General Histories of the Church in Peru: Status quaestionis, 1953-2014

Since viceregal times, Peru's ecclesiastical past -in all its aspects and facets- has been the subject of numerous studies. However, it is only after the 1950s, that we find complete general histories which are based on the militant-catholic and positivist work of Ruben Vargas Ugarte, S.J., and which would then be continued by Armando Nieto Velez, S.J., and Enrique Fernández García, S.J., with other perspectives and with a dissemination objective. Regarding Catholic Church history during the Republican years, Luis Lituma's contributions on the ecclesiastical reality of the 1960s are worth noting, as are José Dammert's brief report on the 20th century and Jeffrey Klaiber's writings based on social and political history. This academic endeavor includes the work of other historians, whose research is directed towards building a general history of the Catholic Church in Peru.