Born in Talca, Silva Henríquez was the sixteenth of nineteen children.
His father, Ricardo Silva Silva, was a farmer and industrialist of Portuguese descent, and his mother was Mercedes Henríquez Encina.
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.
He studied at the Salesian Pontifical University in Turin and earned a doctorate in theology and in canon law.
He was ordained to the priesthood in Turin on 3 July 1938.

He taught in Chile from 1939 to 1945 and then became director of the Salesian College La Cisterna.
From 1951 to 1959 he headed Caritas Chile while also serving as director as Salesian theological studies.

On 24 October 1959, Pope John XXIII named Silva Bishop of Valparaíso.
He received his episcopal consecration on 29 November from Archbishop Opilio Rossi, with Archbishop Emilio Tagle Covarrubias and Bishop Vladimiro Boric Crnosija SDB, as co-consecrators.
He was named Archbishop of Santiago on 14 May 1961.

Pope John made him Cardinal-Priest of S. Bernardo alle Terme at the consistory of 19 March 1962.
He was on good terms with industry leaders and government officials, including both future dictator Augusto Pinochet and the incoming President Salvador Allende, whose Marxist views he opposed but did not find alarming because Allende, he said, "was always prepared to talk".
He once said: "There are more of the Gospel's values in socialism than there are in capitalism."

In Santiago he quickly established his reputation as an advocate of far-reaching and immediate social reform.
He distributed land on large estates owned by the Church to the peasants who worked on them peasants, saying that "These lands have served God for a long time, but I believe that the needs of the workers on these lands are greater."

When Fidel Castro visited Chile in 1972, Silva gave him 10,000 Bibles to distribute in Cuba.

Silva attended the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965.
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.

He was one of the cardinal electors in the 1963 papal conclave, which elected Pope Paul VI.
He participated in the conclaves of August and October 1978, which elected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II respectively.

He was an outspoken opponent of General Augusto Pinochet, the military ruler who came to power in a 1973 coup and ruled until 1990, though he initially imagined he could use his friendship with Pinochet to moderate his policies.
He eventually became the regime's chief critic.
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.
He called for the restoration of democracy, aid victims of political persecution in finding employment, and provided legal assistance to political prisoners.
He compared Pinochet's oppression of the Church to that experienced by the early Christians at the hands of the Roman Emperors.
In the absence of political opposition that had been silenced, imprisoned or exile, the church under his leadership became "the effective resistance to the regime".
When the government shut down an ecumenical group fostering social conciliation that Silva founded, Silva re-established it the next day as the Vicariate of Solidarity, headquartered inside the cathedral in Santiago.
When the government adopted a conciliatory tone and allowed Silva to visit political prisoners, he collected information on human rights abuses and government-sponsored torture that served as the basis for a report after Pinochet fell from power that listed more than 3,000 Chileans who were killed in prison or disappeared.
Government supporters threatened him by desecrating his parents' grave and shooting at his house.

Silva is believed to have played a key role in persuading
Born in Talca, Silva Henríquez was the sixteenth of nineteen children. His father, Ricardo Silva Silva, was a farmer and industrialist of Portuguese descent, and his mother was Mercedes Henríquez Encina. 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. He studied at the Salesian Pontifical University in Turin and earned a doctorate in theology and in canon law. He was ordained to the priesthood in Turin on 3 July 1938.
He taught in Chile from 1939 to 1945 and then became director of the Salesian College La Cisterna. From 1951 to 1959 he headed Caritas Chile while also serving as director as Salesian theological studies.
On 24 October 1959, Pope John XXIII named Silva Bishop of Valparaíso. He received his episcopal consecration on 29 November from Archbishop Opilio Rossi, with Archbishop Emilio Tagle Covarrubias and Bishop Vladimiro Boric Crnosija SDB, as co-consecrators. He was named Archbishop of Santiago on 14 May 1961.
Pope John made him Cardinal-Priest of S. Bernardo alle Terme at the consistory of 19 March 1962. He was on good terms with industry leaders and government officials, including both future dictator Augusto Pinochet and the incoming President Salvador Allende, whose Marxist views he opposed but did not find alarming because Allende, he said, "was always prepared to talk". He once said: "There are more of the Gospel's values in socialism than there are in capitalism."
In Santiago he quickly established his reputation as an advocate of far-reaching and immediate social reform. He distributed land on large estates owned by the Church to the peasants who worked on them peasants, saying that "These lands have served God for a long time, but I believe that the needs of the workers on these lands are greater."
When Fidel Castro visited Chile in 1972, Silva gave him 10,000 Bibles to distribute in Cuba.
Silva attended the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965. 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.
He was one of the cardinal electors in the 1963 papal conclave, which elected Pope Paul VI. He participated in the conclaves of August and October 1978, which elected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II respectively.
He was an outspoken opponent of General Augusto Pinochet, the military ruler who came to power in a 1973 coup and ruled until 1990, though he initially imagined he could use his friendship with Pinochet to moderate his policies. He eventually became the regime's chief critic. 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. He called for the restoration of democracy, aid victims of political persecution in finding employment, and provided legal assistance to political prisoners. He compared Pinochet's oppression of the Church to that experienced by the early Christians at the hands of the Roman Emperors. In the absence of political opposition that had been silenced, imprisoned or exile, the church under his leadership became "the effective resistance to the regime". When the government shut down an ecumenical group fostering social conciliation that Silva founded, Silva re-established it the next day as the Vicariate of Solidarity, headquartered inside the cathedral in Santiago. When the government adopted a conciliatory tone and allowed Silva to visit political prisoners, he collected information on human rights abuses and government-sponsored torture that served as the basis for a report after Pinochet fell from power that listed more than 3,000 Chileans who were killed in prison or disappeared. Government supporters threatened him by desecrating his parents' grave and shooting at his house.
Silva is believed to have played a key role in persuading 
Raúl Silva Henríquez