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Until the latter years of the XVIIIth century Puerto Rico was a backward and peripheral colony of the Spanish Empire. Bourbon reforms and conditions generated by the revolutionary crisis which affected both Europe and America (1776-1825) promoted social and economic growth. To what degree did the Catholic Church and the clergy of Puerto Rico share in, or were affected by this process?
The number of cleric did not increase proportionately to population, making their moral and religious task increasingly difficult. The increment in population and the growth of commercial agriculture increased the income of the clergy. This was possible because of the multiple taxes levied to sustain worship and clergy until 1858. These taxes were described as a heavy burden to the people by local and central authorities. However, the increased in income was not uniform, since some members of the clergy benefited more than others. Some clerics invested in commercial agriculture and, in significant cases, this could be related to the increase in income.
Both Church and clergy participated in politics and in ideological controversies. After 1814 the hierarchy sided with the "ancien regime" and the colonial establishment. Some clerics (mostly "criollos") were active liberal politics between 1809-1814 and 1820-1823. Years later Spanish authorities and members of the Catholic hierarchy denounced "criollo" clerics as sympathizing with independence and considered proper the "espanolizacion" of the clergy.
Church and clergy seem to have gradually lost some of their social influence during the years studied. Church and clergy supported Black slavery even after papal condemnations, until its abolition in 1873. They also resisted secularization and the ideological pluralism which resulted from the changes of the latter years of the XVIIIth century. Even so, during the last quarter of the XIXth century, the State acknowledged some civil liberties which increased the challenges of Protestants, Freemasons, and Spiritualists to the Catholic Church's conception of a religious monolithic society.