The Council of the Peruvian Episcopate : A historical-theological study of the Peruvian participation at the Second Vatican Council (1959-1965)

The dissertation focuses on the participation of Peruvian episcopate in the Second Vatican Council, from its calling in January 1959 to its closure in December 1965. The research uses the historical-theological category “doctrinal conciliar experience” – which refers to the different doctrinal positions of the prelates vis-à-vis the conciliar developments. The dissertation makes use of the Peruvian Fathers’ vota, their interventions in the conciliar aula, their participation in episcopal networks and the preparation of modi. Based on archival and published sources, the study shows the doctrinal diversity of the Peruvian Fathers, their interpretation of the conciliar developments and Church magisterium, and the lack of unity of the episcopate in dealing with the conciliar debate.

The dissertation has five chapters. Chapter one depicts the situation of the Peruvian Catholic Church and Episcopate from 1945 to 1965. It presents, on one side, the historical and theological evolution of the Peruvian Catholic Church, and the shaping of her missionary character with the creation of 13 prelatures between 1958 and 1964. The following four chapters are organised in two parts. The First Part includes chapters two and three, and deals with the antepreparatory and preparatory phases of Vatican II (1959-1962). The Second Part analyses the participation of the Peruvian Fathers during the conciliar years (1962-1965), their doctrinal positions and their networks during the debate of the conciliar documents. Chapter four and five follow the division between the texts related to the Church ad intra (chapter four) and to the Church ad extra (chapter five).

The research contributes to valuable and needed nuance to the historiography of the Council. Echoing the current ecclesial context of the pontificate of Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope, and the synodal process, the doctoral research contributes proposing a new approach to the vota and the study of the Peruvian interventions during the Council, and also recalling the value of incorporating new voices into the conciliar historiography. To the hermeneutical debate on the Second Vatican Council, the research contributes showing the doctrinal experience of the Peruvian Fathers and its value for a more nuance and comprehensive hermeneutics of the Council.

This work is © 2025 by Rolando Iberico Ruiz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).