It was a big moment in Christian history when the first Latin American Pope was elected in 2013 and it is not only Catholics who have appreciated the leadership of Pope Francis on a range of issues across the last ten years. It was therefore a great joy for us when my co-editor Ana-Maria Bidegain was able to present him with our book about Christianity in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This is the sixth in the 10-volume series of Edinburgh Companions to Global Christianity which we are publishing with Edinburgh University Press. The series has literally been my daily companion over the past ten years – there is scarcely a day when it does not call for my attention. It has been demanding but wonderfully rewarding as our small editorial team has been blessed by the generous collaboration of scholars from almost every country in the world.
Gustave Morello captured what we are trying to do when he wrote in the Religious Studies Review: “This beautiful volume, lavish in its printed edition, is a solid companion to walk into Latin American Christianity thanks to the quality of the contributions, the diversity of age, gender, and religious affiliation, and the huge effort to engage local scholars. The volume overcomes the uneven state of religious studies in Latin America both in terms of countries and disciplines.”
There is, however, one major drawback with the book and that is that it is written in English, which limits is usefulness in the Hispanic world with which it is much concerned. We are therefore delighted that, under the leadership of Ana Maria Bidegain and Gremaud Angee, the massive task of translating all 552 pages into Spanish is almost complete. Our hope is that when Hendrickson in Boston publish the English paperback version next June, at the same time they will bring out the Spanish edition.
Meanwhile our focus in the work of the series has crossed the Atlantic and we are hard at work on Europe, aiming to have our first Europe volume out next year. https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Edinburgh+Companions+to+Global+Christianity
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