Entre la paz social y la lucha revolucionaria: Discursos sociales desde la prensa católica en Tarapacá, Chile (1911-1926)

This paper studies the Catholic press in the province of Tarapacá, Chile, with particular emphasis on the weeklies La Luz and Las Cuestiones Sociales, in an attempt to draw a picture of the social discourses of the regional Tarapaquenian Church between 1911 and 1926. It is argued that concern for the constant social problems that affected the region due to nitrate extraction cycles guided pastoral ministry toward the laying of foundations for social peace and the recognition of workers and their demands as symbols of the role of the Church in the area. The aim of this study was to consolidate a discourse that would link workers to ecclesiastical institutions that served as bastions of worker rights and promoters of the balance between capital and labor.