Unlike most recent studies of the Catholic Church in Latin America, Philip J. Williams analyzes the Church in two very dissimilar political contexts-Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Despite the obvious differences, Williams argues that in both cases the Church has responded to social change in remarkably similar fashion. The efforts of progressive clergy to promote change in both countries have been largely blocked by Church hierarchy, fearful that such change will threaten the Church’s influence in society.
This book examines the strange marriage of convenience, from 1899 to 1939, between the French Catholic church and the ultra-rightist, chauvinist, monarchist, and anti-Semitic organization called the Acton Francaise.
