300px, Monsignor Crescente Errázuriz Valdivieso.

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

Crescente Errázuriz Valdivieso (November 18, 1839 – July 5, 1931) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Dominican friar The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

archbishop of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, professor, writer and historian. Crescente Errázuriz was of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

descent.

Life

He was born in

the sixth child of Francisco Javier de Errázuriz y Aldunate and of his second wife, Rosario Fernández de Valdivieso y Zañartu (sister to Archbishop Rafael Valentín Valdivieso.) He studied at the school of the Fernández Díaz sisters and the Justino Fagalde school, in Santiago and from there he attended the Santiago

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

in 1851. He graduated in

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

. Subsequently, he decided to embrace the ecclesiastical career. He became a priest on December 18, 1863, and was appointed editor of the ''La Revista Católica'' (Catholic magazine). In 1874 founded a new magazine called ''El Estandarte Católico'' (Catholic banner) in order to defend the church position and respond to the liberal attacks. One year earlier, he had also become a member of the Faculty of Theology of the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, teaching canon law, and writing the standard text on the subject. In 1885, he left the university to seclude himself in the Recoleta Domínica convent, adopting the name of Raimundo. There he was put in charge of the library, which he transformed in the most important private library in Chile. In 1898, he became the convent abbot, position he retained until 1907. During his time in the convent, he published his massive ''Los Orígenes de la Iglesia Chilena'' (Origins of the Chilean church), which made him the premier church historian. Due to his publications and researches, he was incorporated to the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language. He was also given the gold medal of the Historical and Geographical Society of Chile in 1912, and became the president of the Chilean Academy of History in 1914. In 1916, he returned to his position in the university. In 1918 he was nominated as Archbishop of the Santiago archdiocese by president

Juan Luis Sanfuentes Juan Luis Sanfuentes Andonaegui (; 27 December 1858 – 16 July 1930) was President of Chile between 1915 and 1920. Sanfuentes was the son of writer and politician Salvador Sanfuentes Torres and Matilde Andonaegui. Orphaned at an early age and ...

. Monsignor Errázuriz was considered a peace offering in preparation for the heated presidential campaign of 1920, even though he was already 71 years old. Pope

Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his deat ...

named him on December 30, 1918, adopting the motto: ''Cruz et Evangelium ecce arma mea''. He promoted a policy to make the Catholic Church independent from the conservative party. In 1920 he proposed the creation of the bishoprics of Valparaíso and Talca. In 1924 he presided over the separation of the church and the state, consecrated in the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

of 1925. He was the voice that gave serenity and long-term vision to the negotiations. Monsignor Errázuriz died in 1931 at the age of 91.

Ecclesiastical life

References

External links

Biography

Genealogical chart of Errázuriz family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Errazuriz, Crescente 1839 births 1931 deaths Crescente Errazuriz Chilean people of Basque descent 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Chile Participants in the First Vatican Council Roman Catholic bishops of Santiago de Chile

Life

Ecclesiastical life

See also

References

External links