In this book, contributors analyze the different religious ideas and worldviews present in Latin America, extending beyond Catholicism to encompass Judaism, Mormonism, Buddhism, Western esotericism, and more.

Modernity of Religiosities and Beliefs: A New Path in Latin America From the Nineteenth to Twenty-First Century synthesizes new research on various phenomena related to religions and beliefs in Latin America. The contributors provide comprehensive analytical interpretations of Latin American spheres of religious ideas and worldviews and show that they are a key element to understanding the history of the region. Overall, this book gives an account of the whole spectrum of religious phenomena in Latin American societies, providing a “global” interpretation that will contribute to the study of political, economic, and cultural modernities in Latin America.

Part I: Beliefs and Religiosities in only One god

1.Catholicism, Faith, and Power. The Ways of “Being in The Modern World,” between Vatican City State and the Nation-State Building Process in Latin America, From Independence to 1940

Esteban Sánchez Solano

2.Anticlericalism in Latin America: A Brief and Incomplete Overview

Rogelio Aragón

3. Another Religion? Not an American Church? Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) in Latin America

Genaro Zalpa Ramirez

4.Space and Periphery: Toward a Latin American Jewish Philosophy

Santiago Slabodsky and Emmanuel Taub

5.Interreligious dialogue in Argentina in the 20th Century up to the Pontificate of John Paul II: A Search for Peace, Understanding and Tolerance

Manuel Enrique López-Brenes and Roberto Marín Guzmán

Part II: “New Cosmovisions”: Between Mysticism and Materialism

6.Contributions to historical studies on the diffusion of Western esotericism in Latin America

Juan Pablo Bubello

7.The 19th Century Central American Masonic Project, Modernity, and the Catholic Church

Ricardo Martínez Esquivel

8.Theosophical Development in the Pan-Hispanic World (1890-1930)

José Ricardo Chaves

9.Spiritism in Latin America at the turn of the 19th century: The cases of Argentina, Brazil, and México

Juan Pablo Bubello, Marco José Diniz Silva, and Mariano Villalta

10.Manifestations of Commercialized Buddhism in Latin America - A Systematic Approach

Frank Usarski and Rafael Shoji

11.The Cult of Personality as a Quasi-Religion: Latin American Presidents and Dictators (1930-2013)

Pablo Alberto Baisotti

12.An Approach to Compatibility Between Socialist Governments and Christianity in Latin America

Yván Pozuelo Andrés