Aguilar, Mario I.

Dr. Mario I. Aguilar is Dean of Divinity at the University of St. Andrew’s, Scotland. He is author of several books including Current Issues on Theology and Religion in Latin America and Africa (The Edwin Mellen Press, 2002) and the first and second volumes of A Social History of the Catholic Church in Chile: The First Period of the Pinochet Government 1973-1980 and The Pinochet Government and Cardinal Silva Henríquez (The Edwin Mellen Press, 2004 and 2006, respectively).

Current Issues on Theology and Religion in Latin America and Africa

2002 0-7734-7311-4
This volume explores the difficult relation between theologians and scholars of religion by exploring methodological parameters regarding objectivity. While most religious studies scholars propose a naturalistic view of religion and its study, this work proposes an interface between contextual theology and religious studies. Following a methodological introduction and the case study of the American Academy of Religion, chapters constitute historical explorations about religious practitioners and their theologies within society in Chile, El Salvador, Kenya and Rwanda.

Social History of the Catholic Church in Chile Volume I: The First Period of the Pinochet Government

2004 0-7734-6245-7
This first volume of a social history of the Catholic Church in Chile describes and interprets the historiography of bishops, priests, religious, Christian communities and lay people during the years 1973-1980 by the use of ecclesiastical primary sources and oral testimonies. In 1973, Augusto Pinochet led a military coup that had enormous repercussions for the history of Chile and for the pastoral actions of the Catholic Church led by Cardinal Silva Henriquez. This book examines the historiography of the period in the context of the universal church, the Latin American churches and the development of a very strong network of parish communities that sheltered the persecuted and defended the right of the Church to speak against a totalitarian state. Its author has used a significantly large number of unpublished and unknown primary historical sources that make this volume the most significant historical work in English for the history of the Chilean Church from the military coup to the approval of the new Chilean Constitution in 1980. It includes an examination of legal documentation related to the first findings of human remains of political prisoners at Lonquen and it analyses the role of the Church within that social process.

Social History of the Catholic Church in Chile Volume II

2006 0-7734-5806-9
This second volume of A Social History of the Catholic Church in Chile explores the life of the Chilean Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez (1907-1999) who became the most important Chilean ecclesiastical figure of the 20th Century. As archbishop of Santiago he involved the Chilean Church in the changes effected by the Second Vatican Council while playing an active political role within the governments of presidents Jorge Alessandri (1958-1964), Eduardo Frei (1964-1970) and Salvador Allende (1970-1973). During the military period, Cardinal Silva Henríquez became the voice of the persecuted and managed to establish an alternative welfare state that helped the hungry, the unemployed and those who had lost relatives after the military coup. It is clear that in analyzing his life this work provides a church-centered analysis of religion and politics in Chile.

Social History of the Catholic Church in Chile Volume III

2006 0-7734-5653-8
This book describes and interprets the historiography of bishops, priests, religious, Christian communities and lay people in Chile during the years 1980-1990 by the use of ecclesiastical primary sources, secondary sources and oral testimonies. In 1973, Augusto Pinochet led a military coup that had enormous repercussions for the history of Chile and for the pastoral actions of the Catholic Church led by Cardinal Silva Henríquez. This book examines the historiography of the period in which the Church and Chilean civic society pushed for a return to democracy; it explores the relations of the Pinochet government with Cardinals Silva Henríquez and Fresno, as well as the approval of the 1980 Chilean Constitution, the attempt on Pinochet’s life, John Paul II’s visit to Chile and the referendum of 1988 that finally led to free democratic elections in Chile during 1989. The author has used a significantly large number of unpublished and unknown primary historical sources that make this volume the most significant historical work in English for the history of the Chilean Church from the new Chilean Constitution in 1980 to the return to democracy in 1990.