The redefinition of Catholic Church property rights was common in Europe and the Americas during late eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries. Given the Church’s power and the level of political violence after independence, these reforms were influential in Latin America. This paper focuses on Colombia after 1850 and measures the impact of the expropriation of Church’s assets on political violence. With yearly data on the number of battles per municipality, archival information on the reform, and difference-in-differences, the paper documents a reduction of political violence in places where the Church’s assets were expropriated. The paper contests the traditional idea of the expropriation of Church’s real estate as a source of political violence. It highlights changes in political competition after the alliance between Conservative factions and the Church was weakened. Specifically, it shows the reduction in political violence was concentrated in municipalities with high political competition and where the Conservative Party was relatively weak.

在18世纪末和19世纪末期，欧洲和美洲重新定义了天主教教堂的产权。鉴于教会的权力和独立后的政治暴力程度，这些改革在拉丁美洲具有影响力。本文的重点是1850年后的哥伦比亚，并衡量了没收教堂资产对政治暴力的影响。借助每年有关每个城市的战斗次数的数据，有关改革的档案信息以及分歧，该文件证明了在教堂资产被没收的地方减少了政治暴力。该论文质疑了将教堂房地产作为政治暴力来源的传统观念。它突出显示了保守派与教会之间的联盟削弱之后政治竞争的变化。具体而言，它表明政治暴力的减少主要集中在政治竞争激烈且保守党相对较弱的城市。