Verse
Ducey, Jean
First, they say, he has played his role, the ball is rolling, and though he certainly has more to contribute, the movement is not dependent on him now. It is not his movement, but belongs to all...
...It is also expected to use its weight to support the local church in difficulties with other institutions...
...As the Latin American students at the summer course in Lima replied to a handful of European and North American missionaries who insisted on the need to stand up to the church, to denounce its cowardice: "What do you mean we should stand up to the church, confront it...
...No matter what political strings are being pulled in the church, such priests say, the documents speak clearly...
...In Peru the institution is not expected to lead the local church in the sense of interpreting its reality and directing its activities...
...They do not intend to abandon their commitment to the liberation process, and they do not expect the Vatican to lessen the pressure against them in the near future...
...They continue to affirm that their bishops are good people who eventually cannot fail to recognize the Spirit at work, and that the Vatican itself will one day acknowledge the liberation movement as a valid manifestation of its own teachings...
...The faith has always grown through its martyrs, they say, and though one does not wish for martyrdom or persecution, they do serve to test the faith in a way that strengthens it and demonstrates its power...
...They view the controversy with church authority in very different terms than it is frequently understood in North America...
...What must be done now is to evangelize at the popular level -- the Spirit working in the community will both challenge and transform the hierarchy...
...It is not his movement, but belongs to all of them, to the people themselves...
...The unspoken but loud lesson of this local church for us in North America is that one can wait forever for change at higher levels...
...One of the priests I met, deeply committed to the liberation movement, had recently opened a Juan Pablo II Center in his district to promote study of the pope's speeches, among them speeches on Latin America...
...When these people read that (or the title of the section it comes from: "Solidarity with Workers"), they read it as support for that which they do...
...I was also astounded at the attitudes toward church unity expressed by these persons...
...They say for example, "our bishops are good people -- some of them just don't understand, and that is, in part, our fault...
...Second, they say they all live with persecution, and he has a major role in teaching them how to interpret and live with that persecution -- can they not trust him to be strong enough to grow even more through persecution...
...I found in Peru a different attitude toward the institutional church, one both more realistic and more appealing...
...We are the church, and the Spirit is at work converting those who do not yet trust the power of God...
...These people are loyal sons and daughters of the church, deeply steeped in the teachings of the Vatican and the bishops on evangelization and social issues...
...Therefore, alongside the liberation theology books and periodicals for sale at the course were speeches and biographies of all the recent popes, including Juan Pablo II...
...The charisma of church leadership is not seen as independent, but as a reflection of the gifts given the whole church, to complement the basic life and work of the church that occurs on the popular level...
...The lower expectations of institution and leadership, I think, have much to do with the Latin American's greater degree of respect for church leadership...
...They know very well where the pressure against the liberation movement comes from, and they recognize the power of the Vatican and the bishops...
...15 June 1984:367...
...We must only be patient, and continue our work...
...But they are absolutely sure that there will neither be a split in the church, nor a gulf gradually widening between the hierarchical and pastoral levels...
...The institutional center is expected to reflect back local efforts, to promote unity amid diversity, to inspire other parts of the church by lifting up the historical tradition and the example of other localities...
...Juan Pablo II wrote in Laborera Exercens that "The church is strongly committed to this cause, because she considers it as her mission, her service, as a verification of her fidelity to Christ, to truly be the Church of the poor...
...Moreover, they respect and even reverence these authorities...
Vol. 111 • June 1984 • No. 12
