificadora de la Iglesia”, “Acción cultural de la Iglesia”, and “Acción artística de la Iglesia”). As can be seen, the scope was still within the History of the Church.

Enrique Dussel (1972) published his Historia de la Iglesia en América latina, introducing in the subtitle Medio milenio de coloniaje y liberación (1492-1992). However, Brazil was treated only marginally, and Protestantism appeared only in appendices V and VI. Nevertheless, Dussel and Hoornaert (1974), in Brazil, were the first to include in their syntheses the issues raised by the Second Vatican Council and the Medellin Conference. Both influenced the research and publications of the Commission for the Study of Church History in Latin America (CEHILA).

After Kenneth Scott Latourette, with the History of the expansion of Christianity (1939 and 1943 for Latin America), it was the Cuban historian Justo González, with his Historia de las missiones (1970) who first presented a synthesis on the diffusion of Christianity and Protestantism in Latin America. For the Caribbean, Justo presented, in 1969, an ecumenical history of the “development of Christendom,” analyzing, according to the categories of growth and relevance of the Church, its relationship with social and political problems in Latin America. In this sense, three years earlier, Lloyd Mecham had published Church and state in Latin America. A history of politico-ecclesiastical relations (1966), which already considered the Protestant presence in its analyses.

Finally, the major manuals such as the New Catholic Encyclopedia (vol. VIII, 1967) and H. Jedin’s Manual de Historia de la Iglesia, which dedicates several sections to Latin America (1966-1979), include Christianity in America, but in its relationship with the Church (except for the part treated by F. Zubillaga (1967-1979). In the Protestant realm, the manual directed by Kurt Dietrich Schmidt and Ernst Wolf, Die Kirche in ihrer Geschichte, analyzes the development of Protestantism alongside that of Catholicism, also including a section for Brazil.

6 Periodization

The periodization of the History of Christianity in Latin America is challenging to determine. First, because Latin American history does not fit into the traditional classification of ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary (despite the numerous inconveniences that such classification may raise). Nor does the artifice of equivalence between higher American cultures and ancient history, the colonial period and the Middle Ages, the period of Enlightenment, and the European Renaissance, or the period of independence, the formation of national states, and the penetration of Protestantism in the 19th century, and the contemporary period help in defining the periods. Such comparisons do not withstand a deeper analysis of the respective contexts. The colonial period, which since the 16th century was deeply marked by the Baroque spirit and the resolutions of the Council of Trent, cannot be equated to the European medieval period. Similarly, the phenomenon of Protestant expansion is not comparable to the Reformation period in Europe. This means that there are no previous models of periodization for the History of Christianity in Latin America. What researchers have proposed are more or less comprehensive attempts at periodization based on the chronology of the History of the Catholic Church in Latin America, in addition to separating (with some exceptions) the models concerning Spanish-speaking America and Brazil.

An example of periodization proposed by E. Dussel (1972) is articulated as follows:

The Christendom of the West Indies (1492-1808)

1.1. First stage. The first steps (1492-1519)

1.2. Second stage. The missions of New Spain and Peru (1519-1551)

1.3. Third stage. The organization and strengthening of the Church (1551-1620)

1.4. Fourth stage. The conflicts between the missionary Church and Hispanic civilization (1620-1700)

1.5. Fifth stage. The Bourbon decline (1700-1808)

Agony of Colonial Christendom (1808-1962)

2.1. Sixth stage. The crisis of the independence wars (1808-1825)

2.2. Seventh stage. The crisis deepens (1825-1850)

2.3. Eighth stage. The rupture occurs! (1850-1930)

2.4. Ninth stage. Renaissance of Latin American elites, in a project of new Christendom (1930-1962)

The dawn of a new era (since 1962)

3.1. The Latin American crisis of liberation.

3.2. Description of recent events[1]

Naturally, this model does not fit perfectly for Brazil, which began its missionary movement much later. Moreover, only with the creation of the Archbishopric of Salvador da Bahia in 1676 and the erection of the last diocese in the colonial period, in 1745, Mariana (MG), can we consider the organization and consolidation of the Brazilian Church. Finally, also for Brazil, it was the Braganza dynasty that was in power in Portugal from 1640 to 1810.

Therefore, E. Hoornaert, in Para uma História da Igreja no Brasil (1973), proposes another periodization that takes into account the specificity of Brazilian history.

The Brazilian Christendom (1500-1808)

1.1. Evangelization

1.1.1. 1500-1614: Transoceanic period or the coasts

1.1.2. 1614-1700: Colonization of the interior of the country through river routes

1.1.3. 1700-1750: Discovery of the “minas gerais” (the rich deposits in the federal state of the same name) and the beginning of the “Grande Brasil”

1.1.4. 1750-1808: Reaction of the colonial pact between Portugal and Brazil to the new facts created by the Peace of Utrecht (1713)

1.2. Organization (orders, episcopate, secular clergy)

1.3. Daily life (clergy, typology of Catholicism)

The Church and the new State (1808-1930)

2.1. Political emancipation and the Church

2.2. The formation of the new State and the Church

2.3. The reorganization of the Church in the face of the liberal State and its crisis

Towards a Latin American Church (from 1930)

3.1. The laity and the social problem (1930-1962)

3.2. The Church of Vatican II, CELAM, and Liberation

There are still other attempts, such as that of the Uruguayan historian Methol (1968). His model, which includes Brazilian history, is articulated under three axes:

The indigenous Christendom (1492-1808)
The first emancipation and the anarchy of the Church (1808-1831)
The Church between restoration and secularization (1831-1962)

Although enormous advances have been made in research, at the current stage of periodization for the History of Christianity in Latin America, it is observed that a fully satisfactory unitary periodization has not yet been achieved. Each model presents advantages and disadvantages. Certainly, overcoming the bipartition of colonial history and the history of Latin America and the acceptance by researchers of the principle of mutual relationship between both is already leading to more comprehensive syntheses.

A proposal in this sense is the manual by Hans-Jürgen Prien, La Historia del Cristianismo en América Latina (1985), which articulates its historical periodization as follows:

Development of Latin American Christianity under the sign of the “Christendom” model
Crisis of Latin American “Christendom” in the era of Enlightenment and political emancipation
Church and Society between restoration and secularization. Questioning and suppression of the traditional model of Latin American “Christendom” due to liberalism and Protestantism
Christianity in the era of ecumenism and the crisis of national states in the conflict of development

Consequently, whichever periodization is chosen (with the relative advantages and disadvantages), we certainly cannot understand the roots and profound changes that Christianity has undergone in Latin America and, specifically in Brazil, without considering some fundamental factors, which themselves already indicate a periodization outline.

For Enrique Dussel, historical periods can be considered as internal moments of the epochs, whose limits would be marked by changes in historical power blocs. Ondina E. González and Justo González in their book, Cristianismo na América Latina. Uma história (2010), include a period for Catholicism after Vatican II and another for Pentecostalism and indigenous movements.

In this sense, we could think of the History of Christianity in Latin America generically divided as follows:

1^st epoch – From the “discovery” to the mid-16th century. This would cover the time of the implantation of the Hispanic-Lusitanian presence, the colonization process, and missionary expansion.

2^nd epoch – Would cover the period from the mid-16th century to 1620. In addition to continuing the previous process, this epoch would address the establishment of the structures of the colonial Church and all forms of Christian religiosity in this colonial period. Especially important would be the Council of Lima (1551), the founding of the Diocese of Bahia, the arrival of the Jesuits in Brazil (1549). And, finally, the organizational structure of the already formed colonial Church.

3^rd epoch – Would begin in 1620, extending to 1700 (*1777). It would be the period of “Baroque Christianity,” which would conclude with the crisis of the dynastic succession, with the replacement of the Habsburgs by the Bourbons, in Spain. This period would be marked by a reorganization of colonial society, including the Enlightenment in Latin America. In the Brazilian case, the chronological axis would extend until the end of the Pombaline period (*1777). The Pombaline reforms changed the political-social configuration of Brazil, with consequent reflections on the ecclesial life of Brazilian Catholicism.

4^th epoch – Would cover the chronological period between 1780 and 1914. This long period would cover the time of crisis of the colonial period (1807-1830), the wars of emancipation (1830-1880), and the reorganization of national states in Latin America. It would be the moment when the definitive split between a Christianity marked by a patronal-type Church and the epoch of the emancipation of the criollo oligarchy would occur. In Brazil, the “religious question” would lead to the separation between Church and State, and the “romanization of Catholicism.” Between 1880 and 1914, we would have the phenomenon of imperialism, accompanied by positivism, and the expansion of Protestantism. Christianity would be marked by the struggle between conservatives and old liberals in search of a new state order. The echoes of a “late” liberalism and scientism would reach Latin America. The liberal state would undertake the “nationalization” of ecclesiastical assets. Protestantism would have a discourse very similar to that of Romanized Catholicism. Installation of modern religious congregations and opening of Protestant colleges.

5^th epoch – From 1914 to the present. It would cover the period between the two great wars. In Latin America, Christianity would be strongly marked by populist movements. The Catholic Church would open more space for lay movements and insertion into civil life. Protestantism, in turn, would propose a model of ecclesial life in which Latin America would be considered a territory for evangelization, beginning its expansion. Important for this penetration were the Congresses of Panama (1916), Montevideo (1925), and Havana (1929). The Second Vatican Council and its echoes, with the Conferences of Medellin, Puebla, and Santo Domingo. Also part of this period is the renewal of Christianity concerning the developmental projects of the states (1955-1965); the clash with dictatorial governments and the National Security Doctrine (1965-1980); the preferential option for the poor, the crisis caused by Liberation Theology; and the participation of churches in the various strands of socialist ideologies. A final very important element for the History of Christianity would be the development of multiple manifestations of Pentecostal/evangelical Christianity and indigenous movements. The “syncretic” Christianity.

This attempt at periodization exemplifies the complexity and comprehensiveness of a History of Christianity in Latin America.

Luiz Fernando Medeiros Rodrigues, SJ. Unisinos, São Leopoldo (Brazil). Original in Portuguese

7 Bibliographical References

DREHER, Martin N. A Igreja Latino-Americana no Contexto Mundial. 3^rd. Ed. São Leopoldo: Sinodal, 2007.

DUSSEL, Enrique. Historia de la Iglesia en América latina. Medio milenio de coloniaje y liberación (1492-1992). 2^nd ed. Nova Terra: Barcelona, 1972.

EGAÑA, Antonio de. Historia de la Iglesia en la América española desde el descubrimiento hasta comienzos del siglo XIX. Hemisferio Sur. Madrid: BAC, 1966.

GONZÁLEZ, Justo L. Historia de las missiones. Bueno Aires: Methopress, 1970.

GONZÁLEZ, Ondina E.- GONZÁLEZ, Justo. Cristianismo na América Latina. Uma história. São Paulo: Editora Vida Nova, 2010.

HOORNAERT, Eduardo. “Para uma história da Igreja no Brasil”. In: REB, mar. 33 (1973): 117-138.

HOUTART, François. La Iglesia latino-americana en la hora del concilio. FERES: Fibourg/Bogotá, 1963.

JEDIN, Hubert. Manual de Historia de la Iglesia. (Biblioteca Herder, 10 T.). Barcelona: Ed. Herder, 1966-1987.

LATOURETTE, Kenneth Scott. A history of the expansion of cristianity. vols. III, V. New York: Harper & Bros, 1939, 1943.

Summary

1 Clarifying concepts

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

4 New hermeneutic category

5 Pioneering historiography

6 Periodization

7 Bibliographical references

1 Clarifying concepts

Talking about the History of Christianity in Latin America implies, first of all, clarifying some basic concepts: what is meant by Christianity and what the Latin American context entails.

From the time of the discovery of America (1492) until the third decade of the 19th century, proposing a History of Christianity in Hispano-America meant almost exclusively referring to the History of the Catholic Church in the New World. It was only at the end of the 20th century that the first systematic historical works on Christianity in Latin America began to appear. Even so, most authors who addressed the topic in their manuals treated Christianity as synonymous with “Roman Catholic Apostolic Church” and understood Latin America as an eminently “Christian” continent. On the other hand, even authors who had a more ecumenical intention treated historical Protestantism (Lutherans, Calvinists, Methodists, Baptists), Anglicanism, and Pentecostalism as appendices to the history of Catholicism in Latin America. Therefore, the history of Christianity in Latin America still lacks a treatment that considers the ecumenical history of the “Church,” according to its most proper concept, that is, as the fruit of Jesus Christ’s call, confessed by Christians, as the Son of God. In this sense, more than a human institution, the ecclesiological concept of Church should be treated as the historical movement of the mystical body of Christ, the community of saints, the people of God, mediated by historical signs such as evangelization through the sacraments of baptism, Eucharist, marriage, confession, priestly ordination; through prayer and devotions, vocations, the cross, sufferings, and persecutions. This ecclesiology would open space for ecumenical historiography.

The definitions of “Christianity” in different historiographical studies present significant variations. For some, Christianity would identify a stream of thought, conduct, education, social, legal, and political order, whose root would be in the lived faith in the Church. In its broadest sense, it would be the repercussion of the Christian tradition in all areas of life, as it was considered in a given epoch.

Latin America, in turn, is a cultural, not a geographical, concept. It was coined in France in the 19th century to designate the scope of American countries that were constantly being configured with Latin civilization through the intervention of Spaniards, Portuguese, French, and Italians. Often, historiography uses the concept of Ibero-America to designate the countries south of the United States. The concept of Latin America is broader, as it could include former Spanish possessions that today have English, French, and Dutch traditions. However, this same concept has a significant unilateral nature as it excludes indigenous and African cultural elements and, in a way, perpetuates the conceptual idea of the cultural dependence of the southern hemisphere of America on Europe.

2 Specificity of the Latin American context

A second important element to consider in a history of Christianity is its context, that is, Latin America as a multifaceted continent. Latin America, far from presenting itself as unitary, as the name seems to suggest at first glance, presents itself fundamentally divided linguistically and culturally between Hispanic and Portuguese cultures. Moreover, Latin America has been a stage for actions of the European colonial system, European and North American imperialism, revolutions, ideologies, and theologies.

3 Religious history and the multiple forms of Christianity

In the study of Christianity, specifically in Latin America, there is a matter of perspective that cannot be disregarded: should one think of a religious history or a non-religious history of Christianity in Latin America? In the case of a religious history, the emphasis would be on the relationships between the Church or Churches and the States. On the other hand, it is important not to forget that Latin American Christianity has historically presented itself under multiple facets of thought and spirituality. Each of them expresses a specific time, a specific way of living Christianity, where the main emphasis would be on the relationship between Christian thought and culture. Some forms of Christianity have so far been discarded by scholars for being considered the fruit of “syncretism,” but they should be considered in a comprehensive study of Christianity in Latin America.

4 New hermeneutic category

Until recently, the historiographic paradigm that served as the basis for the History of Christianity in Latin America was founded on the model of “Christendom.” According to this model, history would be the result of the linkage between people and institutions that formed the relationships between the Church and the State, in which they sought to show how this articulation, to some extent, favored missionary evangelization in the New World. From the Second Vatican Council and, later, the Second General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, in Medellín (Colombia, 1968) and the Third General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, in Puebla (Mexico, 1979), theologians linked to Liberation Theology inserted a new hermeneutic category, which served as a basis for rereading the History of Christianity in Latin America: it was the category of the “poor.” From a sociological point of view, “poor” refers to a social class. But as a “historical subject,” the poor are the destitute, the marginalized, the indigenous, the immigrant, the slaves; all those who are stripped of their most fundamental rights and dignities. In this sense, the History of Christianity from the perspective of the vanquished, the marginalized, the poor (see: The history of the vanquished: indigenous and Afro-descendants), broadens the historiographic field which would otherwise be almost restricted to the relationships of hierarchy and powers of institutions. Without disregarding the due historical contexts, the historiography of Christianity in Latin America must integrate the Latin American man, dependent, dominated, and oppressed, according to the characteristic elements of a society whose loss of autonomy, destruction of ethnic units, and forced submission form an essential part for understanding the processes that hinder, or completely impede, techno-scientific development, leading to the loss of control over their own socio-political destiny.

5 Pioneering historiography

Until the early 60s, the historiography on Christianity in Latin America was almost entirely restricted to considering the Latin American Ecclesiastical History. The research, and consequently the periodization, depended entirely on the History of the Church in the various national units. There were no shortages of more global historiographic initiatives, such as Houtart’s, who, between 1958 and 1962, began the publication of the Estudios religiosos do FERES (Federacíon Internacional de los Institutos Católicos de Investigaciones Sociales e Socio-religiosas), in Fribourg and Bogotá. Although there was an attempt to formulate a new paradigm for historiography on the History of Christianity in Latin America (the first volume addressed evangelization in Latin America; and the third, the Church in the crisis of independence), Brazil was left out of the research. The cultural and linguistic differences between Brazil and the other Hispanic-American countries kept research on Christianity within the scope of the Church’s implantation and through completely parallel paths until the 70s. Generally, the works published in that decade, including the Historia de la Iglesia de la America española, by the Jesuits Lopetegui, Zubillaga, and Egaña (1965-1966), were confined to Hispanic America. Therefore, the hermeneutic logic was still based on regional diocesan histories and Hispanic chronology, for example, for the colonial period: from Ferdinand V to Philip II (1508-1556); from Philip II to Charles II (1556-1700); and from Charles II to Ferdinand VII (1700-1833). Even though attempts at “syntheses” were already beginning to emerge, as in the case of Egaña (whose titles were: “Sanctifying action of the Church,” “Cultural action of the Church,” and “Artistic action of the Church”). As noted, the scope was still within the History of the Church.

Enrique Dussel (1972) published his Historia de la Iglesia en América latina, introducing in the subtitle Medio milenio de coloniaje y liberación (1492-1992). However, Brazil was treated only marginally, and Protestantism appeared only in appendices V and VI. Nevertheless, Dussel and Hoornaert (1974), in Brazil, were the first to insert into their syntheses the issues raised by the Second Vatican Council and the Medellín Conference. Both influenced the research and publications of the Commission for the Study of Church History in Latin America (CEHILA).

After Kenneth Scott Latourette, with the History of the expansion of Christianity (1939 and 1943 for Latin America), it was the Cuban historian Justo González, with his Historia de las missiones (1970) who was the first to present a synthesis on the diffusion of Christianity and Protestantism in Latin America. For the Caribbean, Justo presented, in 1969, an ecumenical history of the “development of Christianity,” analyzing, according to the categories of Church growth and relevance, its relation to the social and political problems of Latin America. In this sense, three years earlier, Lloyd Mecham had published Church and state in Latin America. A history of politico-ecclesiastical relations (1966), which already considered the Protestant presence in his analyses.

Finally, the great manuals like the New Catholic Encyclopedia (vol. VIII, 1967) and H. Jedin’s Manual de Historia de la Iglesia, which dedicates several sections to Latin America (1966-1979), include Christianity in America, but in its relation to the Church (with the exception of the part dealt with by F. Zubillaga (1967-1979). In the Protestant sphere, the manual directed by Kurt Dietrisch Schmidt and Ernst Wolf, Die Kirche in ihrer Geschichte, stands out, analyzing the development of Protestantism together with that of Catholicism, also including a section for Brazil.

6 Periodization

The periodization of the History of Christianity in Latin America is difficult to determine. First, because Latin American history does not fit into the traditional classification of ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary (despite the numerous inconveniences that such a classification may raise). Nor does the artifice of equivalence between superior American cultures and Ancient History, the colonial period and the Middle Ages, the Enlightenment period and the European Renaissance period, or the period of independence, the formation of national states, and the penetration of Protestantism in the 19th century, and the contemporary period help to define the periods. Such comparisons do not withstand a deeper analysis of the respective contexts. The colonial period, which since the 16th century was profoundly marked by the Baroque spirit and the resolutions of the Council of Trent, cannot be equated with the European Middle Ages. Likewise, the phenomenon of the expansion of Protestantism is not comparable to the era of the Reformation in Europe. This means there are no prior models of periodization for the History of Christianity in Latin America. What researchers have proposed are more or less comprehensive attempts at periodization based on the chronology of the History of the Catholic Church in Latin America, besides separating (with some exceptions) the models referring to Spanish-speaking America and Brazil.

An example of periodization, proposed by E. Dussel (1972), is structured as follows:

The Christendom of the West Indies (1492-1808)

1.1. First stage. The first steps (1492-1519)

1.2. Second stage. The missions of New Spain and Peru (1519-1551)

1.3. Third stage. The organization and strengthening of the Church (1551-1620)

1.4. Fourth stage. The conflicts between the missionary Church and Hispanic civilization (1620-1700)

1.5. Fifth stage. The Bourbon decline (1700-1808)

Agony of the colonial Christendom (1808-1962)

2.1. Sixth stage. The crisis of the wars of independence (1808-1825)

2.2. Seventh stage. The crisis deepens (1825-1850)

2.3. Eighth stage. The break occurs! (1850-1930)

2.4. Ninth stage. Renaissance of the Latin American elites, in a project of new Christendom (1930-1962)

Dawn of a new era (since 1962)

3.1. The Latin American crisis of liberation.

3.2. Description of recent events[1]

Naturally, this model does not fit perfectly for Brazil, which began its missionary movement much later. Furthermore, only with the creation of the Archbishopric of Salvador da Bahia, in 1676, and the establishment of the last diocese in the colonial period, in 1745, Mariana (MG), can the organization and consolidation of the Brazilian Church be considered. Finally, also regarding Brazil, it was the Braganza dynasty that was in power in Portugal from 1640 to 1810.

Therefore, E. Hoornaert, in Para uma História da Igreja no Brasil (1973), proposes another periodization that takes into account the specificity of Brazilian history.

The Brazilian Christendom (1500-1808)

1.1. Evangelization

1.1.1. 1500-1614: Transoceanic or coastal period

1.1.2. 1614-1700: Colonization of the country’s interior through river routes

1.1.3. 1700-1750: Discovery of the “minas gerais” (the rich deposits in the federal state of the same name) and the beginning of the “Grande Brasil”

1.1.4. 1750-1808: Reaction of the colonial pact of Portugal and Brazil to the new facts created by the Treaty of Utrecht (1713)

1.2. Organization (orders, episcopate, clergy, seculars)

1.3. Daily life (clergy, typology of Catholicism)

The Church and the new State (1808-1930)

2.1. Political emancipation and the Church

2.2. The formation of the new State and the Church

2.3. The reorganization of the Church in the face of the liberal State and its crisis

Towards a Latin American Church (since 1930)

3.1. The laity and the social problem (1930-1962)

3.2. The Church of Vatican II, CELAM, and Liberation

As can be seen, the periodization proposed by Hoornaert adapts to the History of the Catholic Church in Brazil and, at least at the time of its proposition (1973), did not consider the topic of Protestants in Brazil.

There are still other attempts, such as the one by the Uruguayan historian Methol (1968). His model, which includes Brazilian history, is structured around three axes:

The indigenous Christendom (1492-1808)
The first emancipation and the anarchy of the Church (1808-1831)
The Church between restoration and secularization (1831-1962)

Although enormous advances have been made in research, in the current stage of periodization for the History of Christianity in Latin America, it is observed that a fully satisfactory unitary periodization has not yet been achieved. Each model presents advantages and disadvantages. Certainly, overcoming the bipartite colonial history and history of Latin America and researchers’ acceptance of the principle of mutual relation between both is already leading to more comprehensive syntheses.

One proposal, in this sense, is the manual by Hans-Jürgen Prien, La Historia del Cristianismo en América Latina (1985), which structures its historical periodization as follows:

Development of Latin American Christianity under the sign of the “Christendom” model
Latin American “Christendom” crisis in the Enlightenment era and political emancipation
Church and Society between restoration and secularization. Questioning and suppression of the traditional model of Latin American “Christendom” due to liberalism and Protestantism
Christianity in the era of ecumenism and the crisis of National States in the conflict of development

Consequently, regardless of the chosen periodization (with the relative advantages and disadvantages), we certainly cannot understand the roots and profound changes that Christianity underwent in Latin America and, specifically in Brazil, without considering some fundamental factors that in themselves already indicate an outline of periodization.

In this sense, we could think of the History of Christianity in Latin America generically divided as follows:

1^st epoch – From the “discovery” to the mid-16th century. It would encompass the time of the implantation of the Hispanic-Lusitanian presence, the process of colonization, and missionary expansion.

2^nd epoch – It would cover the time period from the mid-16th century to 1620. Besides continuing the previous process, this epoch would deal with the implantation of the colonial Church structures and all forms of Christian religiosity during this colonial period. Especially important would be the Council of Lima (1551), the foundation of the Diocese of Bahia, the arrival of the Jesuits in Brazil (1549). And, finally, the organizational structure of the already formed colonial Church.

3^rd epoch – It would start in 1620, extending until 1700 (*1777). It would be the period of “Baroque Christianity,” which would end with the crisis of the dynastic succession, with the replacement of the Habsburgs by the Bourbons in Spain. This period would be marked by a reorganization of colonial society, including the Enlightenment in Latin America. In the Brazilian case, the chronological axis would extend until the end of the Pombaline period (*1777). The Pombaline reforms changed the political-social configuration of Brazil, with consequent reflections on the ecclesial life of Brazilian Catholicism.

4^th epoch – It would cover the chronological period between 1780 and 1914. This long period would encompass the time of the colonial crisis (1807-1830), the wars of independence (1830-1880), and the reorganization of national states in Latin America. It would be a moment when the definitive split between a Christianity marked by a patronage-type Church and the era of the emancipation of the creole oligarchy would occur. In Brazil, the “religious question” will lead to the separation between Church and State, and the “Romanization of Catholicism.” Between 1880 and 1914, we would have the phenomenon of imperialism, accompanied by positivism and Protestant expansion. Christianity will be marked by the struggle between conservatives and old liberals in search of a new state order. Echoes of a “late” liberalism and scientism will reach Latin America. The liberal state will “secularize” ecclesiastical assets. Protestantism will have a discourse very similar to Romanized Catholicism. Installation of modern religious congregations and opening of Protestant colleges.

5^th epoch – From 1914 to the present. It would encompass the period between the two great wars. In Latin America, Christianity would be strongly marked by populist movements. The Catholic Church would open more space to lay movements and integration into civil life. Protestantism, in turn, will propose a model of ecclesial life in which Latin America will be considered as a territory of evangelization, beginning its expansion. Important for this penetration were the Congresses of Panama (1916), Montevideo (1925), and Havana (1929). The Second Vatican Council and its echoes, with the Conferences of Medellín, Puebla, and Santo Domingo. This period also includes the renewal of Christianity in relation to the developmental projects of the states (1955-1965); the clash with dictatorial governments and the National Security Doctrine (1965-1980); the preferential option for the poor, the crisis caused by Liberation Theology; and the participation of churches in the various strands of socialist ideologies. A final very important element for the History of Christianity would be the development of multiple manifestations of Pentecostal/Evangelical Christianity and indigenous movements. The “syncretic” Christianity.

This attempt at periodization exemplifies the complexity and comprehensiveness of a History of Christianity in Latin America.

Luiz Fernando Medeiros Rodrigues, SJ. Unisinos, São Leopoldo (Brazil). Original in Portuguese

7 Bibliographical References

DREHER, Martin N. A Igreja Latino-Americana no Contexto Mundial. 3^rd Ed. São Leopoldo: Sinodal, 2007.

DUSSEL, Enrique. Historia de la Iglesia en América latina. Medio milenio de coloniaje y liberación (1492-1992). 2^nd ed. Nova Terra: Barcelona, 1972.

EGAÑA, Antonio de. Historia de la Iglesia en la América española desde el descubrimiento hasta comienzos del siglo XIX. Hemisferio Sur. Madrid: BAC, 1966.

GONZÁLEZ, Justo L. Historia de las missiones. Buenos Aires: Methopress, 1970.

GONZÁLEZ, Ondina E.- GONZÁLEZ, Justo. Cristianismo na América Latina. Uma história. São Paulo: Editora Vida Nova, 2010.

HOORNAERT, Eduardo. “Para uma história da Igreja no Brasil”. In: REB, Mar. 33 (1973): 117-138.

HOUTART, François. La Iglesia latino-americana en la hora del concilio. FERES: Fibourg/Bogotá, 1963.

JEDIN, Hubert. Manual de Historia de la Iglesia. (Biblioteca Herder, 10 vols.). Barcelona: Ed. Herder, 1966-1987.

LATOURETTE, Kenneth Scott. A history of the expansion of Christianity. vols. III,V. New York: Harper & Bros, 1939, 1943.

LOPETEGUI, Léon-ZUBILLAGA, Félix. Historia de la Iglesia en la America española. Desde el descubrimiento hasta comienzos del siglo XIX. México. América Central. Antillas. (Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos). Madrid: BAC, 1965.

MECHAM, John Lloyd. Church and State in Latin America: A History of. Politico-Ecclesiastical Relations. 2^nd ed. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1966.

METHOL, Ferré. Las épocas. La Iglesia en la historia latino-americana. IN: Víspera II, 6 (1968): 68-86.

PRIEN, Hans-Jürgen. La Historia del Cristianismo en America Latina. S. Leopoldo/Salamanca: Sinodal/Sígueme, 1985.

SCHMIDT, Kurt Dietrisch-WOLF, Wolf, Die Kirche in ihrer Geschichte. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1967.

[1] E. Dussel systematically developed and added new elements to his original work of 1992. In the 1992 edition, there is still an additional item: The Church, national security regimes, and the process of redemocratization, from Sucre to Santo Domingo.

Países	Acessos
Brazil	278.404
Colombia	85.978
Mexico	90.041
United States	29.436
Panama	9.007
Guatemala	17.244
Outros Países (170)	247.273
Total	815.401