Maryknoll Catholic Mission in Peru, 1943-1989

"Maryknoll is America's major Catholic missionary society, and its history not only embodies all of the contradictions in the American Catholic Church but is deeply implicated in many of the triumphs and tragedies of American foreign policy in the twentieth century. At turns deeply sympathetic and analytically critical, this book tells the story of the Maryknoll mission to Peru and situates that story in the broader political and cultural context of U.S. engagement with Latin America. It sets a new standard for histories of the American missionary enterprise." —Richard Madsen, University of California, San Diego

"Exhaustively researched and very well written, Susan Fitzpatrick-Behren's account of the Maryknoll congregation in Peru from 1943 to 1986 is a remarkable history. During these decades, the Catholic Church and Peru both underwent very profound transformations; Fitzpatrick-Behrens has analyzed those changes and the interaction between the Church and the Peruvian government with great skill and insight." —Scott P. Mainwaring, Eugene and Helen Conley Professor of Political Science and Director of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame

“Here is a work of painstaking scholarship that tells us much, not only about the evolving mission theology and strategy of the women and men missionaries who went to Peru over more than half a century, but about political machinations and ecclesiastical politics far beyond Peru and the era delimited by the book’s title.” —Catholic Library World

“Fitzpatrick-Behrens can write history. Her attention to detail is worth applauding. She left no stone unturned in uncovering the Maryknoll Missionaries’ role in the region of Peru. By the end of the book her argument rings clear—the Maryknollers had transformed the social and religious culture in Peru, but at the same time they were also transformed in their beliefs, methods, and practices.” —Catholic Books Review

“Historian Susan Fitzpatrick-Behrens’ work, The Maryknoll Catholic Mission in Peru, 1943-1989, offers an insightful analysis into the religious foundations of twentieth-century Peruvian history . . . . The Maryknoll Catholic Mission in Peru skillfully carries the subtleties of Peruvian history into the global sphere. The work is important to historians of the Americas for demonstrating the centrality of religion to the political and socio-economic development of a nation and the highly influential role mission played in the region.” —American Catholic Studies

“Combining archival research, interviews, and personal observation, Fitzpatrick-Behrens does an excellent job of meticulous narration in her account of the history of Maryknoll’s transformation as it pertains to Peru. . . . [This] book is an outstanding contribution to the history of the U.S. Catholic missionary movement and should prove valuable to scholars and a more general readership as well.” —The Americas

“The Maryknoll Catholic Mission in Peru, 1943-1989 provides an absolutely outstanding ethno-history of one particular conjuncture—that of Maryknoll missionaries and the Peruvian faithful—while also contributing creatively to a much larger conversation about transnational efforts at advocacy. . . . A model for scholarship, a gripping history, even a window onto the past, it speaks to progressive politics in Latin America today.” —American Historical Review

“. . . [B]eautifully written, richly documented and passionately argued.” —Journal of Latin American Studies

“[The Maryknoll Catholic Mission in Peru, 1943-1989] is accessible and offers a great deal of information in such a way that someone who is not familiar with Peruvian history or Maryknoll’s mission can easily be drawn into the saga. . . . This book narrates their dramatic story in such a way that we can feel the passion and the challenges of all these men and women of God.” —The Way

“. . . the conflictual narrative Fitzpatrick-Behrens presents is a very human story about establishing trust between representatives of two very different cultures.” —Mission Studies