Liberation Theology’s Spiritual Legacy for the Latin American Church

2020 ◽  
pp. 376-392
Author(s):  
Harold Segura
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
Pastoral Work ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Evangelical Churches ◽  
Spiritual Legacy ◽  
The Catholic Church

Spirituality has increasingly become an important interpretive key to understand the develop of theologies in Latin America over the last 50 years, particularly Latin America Liberation Theology. This chapter presents some of the most important background of Liberation Theology by describing its theological emphasis and its implications for the pastoral work. This theological work has been consequential not only for the Catholic Church, but also for evangelical churches and other Christian communities. The argument is that the Liberation Theology is not new, but is rather a new way of doing theology, and therefore, a new way of understanding Christian spirituality and following Jesus.

A critical note on Aparecida and the future of the Catholic Church of Latin America

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Hegy
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Type Structure ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Critical Note ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

The conclusions of the Fifth Conference of Bishops of Latin America meeting in Aparecida in 2007 are entitled ‘Disciples and Missionaries of Jesus Christ.’ When analyzed in the light of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the traditional doctrines of soteriology, the sacraments, ecclesiology, and authority in the Church are missing; they are also missing in the conclusions of the previous conferences of Latin American bishops and in the Second African Synod. The conference of Medellin of 1968 had inaugurated the see-judge-act methodology, but it is missing in Aparecida. Also missing is a strong emphasis on social justice and structural sin, which are central to liberation theology. However, missionary discipleship is not just an ideal in Latin America; it is practiced through the Holy Popular Mission of Brazil and small communities in Guatemala. Hence the Catholic Church of Latin America is heading in a new direction. In this way, it is an example of a Church-type structure with some features of the sect type.

The Catholic Church at Puebla

Worldview ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 22 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 13-15
Author(s):  
Renato Poblete
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Human Life ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Profound Impact ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

The Third General Assembly of the Latin American Episcopate took place last February in the Mexican city of Puebla. Without doubt it will make a profound impact upon the evangelizing action of the Church in Latin America. The documents produced at Puebla, like those produced in Medellin ten years earlier, will give rise to reflections that will find their way into the diverse pastoral plans of each nation.Neither Medellin nor Puebla can be considered isolated phenomenon. On the contrary, each should be seen as fruits of a maturing process in which Christian people, together with their pastors, express both the depths of their anguish and their high hopes and visions. That vision encompasses raising people from subhuman situations to a fuller experience of human life. Such experience should be expected to bring people together in brotherly love and lead naturally to a greater openness to God.

scholarly journals Defending Human Rights Through Social Action: The Role of the Catholic Church in Latin America in the 1960s–1980s

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madelyn Evans
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Social Mission ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

Since the earliest days of colonization, religion – in particular, the Roman Catholic Church – has been a driving force in the Latin American politics, economics, and society. As the region underwent frequent political instability and high levels of violence, the Church remained a steady, powerful force in society. This paper will explore the relationship between the Catholic Church and the struggle to defend human rights during the particularly oppressive era of bureaucratic-authoritarianism in Latin America throughout the 1960s–1980s. This paper seeks to demonstrate that the Church undertook the struggle to protect human rights because its modernized social mission sought to support the oppressed suffering from the political, economic, and social status quo. In challenging the legitimacy of the ruling national security ideology and illuminating the moral dimensions of violence, the Catholic Church became a crucial constructive agent in spurring social change, mitigating the effects of violence, and setting a democratic framework for the future.

The Modernized Church in Peru: Two Aspects

1964 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-318
Author(s):  
Fredrick B. Pike
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

Throughout Latin America the Catholic Church has embarked upon a process of modernization. The key element in modernization has been the assumption of an active role in the quest for economic betterment of the conditions in which a majority of the population lives. Realizing that a modern nation is an integrated nation, the Church seems to have adopted as its motto: A Modem Church in a Modern Nation. Consequently, it has begun to help Latin American republics become nations through the integration of previously excluded groups into society.

scholarly journals Evangelicals in the Latin American political arena: the cases of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Victoria Sotelo ◽  
Felipe Arocena
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Cultural Transformations ◽  
Evangelical Churches ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Intermediate Situation ◽  
The Catholic Church

AbstractThe advance of evangelical congregations in the Latin American religious scene is one of the most significant cultural transformations of the last decades. It is so because of the speed with which it has occurred, because of the important number of people involved and because of the depth with which it challenges the Catholic Church, one of the most emblematic institutions of the continent since the conquest. In this paper, we analyze one of the areas in which this religious revolution is manifesting itself in three different countries. We address the changing relationships between evangelicals and politics in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and prove that, despite the enormous differences among these three countries, there are clear similarities in the political agendas that evangelicals support. Nevertheless, we also show the different articulations that Evangelicals have carried out in the political arena in each case. The Evangelical churches in Brazil have advanced much more in this sense than in Argentina, with Uruguay being the intermediate situation. For this, we will base ourselves on a bibliographic review of research, in statistical data from the Latinobarometer, together with specific in-depth interviews.

Protestants and Pentecostals in Latin America (1900–Present)

2020 ◽  
pp. 410-440
Author(s):  
David W. Kling
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Conversion Experience ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
The Catholic Church

The growth of evangelicalism in Latin America, largely of the Pentecostal type, is a recent phenomenon. After half a century of relative dormancy, Pentecostalism exploded during the last three decades of the twentieth century, reshaping the Latin American religious landscape that for nearly four centuries had been monopolized by the Catholic Church. This chapter explores the origins and growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America, first in its Protestant expression, then in its spread within the Catholic Church. Basic to both is the necessity of a conversion experience followed by a receptivity to the transformative work of the Holy Spirit. As a movement and religious phenomenon, the impact of Pentecostalism has been enormous. Particular attention is given to theoretical models proposed to explain Pentecostal conversions.

Pluralism and the Churching of Latin America

2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney Stark ◽  
Buster G. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Reliable Data ◽  
Religious Economies ◽  
The Catholic Church

AbstractReliable data on Protestant and Catholic membership in 18 Latin American nations show that Protestants have recruited a larger percentage of the population in many nations than previously estimated. Analysis of these data shows that, as predicted by the theory of religious economies, the Catholic Church has been invigorated by the Protestant challenge: Catholic mass attendance has risen to unprecedented levels, and is highest in nations where Protestants have made the greatest gains.

Catholic Laity in the Latin American Church

2020 ◽  
pp. 505-521
Author(s):  
Robert S. Pelton
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Pastoral Theology ◽  
Contextual Theology ◽  
People Of God ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
The People ◽  
The Church

Before Vatican II, pastoral theology reflected a clear distinction between the ordained and non-ordained members of the Church, but a gradual nuancing of this issue was taking place in Latin America as early as the 1950s. In those areas, there had been rather intensive study of “modern” European theologians. Through their writings and pastoral visits to the region of America, these progressive European theologians began to strongly influence Latin American theology —especially in Chile and Brazil. This influence was shown through the beginnings of small Christian communities, and through an emphasis on doing “contextual” theology. This is a theology that emphasizes the experiential in the light of tradition, which eventually led to Latin American liberation theology. The Church of Latin America has long been a leader in innovations that incorporate the role of Scripture in everyday life: the preferential and evangelizing option for the poor, small Christian communities (also known as CEBs or BECs), lay apostolates and lay missionaries, and other endeavors to put the Church at service to the People of God. “Laying boots on the ground” has become truly essential to carrying out the Church’s mission in the world and pastoral ambience contributes strongly to this growing appreciation of the Catholic laity. Combined with the importance of theologically reflecting within the context of regional realities, this approach can provide hope for a challenged but youthful and vibrant Catholic Church of Latin America.

scholarly journals O laicato e a classe média. Um diálogo com Clodovis Boff

2020 ◽  
Vol 80 (315) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Sávio Carlos Desan Scopinho
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Pastoral Work ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Middle Class People ◽  
The Catholic Church

A proposta deste artigo é retomar um debate realizado na década de 90 do século passado que trata da relação entre agente de pastoral e povo. A partir das intuições de Clodovis Boff, pretende-se compreender o papel do laicato, particularmente da classe média, na pastoral com as massas. Na tentativa de definição de massa, povo, classe média e agente de pastoral, duas iniciativas são importantes nesse processo: a possibilidade da existência de uma pastoral da classe média e uma efetiva realização de um trabalho pastoral com as massas. A atualização da temática se torna pertinente por levantar uma questão ainda não devidamente resolvida pela pastoral da Igreja católica e por retomar uma possível teologia do laicato numa perspectiva libertadora e latino-americana.Abstract: The proposal is to retake a debate happened in the 1990s that deals with the relationship between pastoral agent and people. Based on Clodovis Boff ’s intuitions, it is intended to understand the role of the laity, particularly of the middle class, in pastoral work with the mass. In the attempt to define mass, people, middle class and pastoral agent, two initiatives are important in this process: the possibility of the existence of a middle class pastoral and an effective pastoral accomplishment work with the mass. The updating of this thematic becomes relevant for raise an issue not yet properly resolved by the pastoral of the Catholic Church and for retaking a possible theology of the laity from a liberating and Latin American perspective.Keywords: Pastoral agent; Middle class; People; Masses; Laity.

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