From Option for the Poor to Evangelization of Culture: Silent Conflicts and Comings-of-Age
Examines the impact of the Catholic Church's shift to the right on progressive Catholic projects in poor neighborhoods of the Penalolen district of Santiago, Chile. The church's evolution from the progressive "Option for the Poor" to the conservative "Evangelization of Culture" is described, along with personal accounts of how this change affected poor Catholics. Information was obtained from a case study of a Catholic parish that included interviews with 15 priests & numerous lay members. The priests agreed that the change occurred without any dramatic confrontations. Conservative lay members welcomed the shift back to traditional catechetical Catholicism, while progressive lay members began to act as conscientized Catholics outside the umbrella of the church. A theoretical evaluation of the experience of the Chilean church analyzes the sources of the struggle over the Catholic Church, including intrainstitutional conflicts. The ironic loss of activists to secular political movements where they will carry on the Option for the Poor's mission to transform society is discussed. 1 Table, 1 Figure, 20 References. J. Lindroth