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Article #5: Progressive Catholicism

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Most scholars view the appearance of several dioceses. Base communities were
progressive Catholicism as a dramatic expanded, though they still reached only
break with the past. The shift in a small fraction of the country's
attention toward solving the economic and Catholic population. Episcopal criticisms
political problems of the poor defines of human rights abuses and economic
progressive Catholicism (Bruneau 45). injustice grew increasingly common
Catholic progressivism in Latin America beginning in the late 1960s with the
is typically dated from the Second appointment of Dom Aloísio Lorscheider
Vatican Council (1962-65). It was at this as general secretary of the Church's
historic conference (originally designed episcopal conference and with the
to meet the challenges of modernization ascension of Dom Paulo Arns to the
in Europe) that "democratic" reforms were archbishopric of São Paulo in 1970
first introduced and sanctioned by the (Serbin 45).
papacy (Hewitt 123). Mass was to be said Brazil witnessed the emergence of the
in the vernacular, Church members were to region's most progressive episcopacies
practice toleration for alternative comparatively early, before Vatican II.
ideas, and greater attention was to be This immediately raises the question of
paid to social justice. But, in reality, how Vatican II could have shaped
a few Latin American Churches anticipated progressive pastoral reforms in this
these reforms by at least a decade, country when it had not occurred yet. It
especially with regard to social justice. is important that Brazil experienced
Brazil led the way. During the 1950s, rapid growth of non-Catholic religions
bishops in Brazil expressed interest in during the 1930s and 1940s, when
land reform, literacy campaigns, and Protestant growth was still relatively
rural cooperatives (Mainwaring 128). slow elsewhere. Consequently, bishops in
These efforts went beyond the traditional Brazil implemented progressive reforms in
alms giving favored in the past; instead, the 1940s and '50s in an effort to
they represented a sincere desire to improve their credibility among the
improve the long-term living conditions popular classes and slow the exodus from
of the lower classes. Even before the the Catholic faith. As for political
convocation of Vatican II, attention also alliances, each episcopacy sought state
was given to promoting greater lay assistance from the democratic regimes
involvement in religious services in preceding military rule, but there was a
Brazil. noticeable drift toward reformist parties
No event in Latin America crystallized that were more in tune with the masses.
the progressive movement more than the The Brazilian bishops first sought to
Second General Conference of CELAM, held stave off the Protestant advance in the
in Medellín, Colombia, in 1968 1930s and 1940s by seeking prohibitions
(Mainwaring 148). The purpose for on the entry of missionaries into their
gathering bishops from throughout the country (Mainwaring 197). A renewed and
region was to apply the reforms and strengthened alliance with the state
recommendations of Vatican 11 to the under Getúlio Vargas enhanced their
Latin American context. Under the ability to take such defensive actions,
leadership of progressive bishops such as although the state's cooperation on this
Hélder Câmara ( Brazil) and Raúl Silva issue was lukewarm at best. At a higher
Henríquez ( Chile), this conference was level, bishops tried using their
celebrated for its declaration in favor connections with the political elite to
of social justice, later called the impede the entrance of missionaries. Laws
"preferential option for the poor." were passed, strengthened, or enforced in
Supposedly, the poor always possessed a several nations making it illegal to
special place in Catholic doctrine. import the Bible. At the urging of
Nevertheless, the Brazil bishops thought several bishops, president Getúlio
it necessary to publicly declare support Vargas pressured the United States
for this social group. Given the government to limit the number of
tarnished past of the Church when it came evangelical missionaries entering Brazil
to serving the poor, this was the least in the 1940s (Hewitt 44). This issue
they could do. arose when the United States tried to
To put the preferential option into persuade Brazil to join the Allies in
action, the participants at the Medellín World War II. Vargas, not particularly
conference advocated the development of interested in getting militarily
comunidades eclesiales de base (CEBs), involved, delayed Brazil's entry until
known in English As ecclesial base the war was assuredly won. The
communities (Mainwaring 89). Overall, the negotiations over Protestant
range of CEB activity is quite broad. missionaries, while directly beneficial
Despite their notoriety for radical to the Catholic hierarchy, probably
political activity, no presupposition served as one of Vargas's many stalling
should be made regarding their tactics, rather than representing a
ideological content. Most people sincere desire to help the Church. The
participate in base communities primarily restrictions were never enacted.
for their religious content and often Many Church leaders realized that a new
ignore the political messages propagated pastoral commitment was needed if Brazil
by their progressive leaders. was to remain a predominantly Catholic
The intellectual engine driving Catholic nation ( Mainwaring 213). Learning from
progressivism during the 1960s and 1970s the success of Protestant missionaries,
was liberation theology. As defined by the Catholic hierarchy promoted numerous
one of its founding fathers, Gustavo social projects and organizations aimed
Gutiérrez, liberation theology attempts at improving the lives of the working
to reflect on the experience and meaning class and poor beginning in the late
of the faith based on the commitment to 1940s. Many of the techniques employed by
abolish injustice and to build a new the Brazilian Church mirrored the efforts
society; this theology must be verified being made by the Protestants, including
by the practice of that commitment, by grassroots literacy campaigns centered
active, effective participation in the around reading and discussing the Bible,
struggle which the exploited social health clinics, and rural cooperatives.
classes have undertaken against their Eventually, the Brazilian Church gave
oppressors (Hewitt 56) birth to the base community movement.
Two elements stand out in this However, in 1964 the Brazilian military
philosophy. The first is its reliance on came to power with the goal of
Marxist methodology. More accurately, demobilizing the popular sectors. After
liberation theologians base their it became clear to the episcopacy that
understanding of Latin American poverty the regime intended to stay in power
on dependency theory, a perspective that indefinitely, relations deteriorated.
views poverty and repression in the Third Having made a substantial commitment to
World as a direct function of the world the needs of the poor, it would have been
capitalist economy dominated by Western difficult for the Church to maintain
Europe and the United States. Central to credibility had it supported a
the solutions for persistent dictatorship that opposed their
underdevelopment offered by many interests.
dependency theorists and liberation For most of its Latin American existence,
theologians is the concept of class the Catholic Church in Brazil enjoyed the
struggle. This provided radical Catholics comfort of being the sole provider of
the intellectual justification they religious goods and services. This
needed to join revolutionary movements changed during the twentieth century.
during the 1970s. Second, liberation Although the doors for Protestantism
theologians emphasize praxis, or putting opened as early as the mid-1800s,
the liberating words of the Gospel to significant expansion waited until after
work. For this reason, liberation 1930. Not only did Protestant
theologians have been the most fervent missionaries challenge the hegemonic
advocates of CEBs, giving the position of Catholicism, but an
base-community movement its reputation indigenous derivative of North American
for political radicalism. Although both Protestantism--Pentecostalism--awoke many
CEBs and liberation theology have had a bishops and clergy to the fact that the
significant qualitative impact on region may not have been as Catholic as
Catholic thought and action, these previously thought. If the Church was to
movements remain quantitatively small remain a spiritual and moral force in
(Hewitt 55). Their primary influence has Brazilian society, it needed to match the
been to challenge non-liberationist pastoral efforts put forth by Protestant
priests and bishops to think more churches. Having been associated with the
carefully about the plight of their political and economic elite for so long,
poorest parishioners. Many bishops were a credible commitment to the poor meant
receptive to this challenge, others not. publicly distancing itself from abusive
In terms of Church-state relations, governments.
Catholic progressivism manifested itself It would be myopic to say that the need
as opposition to authoritarian rule. Not to compete with Protestantism was the
only did several episcopacies denounce only factor affecting the bishops'
their respective military rulers, but decision to oppose military rule. Growing
they rejected authoritarianism as a poverty and repression, reforms promoted
method of rule per se. This represented a at Vatican II and Medellín, courageous
significant break with the Church's decisions on the part of individuals, and
traditional preference for elite-based martyrdom catalyzed the new attitude
politics. In the past, whenever the toward military rule. However, religious
Church felt its interests were somehow competition was a key component in
threatened by a given government, it explaining the variation in responses
would simply throw its support to those throughout the region. Competition
elites who opposed the sitting governors. furnished the wake-up call the Church
Beginning in the 1960s, this strategy needed to realize that poverty and
changed. Espousing a preferential option repression were serious problems that
for the poor implied defending the demanded more than temporary acts of
interests of the popular classes against charity.
dictatorial abuses. The policies adopted All this should not imply that bishops in
by military governments during the 1970s the pro-authoritarian cases in Brazil
had the effect of distributing income were unconcerned about poverty and
upward, away from the lower classes. In repression (no matter how callous their
order to accomplish this task with a behavior appeared). But the costs of
minimal amount of social resistance, opposing the government (e.g., loss of
dictators resorted to previously unseen funding for Church programs or physical
levels of repression. Labor movements and repression) outweighed the benefits
other popular-class organizations bore (measured in membership retention). Thus,
the brunt of this assault. To show the episcopacy had an incentive to
solidarity with the popular sectors, maintain friendly relations with an
bishops publicly denounced both the unpopular government in the short term
economic policies and repressive tactics while hoping for better social conditions
associated with military regimes. In in the future. True, there were some who
addition, these bishops also attacked the pleaded with the episcopacy to rethink
philosophical underpinnings of its association with the ruling elite,
authoritarian rule as being inherently but most parishioners just remained
unjust. quiet, as they always had. In other
In Brazil, the episcopacy responded to words, there was no mechanism (or alarm)
the dictatorship (1964-85) by to inform the bishops they were not
consolidating a number of progressive acting in accordance with popular
elements that were already developing in desires.






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