Latin America

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Néstor O. Míguez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Ecumenical Dialogue ◽  
Protestant Churches ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Politics And Culture ◽  
Indigenous Religions

The chapter gives a brief historic account of the religious background of Latin America from the Conquest to the present day. It deals with the imposition of the Catholic Church over the indigenous religions, and with the syncretism and diversity thus created, especially after the arrival of Protestant churches and new religious movements. It considers the development from harsh religious confrontation to ecumenical dialogue in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the appearance of Latin American liberation theology, and the growth of evangelical and Pentecostal missions. The crucial importance of the Second Vatican Council, of the Latin American and Caribbean Catholic Bishops Conferences, and of the presence of the ecumenical movement in the areas of politics and culture is described. The consequences of the election of Pope Francis as the first Latin American pope are considered. The chapter concludes with a panorama of the ecumenical and interreligious situation of the continent.

The Role of Women in the Development of New Religious Movements in Latin America

2021 ◽  
pp. 346-364
Author(s):  
Angel Belzunegui Eraso ◽  
David Dueñas Cid
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Plurality ◽  
New Religions ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
Latin American Countries

In this chapter we focus on the growth of “new religions” and new religious movements in Latin America and attempt to find explanations for this growth. Although other explanations for the increase in religious plurality exist, we focus on the role of women in this development. The expansion of movements such as Pentecostalism is challenging the centrality of Catholicism in many Latin American countries. Basically, we therefore aim to answer the following question: Why has Pentecostalism grown so much in some Latin American countries while Catholicism has experienced a certain decline? One possible explanation for this is the role of women in this expansion, which has fostered greater social cohesion within families and communities. Pentecostalism has led to a certain empowerment of the women living in precarious conditions, affording them greater visibility and importance within their communities and giving them a role in the re-education of behaviours that are rooted in male domination.

Prophetic Martyrdom in Modern Latin America

2020 ◽  
pp. 236-255
Author(s):  
Edward T. Brett
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Religious Sisters ◽  
Church Workers ◽  
Modern Latin America ◽  
The Church

Following the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), over a thousand priests and religious sisters and brothers were exiled, imprisoned, tortured, or murdered in Latin America by authoritarian governments. A much larger number of lay Church workers were also incarcerated, brutalized, or killed. Most suffered or died because, following the ideals of Vatican II and the Second Latin American Bishops Conference at Medellín, Colombia (1968), they committed themselves to the amelioration of the marginalized in their countries, even though they were fully aware that to do so placed their lives in great peril. This chapter treats a select number—mostly priests and nuns—who were killed because of their prophetic devotion to the poor. It is limited to the nations of Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Central America. It also touches on the bitter divisions that resulted in the Church as a consequence of this new religious activism. Finally, it demonstrates why the deaths of so many religious-based social justice activists forced the institutional Catholic Church to reexamine its outdated criteria for martyrdom.

The Role of Women in the Development of New Religious Movements in Latin America

2016 ◽  
pp. 224-247
Author(s):  
Angel Belzunegui Eraso ◽  
David Dueñas Cid
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Plurality ◽  
New Religions ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
Latin American Countries

In this chapter we focus on the growth of “new religions” and new religious movements in Latin America and attempt to find explanations for this growth. Although other explanations for the increase in religious plurality exist, we focus on the role of women in this development. The expansion of movements such as Pentecostalism is challenging the centrality of Catholicism in many Latin American countries. Basically, we therefore aim to answer the following question: Why has Pentecostalism grown so much in some Latin American countries while Catholicism has experienced a certain decline? One possible explanation for this is the role of women in this expansion, which has fostered greater social cohesion within families and communities. Pentecostalism has led to a certain empowerment of the women living in precarious conditions, affording them greater visibility and importance within their communities and giving them a role in the re-education of behaviours that are rooted in male domination.

The Living Stations of the Cross

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Cressler
Keyword(s):  
Black Church ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Black Catholics ◽  
Protestant Churches ◽  
Stations Of The Cross ◽  
Black Muslims ◽  
Death Of Jesus ◽  
The Cross

This chapter introduces “the Living Stations of the Cross,” a Black Catholic reenactment of the passion and death of Jesus performed annually by parishioners of Chicago’s largest Black Catholic church from 1937 to 1968. This devotional practice serves as a lens through which to better understand the ways in which Catholic ritual life and relationships distinguished Catholic converts from the Protestant churches proliferating around them in the midst of the Great Migrations. It argues that Black Catholics should be understood as sharing in the same impulse as other new religious movements or “religio-racial movements,” such as the Black Hebrews and Black Muslims, who adopted religious practices and bodily disciplines that marked them as different from the assorted Black evangelical practices that were quickly coming to be understood as normative for Black religious life (known by the shorthand “the Black Church”).

The Changing Faces of the Terror of Cultism in Nigerian Society: An Islamic Perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 97-111
Author(s):  
Abdulrazaq Kilani
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
National Life ◽  
Indigenous Religions ◽  
Almost All ◽  
New Recruits ◽  
Populous Country

The menace of cultism in Nigeria society in general and our educational institutions in particular has reached an alarming stage that requires affirmative actions from all stakeholders. The scourge of cultism has claimed many lives of our youths and no serious authority can fold its arms and allow it to continue. It appears that the various efforts at curbing the menace have yielded no result. The corruption in most facets of our national life has finally subdued the educational institutions, which used to be the pride of place in the past. Most families are astonished to find out that children sent to school to learn and become better human beings in the society have initiated themselves into cult groups. The emergency of secret cultism has been characterized by some violent activities which include, physical torture of new recruits, maiming and killing of rival cult members and elimination of real and perceived enemies. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups with 36 states and one federal territory (Abuja). There are three major religions namely Islam (50%), Christianity (40%), and Africa Indigenous Religions (10%). The effect of globalization is also making other new religious movements to be making inroads into Nigeria. Nigeria has a population of about 141 million people (2006 census). Nigeria which is rich in both human and material resources is a country that is facing a lot of developmental challenges in almost all sectors due to poor leadership. The menace of cultism especially among youths and some influential people in the society represents one of the distortion facing the popular ‘giant’ of Africa. The aim of this chapter is to bring into the fore the menace of cultism in modern Nigeria as a brand of terrorism mind not the fact that there are even religious cults in both the developed and developing societies. The paper also adopted an Islamic lens to provide an analysis of the terror of cultism in contemporary Nigeria.

The Baltic Countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 586-600
Author(s):  
Sebastian Rimestad
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Baltic Countries ◽  
The North ◽  
The World ◽  
The Baltic

The three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) have a varied religious history. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, they were the last region of Europe to be Christianized. Today, they—and especially Estonia—are among the most secularized societies in the world. This is not only due to the Soviet past but also to Baltic German dominance at key moments in their history. While Lutheranism has dominated in the north (in Estonia and Latvia), the Roman Catholic Church is still the main religious player in the south (in Lithuania and parts of Latvia). Primarily due to Russian migration, the Orthodox Church also plays a significant role in Baltic affairs. There is, finally, a small but vibrant cluster of new religious movements, notably neo-pagan groups.

scholarly journals Hidden in Plain Sight: Dominion Theology, Spiritual Warfare, and Violence in Latin America

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 648
Author(s):  
Virginia Garrard
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spiritual Warfare ◽  
Protestant Churches ◽  
American Protestantism ◽  
Global Movement ◽  
Dominion Theology ◽  
Conservative Christians ◽  
The Church

Historically, Protestant churches in Latin America regarded the ‘world’ as a realm of sin and impurity. The proper focus of the church, they believed, was on salvation, and building a community of the saved. In recent years, this has begun to change, as evangelicals have entered the political arena in force. Many are motivated by ‘Dominion theology’, a long hidden movement that works to bring a network of conservative Christians to political power in order to affect ‘dominion’ over the earth to hasten the Kingdom of God. Although its origins are in the United States, this is a global movement, hidden in plain sight. The movement has shown strength and drawn notable political allies all across Latin America, with notable cases in Central America and Brazil. This remains a minority and a much-contested movement in Latin American Protestantism, but its advocates are working hard to gain positions of influence.

scholarly journals LATINO MIGRATION AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF U.S.A. CATHOLICISM: FRAMING THE QUESTION

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (128) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Allan Figueroa Deck
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Catholicism ◽  
Popular Piety ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Dynamic Vision ◽  
Latino Migration

Este ensaio estuda a relação entre a migração latino-americana em direção ao Norte e as mudanças que estão tendo lugar no catolicismo estadunidense. A parte principal do artigo concentra-se na profunda e histórica experiência religiosa que os latinos trazem à Igreja nos Estados Unidos, herança marcadamente diferente da anglo-americana. Ao pano de fundo colonial, entretanto, devem ser acrescentadas as profundas mudanças que aconteceram no catolicismo latino-americano no período posterior ao Concilio Vaticano II. Os latinos têm sido um canal para comunicar a visão dinâmica de Medellín e Aparecida à Igreja católica estadunidense mais focada na conservação que na missão. A seção final trata das contribuições específicas do catolicismo latino à vida da Igreja estadunidense contemporânea através dos métodos pastorais renovados, da opção pelos pobres e da teologia da libertação, assim como no âmbito da oração, do culto e da espiritualidade, a preocupação pela justiça social, a religiosidade popular e a pastoral juvenil – para mencionar apenas algumas poucas. A eleição do Papa Francisco, o primeiro papa latino-americano, destaca a influência emergente do catolicismo latino-americano na cena mundial e não apenas nos Estados Unidos.ABSTRACT: This essay explores the link between Latin American migration northward and changes taking place in U.S. Catholicism. A major part of the article focuses on the deep and historic religious background that Latinos bring to the Church in the United States, a heritage markedly different from that of Anglo America. To the colonial background, however, must be added the profound changes that have taken place in Latin American Catholicism in the period after the Second Vatican Council. Latinos have been a conduit for communicating the dynamic vision of Medellín and Aparecida to a U.S. Catholic Church focused more on maintenance than mission. A final section looks at specific contributions of Latino Catholicism to the U.S. Church’s contemporary life through renewed pastoral methods, the option for the poor, and Liberation Theology as well as in the area of prayer, worship and spirituality, concern for social justice, popular piety, and youth ministry—to name just a few. The election of Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope, highlights the emerging influence of Latin American Catholicism on the world stage and not only in the United States.

scholarly journals PRAISE OF THE CONVERT: BELIEVE AND BELONG FROM THE CATHOLICITY OF LATIN AMERICA

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-339
Author(s):  
Felipe Gaytán Alcalá
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The Church

Latin America was considered for many years the main bastion of Catholicism in the world by the number of parishioners and the influence of the church in the social and political life of the región, but in recent times there has been a decrease in the catholicity index. This paper explores three variables that have modified the identity of Catholicism in Latin American countries. The first one refers to the conversion processes that have expanded the presence of Christian denominations, by analyzing the reasons that revolve around the sense of belonging that these communities offer and that prop up their expansion and growth. The second variable accounts for those Catholics who still belong to the Catholic Church but who in their practices and beliefs have incorporated other magical or esoteric scheme in the form of religious syncretisms, modifying their sense of being Catholics in the world. The third factor has a political reference and has to do with the concept of laicism, a concept that sets its objective, not only in the separation of the State from the Church, but for historical reasons in catholicity restraint in the public space which has led to the confinement of the Catholic to the private, leaving other religious groups to occupy that space.

Liberation Theology and the Central America Solidarity Movement

2019 ◽  
pp. 95-126
Author(s):  
Sharon Erickson Nepstad
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Central America ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Central American ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Revolutionary Movements ◽  
School Of The Americas

This chapter examines the conditions that fostered liberation theology in Latin America. The chapter provides a brief overview of liberation theology’s central themes and how it fueled revolutionary movements in Central America, particularly in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. It surveys the Catholic hierarchy’s responses, ranging from sympathy to condemnation, and highlights several US religious movements that expressed solidarity with Central American Catholics who were fighting for social justice. These organizations included Witness for Peace, which brought US Christians to the war zones of Nicaragua to deter combat attacks, and also Pledge of Resistance, which mobilized tens of thousands into action when US policy toward the region grew more bellicose. Finally, the chapter describes the School of the Americas Watch, which aimed to stop US training of Latin American militaries that were responsible for human rights atrocities.

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