José Hipólito Salas y Toro (August 13, 1812 – July 20, 1883) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

. He served as bishop of Concepción between 1854 and 1883.

Biography

He was born in

Olivar Olivar is a commune in Chile, located in the O'Higgins Region, 10 km south of Rancagua, and administered by the municipality of Olivar. The main economic activities range from agriculture and food production, especially apples for exportatio ...

, and studied in the

Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera, often shortened to Instituto Nacional (National Institute), is a public middle and high school in downtown Santiago, Chile which teaches 4.400 students between 7th and 12th grade. 170 teachers are ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. Salas was ordained a priest on 22 November 1835. He was professor of the now-extinct Faculty of Theology of the

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

. Salas was candidate for deputy representing

Rancagua Rancagua () is a city and commune in central Chile and part of the Rancagua conurbation. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province and of the O'Higgins Region, located south of the national capital of Santiago. It was originally named Sa ...

and Maipo in the parliamentary elections of Chile of 1843, in which finally were elected José Santiago Melo Mendoza and Luis García Huidobro Aldunate. In 1848 he wrote the essay ''Memoria sobre el servicio personal de los indígenas y su abolición'' about ''

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...

'' and other subjects. In October 1854 he was appointed bishop of the then Diocese of Conception, and in next year he ordered the reopening of the Seminar of Concepción. He also managed the construction of the Cathedral of Conception in 1867, that replaced the old church destroyed by the

1835 Concepción earthquake The 1835 Concepción earthquake was an earthquake that occurred near the neighboring cities of Concepción and Talcahuano in Chile on 20 February at 11:30 local time (15:30 UTC), and had an estimated magnitude of about 8.5 . The earthquake tr ...

. He participated of the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

(1869–70) convoked by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, as part of the Chilean group led by monsignor

Rafael Valentín Valdivieso Rafael Valentín Valdivieso Zañartu (November 2, 1804 – June 8, 1878) was a Chilean priest and lawyer, who worked as Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile, Santiago de Chile between 1848 and 1878. Biography Valdivi ...

. In

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

he was invited to join the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...

, however he refused the offer and returned to Chile. He died in 1883, and his remains lie in the General Cemetery of Concepción.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salas, Jose Hipolito 1812 births 1883 deaths Academic staff of the University of Chile Chilean theologians 19th-century Roman Catholic theologians People from Cachapoal Province Chilean political writers Roman Catholic bishops of Concepción