The Vatican, Anti-Protestantism and the Politics of Religious Violence in Early Cold War Mexico and Colombia (c. 1945-1958)

Happening On 14/10/2026

 Dr Gema Kloppe-Santamaría (Sociology, UCC)

Thursday 15 October 2026, 16.00 (4 PM)

School of History, UCC

In-person event, School of History, seminar room in Tyrconnell, UCC (up Perrott Avenue, first street on the right, first house on the left), 16:00-17:00.

For further information contact Dr Jérôme aan de Wiel, School of History, UCC: j.aandewiel@ucc.ie

This paper reflects on the impact of political ideologies and political conflict in the organization, escalation, and legitimation of religious violence in early Cold War Mexico and Colombia (c. 1945-1958)

Characterized by somehow contrasting relationships between the state and the Catholic Church, both countries experienced an intensification of anti-Protestant violence driven by the notion that Protestantism was not only a false religion, but also an ideology responsible for spreading liberal, communist, foreign, and polluting ideas that threatened the moral and political integrity of these nations. Drawing on the close examination of correspondence, propaganda, and newspaper reports, the essay offers a comparative interpretation of religious violence in these two countries that highlights the impact of Cold War ideologies and the Vatican’s decision to support an anti-protestant campaign in Latin America.

By examining this largely unexplored episode of intra-Christian violence, the paper seeks to expand our understanding of the religious aspects of the Cold War in Latin America and beyond. Dr Gema Kloppe-Santamaría is a Lecturer in Sociology at University College Cork and an Associate Research Professor of Latin American History at the George Washington University. She specializes on questions of violence, gender, religion, and politics in the Americas, with a particular focus on Mexico, Central America, and US-Latin American relations. Kloppe-Santamaría is the author of the award-winning book In the Vortex of Violence: Lynching, Extralegal Justice, and the State in Post-Revolutionary Mexico (University of California Press in 2020; translated to Spanish and published in Mexico in 2023). She holds a PhD in Sociology and Historical Studies from the New School for Social Research and a Masters in Gender and Social Policy from the London School of Economics. Her work has received several accolades, including a 2025 British Academy Visiting Fellowship, a Marie Curie Fellowship of the European Union (2021-2022), and a Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Distinguished Scholar Award (2020).

For more on this story contact:

For further information contact Dr Jérôme aan de Wiel, School of History, UCC: j.aandewiel@ucc.ie