BETWEEN UNION AND DIVISION: CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY AND CHILEAN CATHOLICS (1961-1971)

Inspired by the Church social doctrine, the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) proposed in 1964 a program of gradual transformations, the “Revolution in Liberty.” Western Catholics mobilized in favor of its candidate, Eduardo Frei Montalva, to avoid a second Cuba. However, his government’s actions (19...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Giraudier, Élodie
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2022
Country:Brasil
Institution:Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás (PUC-GO)
Repository:Mosaico (Goiânia)
Language:Spanish
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs2.seer.pucgoias.edu.br:article/12632
Online Access:https://seer.pucgoias.edu.br/index.php/mosaico/article/view/12632
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Chile. Democracia cristiana. Catolicismo. Anticomunismo. Década de 1960.
Chile
Democracia Cristã
Catolicismo
Anticomunismo
Anos 1960
Christian Democracy
Catholicism
Anticommunism
1960s
Description
Summary:Inspired by the Church social doctrine, the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) proposed in 1964 a program of gradual transformations, the “Revolution in Liberty.” Western Catholics mobilized in favor of its candidate, Eduardo Frei Montalva, to avoid a second Cuba. However, his government’s actions (1964-1970), Second Vatican Council repercussions and Cold War political polarization divided Chilean Catholicism into three thirds. Based on American and European sources, this text demonstrates that the fi rst peak of Christian Democracy was accompanied by the anti-communist Catholic world’s splitting. It fi rst analyzes how Catholics supported Frei and his party in the years 1961-1964, then covers the conservative reaction to Christian Democratic politics. Finally, it will develop how some Catholics were inspired by Marxist sources and supported a more radical option in the late 1960s.