Changing of the guard. From the Hispanic Patronate to Pax Americana (1889-1903)

Abstract

The long relationship, based on common interests, that had connected the Spanish monarchy and the pontifical Curia for four centuries changed for good in 1898, when the effects of the so-called Disaster resulted in the search for a new protector of Catholicism in the former Spanish colonies. Negotiation between the Vatican and the American administration, which was strongly supported by the growing influence of the episcopal hierarchy in the country of a thousand religions, soon made it clear that the interests of the Catholic Church would be better preserved by the Pax Americana than by the decadent Spanish Empire. Not only did this changing of the guard initially have very important consequences for the Catholic Church in the Caribbean and the Pacific, but also it contributed to mutual trust, which turned out to be decisive years later.