Raúl Silva Henríquez SDB (27 September 1907 – 9 April 1999) was a Chilean prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal from 1962.

Both as Archbishop and in retirement, he was an advocate for social justice and democracy and a forthright vocal critic of the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet—"a constant thorn in the Government's side".

After studying at the Catholic University of Chile where he obtained his doctorate in law, Silva joined the Salesians of Don Bosco on 28 January 1930.

In October 1964, he joined the prelates who signed a petition asking Pope Paul VI to support the council's drafts of declarations on the Church's attitude toward the Jews and on religious liberty and to resist conservative attempts to weaken them.

[5] In April 1974, on behalf of Chile's bishops, he issued a statement denouncing the regime for political persecution and economic policies that burdened the poor, calling for ideological reconciliation.

[4] Silva is believed to have played a key role in persuading the governments of Chile and Argentina to allow Pope John Paul II to mediate their border dispute and avoid war in 1978.

[citation needed] Pinochet's wife Lucía Hiriart greeted his retirement with the words "¡Al fin Dios nos ha escuchado!"

[15] He founded the Academy of Christian Humanism in 1988, an outgrowth of his effort beginning in 1975 to bring intellectuals together to discuss politics, society, economy and culture in Chile.

[16] Silva suffered from Alzheimer's disease near the end of his life and died of a heart attack at a Salesian retirement house in La Florida, at age 91, and was buried in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago.