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RELIGION, THE CHURCH, AND LIBERATION THEOLOGY

RELIGION, THE CHURCH, AND LIBERATION THEOLOGY. LATI 50 Introduction to Latin America. CURRENT ASSIGNMENTS . Reading: Modern Latin America , chs. 6 and 14 Optional Paper: 6-10 pages on a topic of your choosing (approved by TA) Due in class next Thursday, March 3. CONVENTIONAL WISDOMS.

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RELIGION, THE CHURCH, AND LIBERATION THEOLOGY

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  1. RELIGION, THE CHURCH, AND LIBERATION THEOLOGY LATI 50 Introduction to Latin America

  2. CURRENT ASSIGNMENTS • Reading: • Modern Latin America, chs. 6 and 14 • Optional Paper: • 6-10 pages on a topic of your choosing (approved by TA) • Due in class next Thursday, March 3

  3. CONVENTIONAL WISDOMS • Role of Catholicism • Conservative politics • Authority of priesthood • Unchanging doctrines • Cultures of faith

  4. INCONVENIENT FACTS • 60 % of world’s Catholics, and 90-95% born as Catholics, but: • Only 71% describe selves as Catholic, but attendance at mass is much less • Anti-clericalism and secularism significant • Intense theological ferment • Competition from Protestantism and other religions

  5. HISTORICAL PATTERNS • Syncretism: blending of European (Catholic) and indigenous belief systems • Role of priest in village society: • Preacher, teacher • Arbiter, referee • Path to upward mobility • Trinity of power: elite, military, and clergy • Church as banker • Doctrine of obedience

  6. LIBERATION THEOLOGY • Origins: • Rerum novarum (1891) and Catholic social doctrine • Marxist analysis • Vatican II (1962-65) • Conference of Latin American Bishops (Medellín, 1968) • Principal themes: • Social justice on earth • Poverty a consequence of sin • “Preferential option for the poor” • Need for “liberation” from oppression and from avarice, selfishness, lack of compassion = thus a more perfect relationship with God

  7. MEANS TO LIBERATION • Christian Base Communities • Readings of the Bible • Popular empowerment • Support for revolutionary movements (in some cases), resistance to authoritarian regimes • Opposition from Vatican (Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI) and from institutional Church

  8. THE CHURCH AND POLITICS • Difference between institutional hierarchy and regular “orders” (e.g., Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans) • Open support for human rights: • Brazil • Chile • Central America (Nicaragua, El Salvador) • Conservative/reactionary stances: • Argentina • Colombia

  9. RISE OF PROTESTANTISM • Key Doctrines • Direct personal experience of God through baptism in the Holy Spirit (thus, “born again”) • Infallibility of Bible, personal healing • Brazil • Assemblies of God • Universal Church of Kingdom of God • Estimates: 30+ million • Central America • Guatemala • Factors • Charismatic preachers + missionaries • Appeal to migrants in urban slums, provision of practical support systems • No need for literacy (as in reading Bible)

  10. ROOTS, AFRICAN AND INDIGENOUS • African: • Umbanda (Brazil) • Candomblé • Santería (Cuba) • Indigenous: • Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru

  11. AND SO… • Revision of conventional wisdom • Variety and range of experience and roles • Complexity of Latin American society and institutions

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