Osvaldo Lira

Childhood and youth José Luis Osvaldo Lira Pérez was born on February 11, 1904, in his maternal grandparents' house, at Catedral and Amunátegui streets (Catedral 1390), in Santiago. His parents were Luis Lira Luco and María Cristina Pérez Valdés, both devout Catholics. He was baptized on the day of his birth, in the parish of St. Anne. His father asked him to go to university before becoming a candidate for membership of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts, so he studied engineering for one year, and law for another. On May 4, 1922, when he was 18 years old, he entered the novitiate of the congregation where he had been educated, leaving behind the names of José Luis, while keeping his third baptismal name, Osvaldo. Father Lira was known for having advanced thoughts as well as for using a vehement tone, which got him into trouble with his superiors in the congregation, adding to this the great popularity he had among his students, Gonzalo Ibáñez Santa María said that “no one who has ever met him has remained indifferent to him”. In 1939, eleven years after being ordained as a priest, during which time he had worked as a teacher for the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts, Fr. Lira thought it necessary to leave the congregation, considering entering the Benedictines or joining the secular diocesan clergy. It was monsignor Pío Fariña, auxiliary bishop for Santiago, who urged him to wait for better times. A year later, in 1940, it was decided that he should travel to Europe, where he met the General Superior of the Congregation. According to Julio Retamal Favereau, the influence of “some conservative leaders who branded Father Lira as advanced and even as a communist (!)”, was decisive. Retamal emphasizes that after this episode Father Lira never thought of retiring from the congregation, although he considered that they never encouraged, or showed any interest in, his intellectual action and production. ==Time in Spain==

Father Osvaldo Lira traveled to Europe in 1940, arriving in Spain on May 15, after being in Belgium with his superiors before the country was invaded by the Germans. He lived in Spain for twelve years, from 1940 to 1952, residing in Miranda de Ebro and Madrid. It was in this country that he was able to complete his knowledge of Scholastic theology and Thomism. Lira had written articles for magazines and made translations of books by Catholic authors, but it was in Spain that he wrote his first books, the first one being about Vázquez de Mella, a Spanish politician whose socio-political ideals the priest shared: Nostalgia de Vázquez de Mella (1942). His other writings in Spain include Visión política de Quevedo (1948), La Vida en torno (1949) and Hispanidad y mestizaje (1952). Living in Spain he met great writers and musicians, among the former Vicente Aleixandre, Dámaso Alonso and José María Pemán, and among the latter Joaquín Rodrigo, Ataúlfo Agenta and Joaquín Turina. ==Honours==

In 1978 the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile appointed him Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy Faculty. University Adolfo Ibáñez named him Honorary Academician. Professor Juan Antonio Widow, in the prologue to the second edition of La Vida en Torno, published in 2004 for the centenary of Lira's birth, wrote: As to his thoughts In the year 1994, University Adolfo Ibáñez together with Zig-Zag Publisher, released the book Padre Osvaldo Lira: En torno a su pensamiento. Homenaje en sus 90 años ("Father Osvaldo Lira: As to his thoughts. Tribute to his 90 years"). Just as the title indicates, the book was published as a homage to his 90 years (1904–1994). The articles talk about Fr. Osvaldo Lira's thoughts, and contain four biographical articles in his honor. The rest of the articles are about the following topics: Theology, spirituality, philosophy, morality, politics, law, history and regarding some poets. This is the largest work that has been done on the thought of Osvaldo Lira. The articles were written by 35 professors and friends: Julio Retamal Favereau, Rafael Gambra, Enrique Díaz Araujo, Alberto Boixados, Mario Soria, R.P. Raúl Sanchez Abelenda, Juan Roberto Pérez, Manuel Atria Ramírez, Guido Soaje Ramos, Féliz Adolfo Lamas, Juan Vallet de Goytisolo, Mirko Skarica, Juan Carlos Ossandón, Juan Antonio Widow, R.P. Carlos Miguel Buela, Patricio H. Randle, Antonio Millán-Puelles, R.P. Victorino Rodríguez, O.P., José Luis Widow, Luis Alberto Barnada, Miguel Ayuso, Gonzalo Larios, Alvaro Pezoa, R.P. Alfredo Sáenz, S.J., Carlos Francisco Cáceres, Alejandro Guzmán Brito, Gonzalo Ibáñez Santa María, Héctor Herrera Cajas, Edberto Oscar Acevedo, Juan Vicente Ugarte del Pino, José Joaquín Ugarte, Bernardino Bravo Lira, Cristián Garay Vera, Rubén Calderón Bouchet, Bernardino Montejano and Alberto Falcionelli. ==Bibliography==