ABSTRACT
Chile is a country in South America that is well-known for its unusual geography and topography. Culturally there is a mix of indigenous peoples, Spanish and other European immigrants. It is also historically a Catholic country. There is a wealthy class and a rising middle class, but abject poverty exists in an underclass who often lives of invisibility. These forces challenge the presence of the Catholic Church as a societal influence. Many cultural Catholics have not experienced the Catholic Church as it operates today and rely on their image of a Catholic Church for the rich. Chilean Catholic schools have a different history than those in the USA where Catholic schools were a vehicle that assisted in social mobility for poor immigrant groups. In Chile, government law requires that spiritual development be included as a school goal. At the same time, religious education classes are supposed to provide Catholic religious education.
