VISIONS OF THE KINGDOM The Latin American Church in Conflict by Deborah Huntington
"(WHOSE CHURCH IS IT?" IS A QUESV tion increasingly raised, particularly by liberation theologians and members of Latin America's Christian Base Communities. That their voices have gained a...
...The Second Vatican Council, concluded 20 years ago, fundamentally altered the lives of the more than 700 million Roman Catholics worldwide...
...Last January, Pope John Paul II made the dramatic announcement that a special council, or synod, would be convened to "deepen the understanding of [Vatican II's] teachings in the light of new needs...
...These articles look at maneuvers in a holy war...
...Presidents from the world's 97 national bishops conferences will meet in Rome from November 24 to December 8. At issue are political, not theological, concepts: the distribution of power within the Church...
...The pope called the synod at a time of generalized frustration within the Catholic community...
...Backed by most of the Vatican bureaucracy, Pope John Paul has made his rallying cry "obedience," not "exploration...
...Now, some of the Council's decisions are to be reconsidered...
...That their voices have gained a hearing at all is a tribute to the reform set in motion two decades ago...
...But liberal bishops approached the meeting with the belief that the chances of a conservative victory are minimal, and stress that a synod is the ideal place to explore how "we have failed the Council" on issues of communication and understanding, rather than how the Council has failed the Church...
...Pope John XXIII, the convenor of the Council, envisioned the Church setting off on a journey into the 20th century and beyond, with no known destination...
...This would signify a political victory for regional forces bolstered by the Reagan Administration, and weaken movements promoting social change in Latin America...
...Just how the conflict gets played out will make a statement to the world as well as the Church...
...Decision-making power was decentralized and believers were encouraged to pursue human rights and social justice...
...how will power be realligned...
...THE CONFLICT, acute...
...Breaking with the past, the Council affirmed the individual's right to interpret Church teachings...
...Deborah Huntington examines two intersecting dimensions of political conflict within the Catholic Church...
...and the shuffle at the apex of power, both in Rome and in Latin American hierarchies, in response to the new currents of faith...
...In the first two articles, she examines the history of overt and tacit political alliances between representatives of the traditional Church and those in power...
...It will not be resolved at the November synod...
...First, the clash over competing interpretations of who constitutes the members in good standing within the Roman Catholic community and the definition of the mandate they seek to fulfill...
...Second, the unfolding debate among different Church communities as they interact with ruling elites...
...the emergence of a Latin American theology which challenges the exercise of faith...
...All sides agree that if the conservatives are able to advance their agenda, the key role the Church has played in developing grassroots power structures in Latin America will be reversed...
...Which forces will be strengthened at the synod...
...Today the Salvadorean Church is under attack not only from the country's bishops, but also from its government...
...The third article considers how conservative religious and political objectives coincide in Central America, specifically in El Salvador...
...Catholic and non-Catholic observers view the conservative agenda as attempting to alter the process of decision-making formalized at the Council, and to quiet some of the most bothersome challengers...
...By the late 1970s, the Salvadorean Christian Base Communities, nurtured by Archbishop Oscar Romero and his predecessor, Luis ChAvez y Gonzalez , were the region's largest...
...Contrary to charges, most of the leaders of El Salvador's base community movement were Salvadorean priests and nuns, not foreigners...
...As such, it represents the struggle of most Latin American Christians...
...This issue of Report on the Americas is part of our ongoing work on religion and politics in Latin America...
...HE STAKES ARE HIGH...
Vol. 19 • September 1985 • No. 5
