Between modernity and secularization: the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico, 1869-1917

Abstract

Puerto Rico was under the influence of the Spanish Royal Patronage from the beginning of its colonization in the early 16th century until 1898, when it was invaded and became a colony of the United States of America. The modern and liberal ideas that gained momentum in Europe and Latin America had their effects felt on the island during the 19th century, shattering the Catholic monopoly. Freemasons, Kardecian spiritualists, and Protestants played a transcendental role in the secularization process. The new US colonial order implemented beginning in 1898 de-monopolized the Church, which significantly contributed to religious modernization and the secularization of society. This article explores how the Church in Puerto Rico faced the new socio-religious and political changes introduced during the end of Spanish rule on the island, as well as in the early years of US colonial rule. Faced with the range of problems, the Church resisted and attacked the changes or adapted to them when it had no other alternative. To prepare this article, I analyzed most, if not all, secondary sources using the theoretical approaches of sociologist Peter L. Berger among other authors.