Samuel Silva Gotay
Demographic Data: Samuel Silva Gotay, widely known in the field of history and sociology of religion of Puerto Rico and Latin America, was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1935 [1]. He is married to Jovita Caraballo, has three children and eight grand-children.
Early Years: Brought up in a protestant tradition, he became active in the ecumenical movement during his student days. In 1955 he became member of the Executive Committee of the World Christian Student Federation, the oldest ecumenical movement in the world. He holds degrees from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, Yale University and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. He is Distinguish Professor of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus at the Faculty of Social Science. [2]
Beginning his Professional Career: Since his early professional work he became aware of the social dimension of the Christian tradition and became involved in movements to challenge the power institution in favor of the poor and the oppressed from the stand point of the Christian faith and the academic truth. Following his first two year as a young professor at the University of Puerto Rico, he studied theology and sociology or religion at Yale University to become the Student Pastor at the UPR and Director of the Higher Education Office of the Council of Churches in Puerto Rico. [3] In 1967 he moved to become active in the indigenous social movement of the time in favor of the poor and the oppressed by serving as Executive Director of the Foundation of Community Development, with it’s two hundred plus young “Volunteers in service to Puerto Rico”(VESPRA)[4]. During this time the volunteers were able to organize “The First Poor People Congress”, led by the poor people from the communities which led a massive awakening among communities of the poor people to challenge the governmental offices with truth and power. [5]
Associate Dean of Education: He "became the Associate Dean of Students, at the University of Puerto RicoUniversity of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus in charge of cultural and students affairs in the most difficult years of the Vietnam War, a university position that required patience wisdom and the parsimony to mediate between groups that were dear to his heart.[6] During those difficult years he organized the Student Study Travel to the Intercultural and Document CenterIntercultural and Document Center, Cuernavaca, Mexico of Prof. Ivan IllichIvan Illich. Two years later he returned to Mexico to pursue a doctoral degree on Latin American Studies. His doctoral disertation, was the seminal work on the origins of Liberation Theology [7]
The dissertation became a book published in several countries to include Brazil, Dominican Republic, Germany, Puerto Rico and Spain with the title of El pensamiento cristiano revolucionario en América Latina y el Caribe". Salamanca,1981; a German translation by Universidad de Wurzburg, Christentum und Revolution in Lateinamerika und der Karibik, Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1995, a translation into portugueze and three other Spanish editions: Salamanca-San Juan, 1983; Santo Domingo, R.D., 1985; San Juan, 1989 [8]
Return to University of Puerto Rico: After México, at his return to the Faculty, Prof. Silva-Gotay taught in the fields of Puerto Rican Studies and Latin American Studies in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Faculty of Social Sciences, in the Department of History of the Faculty of Humanities and in the Center for Advance Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean [http://Center%20for%20Advance%20Studies%20of%20Puerto%20Rico%20and%20the%20Caribbean Center for Advance Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in San Juan, Puerto Rico for many years. [9]
Current Academic Interests: The current focus of his research and scholarship is on the use the categories of “liberation theology” to understand the history and sociology of religion in Puerto Rico. Most of his recent publications are in the history and sociology of religion in Puerto Rico and Latin America[10]. As a result of his work, he was appointed Coordinator for the Caribbean of CEHILA: Comisión de Estudios de Historia de la Iglesia de América Latina [11], CEHILA is a monumental project of Latino American historians, related to Theology of Liberation, established to produce a 12 volume history of the Church from the perspective of Latin America keeping in mind the and the poor and the oppressed. In the developmental years of these materials he was authorized to work in the Secret Archive of the Vatican for his research on Catholicism and Politics in Puerto Rico: XIX and XX centuries. [12]
Research and Contributions to the Academic Field: His research and contribution to the understanding of Liberation Theology includes the following main books, among his more than 40 publications:
Books
1. El pensamiento cristiano revolucionario en América Latina y el Caribe, Salamanca,1981; Salamanca-San Juan, 1983;Rep. Dominicana, 1985; San Juan, 1989, a German translation by Wurzburg University, Christentum und Revolution in Lateinamerika und der Karibik, Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1995, another into portugueze, O pensamento cristao revolucionario na America Latina e no Caribe, Ed. Paulinas, Sao Paulo, 1986. There are four Spanish editions: 1981; 1983; 1985; 1989. ).
2. La religión en América Latina: Sociedad y teoría. Centro de Estudios sobre América, La Habana, Cuba, 1980.
3. Historia de la Iglesia en el Caribe, Ed. Armando Lampe y Samuel Silva Gotay, Cehila y Universidad de Quinatana Roo, México, 1995.
4. Protestantismo y política en Puerto Rico: 1898-1930 (Editorial Universidad de P. R., three editions, 1997, 1998, 2005).
5. Catolicismo y política en Puerto Rico, bajo España y Estados Unidos, siglos XIX y XX, (Editorial Universidad de Puerto Rico, 2005). The research for this work was partly done at the Secret Vatican Archive in 2004. This book was reedited in two volumes:
6. Soldado católico en guerra de religión: Religión y política en España y Puerto Rico en el siglo XIX y el volumen, La Iglesia Católica de Puerto Rico en el proceso político de la americanización: 1898-1930. San Juan: Publicaciones Gaviota, 2012.
7. Mas allá del saber esta el amor: Dr. Carlos Albizu Miranda, Artífice de la psicología multicultural, San Juan: Publicaciones Gaviota, 2014.
8. El Sexo en la Iglesia, San Juan: Publicaciones Gaviota, 2015.
Main articles and chapters in other books
“El Archivo Secreto del Vaticano y la localización de los documento de Puerto Rico”, (Revista Exégesis del Recinto UPR en Humacao, PR, Año 21, Num. 64, 2009).
“El significado histórico del Congreso Evangélico Hispanoamericano celebrado en la Habana en 1929”, (Revista Exegesis, Num 67, 2010). “La Inquisición española: revisión de la bibliografía contemporánea sobre sus orígenes, organización y procedimientos” (Revista Exegesis, Año 16, Num. 47, 2003).
“History of Christianity in Puerto Rico: 1511-2000”, en Daniel Patte, Edit., Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity, Cambridge University, 2010.
"La investigación sobre la religiosidad popular en sí misma desde las especialidades académicas disciplinarias ", en Ángel Quintero Rivera, Vírgenes, magos y escapularios: Imaginería, etnicidad y religiosidad popular en Puerto Rico, Centro de Investigaciones Sociales, UPR, San Juan, P.R., 1998.
"The Ideological Dimensions of Popular Religiosity and Cultural Identity in Puerto Rico", An Enduring Flame, Studies on Latino Popular Religiosity, Vol. I, N.Y.: PARALCUNY, 1995.
"Teología de la Liberación en América Latina: Camilo Torres", Fuentes de la Cultura Latinoamericana, Vol. II, México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1993.
"On the Question of a Scientific History for the Latino Church in U.S.", Hidden Stories: Univeiling the History of the Latino Church, Decatur, Georgia: AETH, 1994, pp. 23-47.
"Bedeutung und Perpektive ven 500 Jahren Geschichte der Karibik users Amerika", Nach 500 Jahren, Stimmen aus dem Sűden. Herausgeberin und Verlag: FDCL, Berlin, 1992, págs. 35-43.
"Sentido y proyección de 500 años de historia en el Caribe de la América nuestra", "Desarrollo de la dimensión religiosa del nacionalismo en Puerto Rico: 1898-1989", Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina de la Universidad del Tel Avid, Israel, Vol. 1, Núm. 1 (enero-junio 1990). Revista Escuela de Historia de la Universidad de Tel Aviv, Israel, págs. 59-82.
"Signification de la recherche sur la phénomène religienx dans la Caribe pour CEHILA", La Phénomenène Religieux dans la Caribe, Les Ed. Du CIHIHCA, Montreal, 1989.
"El Partido Acción Cristiana: trasfondo histórico y significado sociológico del nacimiento y muerte de un partido político católico en Puerto Rico”, Revista de Historia, Asociación Histórica Puertorriqueña, Núm. 7 (enero-diciembre 1988), págs. 146-181.
"El pensamiento religioso": América Latina en sus ideas, UNESCO y Siglo XXI, Editores, México, 1986, págs. 118-156.
"Social History of the Churches in Puerto Rico, Preliminary Notes, 1509-1980", Towards a History of the Church in the Third World, The Issue of Periodization, Ginebra, Suiza: EATWT, 1985.
"Las condiciones históricas y teóricas que hicieron posible la incorporación del materialismo histórico en el pensamiento cristiano de América Latina", Cristianismo y sociedad, Núm. 84 (1985), México.
- ^ Certificate of Birth, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico-www2.pr.gov/prgovEN/Pages/BirthCertifcateInfo.aspx
- ^ Dario Carrero, A (April 20, 2008)“Samuel Silva Gotay y la religión como opio de los pueblos, sus investigaciónes lo deniegan”’, El Nuevo Día, San Juan, PR)
- ^ Martinez, F. (1997). The Social Thought of Protestant Christians in Puerto Rico in the 1960s: Beginnings of a Puerto Rican Theology of Liberation. PhD Dissertation. Madison NJ: Drew University.
- ^ Bennett, M. (1967). VESPRA: A Voluntary Program for Puerto Rican Slums. Washington D.C.: Office of Economic Opportunities
- ^ Ortiz, E. (1970). A proposal for the Continued Development of VESPRA program of Puerto Rico. Cayey, PR: Foundation for Community Development
- ^ Polanco Bosch, S. (1967). Address Law Professors at the University of Puerto Rico Law School. Unpublished Documant optained from the UPR Law School archives, 1967
- ^ Silva Gotay, S. (1978). El pensamiento cristiano revolucionario en América Latina y el Caribe. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Unpublished Doctoral.
- ^ Rivera Pagan, L. (2013). Los Ultimos libros de Samuel Silva Goatay sobre Historia y Sociologia de la Religion en Puerto Rico. Caribbean Studies, 14(1), 206-214
- ^ Escalona, G. (Rector, University of Puerto Rico. La Libertad de Catedra en la Historia de la Universidad. Rio Piedras, P.R.: Speech at the University of Puerto Rico on the occasion of the Distinguished Professor Award for Dr. Silva Gotay.
- ^ Rivera Pagan, L. (2013). Los Ultimos libros de Samuel Silva Goatay sobre Historia y Sociologia de la Religion en Puerto Rico. Caribbean Studies, 14(1), 206-214
- ^ Dussell, E. D. (Ed.)(1983). Historia General de la Iglesia en America Latina-Vol.1. Salamanca, Espana: CEHILA-Ediciones Sigueme.
- ^ Prefecto Serio Paganno.(Dec. 2, 2000) Permission to enter the Secret archives of the Vatican Pass # 35.581.