THE CHILEAN EPISCOPATE AND THE SOCIAL COMMITMENT OF PRE-CONCILIAR CATHOLICISM: 1925-1964

Abstract

The life of the Church in Chile during much of the twentieth century is marked by a clear social trend within Chilean Catholicism. An awareness that will deepen within the Chilean Bishops after the separation of church and state in 1925. This event that will be of great significance in the history of the Church since it created the possibility of a new structure and organization. On one hand, and after an arduous discussion settled by the Holy See, the Conservative Party was stripped of its political weight exercised within the Church since it way the only catholic party. Secondly, the Church gradually sought a definition of herself understanding her mission as service. The rediscovery of this missionary dimension emphasized a Christian humanism that un-derlies the dignity of all men.
With the publication of a set of social writings, the Chilean Episcopate diagnosed a precarious social situation framed within a complex international context. With Vati-can II, the Chilean hierarchy sought to promote a thorough reform and renewal of so-ciety taking a clear position on the problems that afflicted it. The land reform of 1962 is framed within one of the initiatives of the Episcopate.