In English for the first time, Clerical Ideology in a Revolutionary Age illuminates the role of Catholic thought in the making of Mexico as a nation by providing a nuanced sense of clerical thought during the turbulent years leading to and following Mexico's national independence. In this regional study, Connaughton delves deeply into an abundance of primary sources from Guadalajara between 1788 and 1853, including printed sermons of high clergymen, contemporaneous newspapers, pamphletry, and pastoral letters. He unpacks this literature in the broader context of the Enlightenment, looking at its potentially corrosive ideas, the rise of liberalism, the relationship between the Church and the state, and the spread of secular mentality. In essence, it is a study of the substance, contradictions, and evolution of Church thinking and political posturing in the face of Bourbon Reforms and the rise of liberalism. With a balanced approach to clerical discourse, Connaughton's book should be required reading for any teacher or reader of Mexican history.