The historiography of the church in Latin America in the period 1830–1930 is variable in coverage and quality and does not compare with the standard of historical writing in other aspects of Latin American history. One of the objects of the Comisión de Historia de la Iglesia en América Latina (CEHILA) is to remedy this situation, and the results of its work will be seen in the multi-volumed Historia general de la iglesia en América Latina under the general editorship of E. D. Dussel, individual volumes of which have already begun to appear. CEHILA has published a useful compendium on the sources and methods of church history, Para una historia de la Iglesia en América Latina: I Encuentro latinoamericano de CEHILA en Quito (1973) (Barcelona, 1975), which compensates to some extent for the lack of basic bibliographies. Meanwhile, history as well as other disciplines are well served by JLAS, 17/2 (1985), a number devoted largely to the church in Latin America.

General histories of the church in Latin America are few in number. Enrique D. Dussel, Historia de la iglesia en América Latina: Colonizaje y liberación (1492–1973), 3rd ed. (Barcelona, 1974; Eng. trans., Grand Rapids, Mich., 1981) provides a framework of the subject, and Hans-Jürgen Prien, Die Geschichte des Christentums in Lateinamerika (Göttingen, 1978; Sp. trans., Salamanca, 1985), is a substantial history. See also Enrique Dussel (ed.), The Church in Latin America, 1492–1992 (New York, 1992).