In Revolutions in Mexican Catholicism, Edward Wright-Rios investigates how Catholicism was lived and experienced in the Archdiocese of Oaxaca, a region known for its distinct indigenous cultures and vibrant religious life, during the turbulent period of modernization in Mexico that extended from the late nineteenth century through the early twentieth. Wright-Rios centers his analysis on three “visions” of Catholicism: an enterprising archbishop’s ambitious religious reform project...

A study of contemporary pilgrimage through the elastic history of a shrine in Oaxaca, Mexico.For many, pilgrimage conjures ideas about ancient traditions and somber journeys of self-discovery—an escape from modern life. In Devotion in Motion, Edward Wright-Ríos argues that we misunderstand pilgrimage (past and present) if we ignore its dynamic relationship with the rhythms of daily life and community.Through the story of a centuries-old, ever-changi...

An intimate and personal glimpse inside the mind of the former leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, through his own words...“I believe in the kindness of others, and that I must love them without fear.”—Jorge Bergoglio, Pope FrancisJorge Bergoglio was the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit pope, and the first to take the name Francis, after Saint Francis of Assisi, the thirteenth-century friar known for his charity and kindness. He...

On March 13, 2013, at 7:06 pm (Central European Time), white smoke was spotted rising from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel where the conclave was being held. It could only mean one thing -- a new pope had been chosen to lead the Catholic Church. Although many did not know the name of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Cardinal from Argentina, as he was not predicted to be the new pope by any of the analysts or even administrators of the church, the world quickly began to praise him for his extr...

A down-to-earth and deeply intimate portrait of Pope Francis and his faith, based on interviews with the men and women who knew him simply as Jorge Mario BergoglioEarly on the evening of March 13, 2013, the newly elected Pope Francis stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and did something remarkable: Before he imparted his blessing to the crowd, he asked the crowd to bless him, then bowed low to receive this grace. In the days that followed,...

Nearly a decade after Spain's conquest of Mexico, the future of Christianity on the American continent was very much in doubt. Confronted with a hostile colonial government and Native Americans wary of conversion, the newly-appointed bishop-elect of Mexico wrote to tell the King of Spain that, unless there was a miracle, the continent would be lost. Between December 9 and December 12, 1531, that miracle happened, and it forever changed the future of the continent.It was then that t...

The Catholic Church has been undoubtedly going through a period of profound crisis. Endless scandals and conspiracies have plagued the Church in recent years, and with resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in February 2013, the Catholic community was left in dire need of direction and spiritual renewal.Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, elected to Saint Peter’s Throne on March 13, 2013, in one of the briefest conclaves in history, represents a rekindled sense of hope for the Church’s 1.2 billi...

A wide-ranging collection of quotes from the new Pope’s writings and speeches, revealing his opinions on the moral issues surrounding the Catholic Church today – from wealth inequality to assisted suicide, contraception and homosexuality to celibacy and the role of women.Pope Francis won the hearts of Catholics all over the world when he was elected in March 2013, with his natural humility and commitment to putting those who are poor at the centre of his mission.Jorge Mario...

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was chosen as the next Pope in one of the shortest conclaves in history. He is the first Pope Francis, the first Jesuit Pope, the first Pope to come from Latin America. Who is this man, and how did he come to such high position?This book begins with the arrival of Bergoglio's family in Buenos Aires in 1929, travelling from Italy, explores his childhood as one of a family of five, his first job as a factory cleaner and the bout of pneumonia which forced him t...

In this completely updated edition of Henry Kamen’s classic survey of the Spanish Inquisition, the author incorporates the latest research in multiple languages to offer a new—and thought-provoking—view of this fascinating period. Kamen sets the notorious Christian tribunal into the broader context of Islamic and Jewish culture in the Mediterranean, reassesses its consequences for Jewish culture, measures its impact on Spain’s intellectual life, and firmly rebuts a variety of myths and e...

A portrait of the priest and colonialist who is one of the most important figures in California's historyIn the 1770s, just as Britain's American subjects were freeing themselves from the burdens of colonial rule, Spaniards moved up the California coast to build frontier outposts of empire and church. At the head of this effort was Junípero Serra, an ambitious Franciscan who hoped to convert California Indians to Catholicism and turn them into European-style farmers...

Since pre-Incan times, native Andean people had worshipped their ancestors, and the custom continued even after the arrival of the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. Ancestor-worship however, did not exclude members of other cultures: in fact, the Andeans welcomed outsiders as ancestors. Invaders as Ancestors examines how this unique cultural practice first facilitated Spanish colonization and eventually undid the colonial project when the Spanish attacked ancestor worship as ido...