Introduction: celestial nations, earthly religions. Catholicism and nationalism in Spain and Latin America in the nineteenth century

Abstract

For several years, nation and religion have no longer been viewed as two dichotomous – or indeed opposing – realities (Van Der Veer and Lehmann 1999). Recent historiography has demonstrated the complex and fertile relationship that was woven between the two elements in the modern era (Haupt and Langewiesche 2001, 2004; Brubaker 2012). The clichés that situated religion in the sphere of antimodernity – a hindrance to progress, incompatible with the vibrant and secularised modernity of the nation – have been left behind. The theories that declared the global and ecumenical dimensions of certain faiths irreconcilable with any national/nationalist formulation have also been overcome. To speak of a Catholic nation now, therefore, does not seem as paradoxical as it did in the 1990s. The acknowledgement of the existence of religious nationalisms constituted the first step towards overcoming a series of commonplaces, opening new questions and enriching debates on nationalism. The study of religious decline can thus contribute to finding an intersection in the debate between modernist and perennialist views of the nation, that is between those who argue that the nation is a modern and secularised phenomenon, and those readings that highlight the importance of pre-modern elements in the configuration of modern national identities (Moreno-Almendral 2020). According to this latter reading, nationalists configured their projects as powerful religious discourses such as that of the chosen people (Smith 1991, 2008). Despite noting the footprint of these rhetoric figures, however, this approach neglected the process of nationalisation of these religious practices, symbols and spaces, thereby risking ending up essentialising the national identities that were in the process of being created (Ramón Solans 2019). In the same way, the study of religion is essential for approaching one of the most interesting debates that has been advanced in studies of nationalism: that of the interiorisation and naturalisation of the nation (Quiroga Fernández de Soto 2013; Billig 1995). The Catholic Church acts as a very effective channel for transmitting these values, since it introduces them in rituals and symbols that are recognised and absorbed by the