This book analyses the rise of a Latin American Catholic identity during the mid- to late nineteenth century. It starts with the founding of the first Latin American institution in history, the Pio Latin American College in Rome, and then moves on to a series of collective initiatives such as the Latin American Plenary Council in 1899. Moreover, these initiatives cannot be explained without taking into account two parallel processes: the internationalisation of the various Latin American churches and their orientation towards Rome. In just half a century, a transnational ultramontane culture had been developed and consolidated, which would make this Catholic periphery one of the most dynamic centres of contemporary Catholicism.
