The Pope in Latin America

Taken from BBC "The people of Latin America and the Caribbean have the right to ... conditions that are human, free from the threat of hunger and from every form of violence," the Pope said.

Taken from Catholic News Agency: "Both capitalism and Marxism promised to point out the path for the creation of just structures, and they declared that these, once established, would function by themselves."

"And this ideological promise,” he added, “has been proved false. The facts have clearly demonstrated it. The Marxist system, where it found its way into government, not only left a sad heritage of economic and ecological destruction, but also a painful destruction of the human spirit. And we can also see the same thing happening in the West, where the distance between rich and poor is growing constantly, and giving rise to a worrying degradation of personal dignity through drugs, alcohol and deceptive illusions of happiness."

"This political task is not the immediate competence of the Church," the Pontiff explained. "Respect for a healthy secularity — including the pluralism of political opinions — is essential in the authentic Christian tradition."

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CELAM in Brasil excluded Liberation Theologians. They held their own event close to CELAM as a response. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=9169

If the Pope is about pluralism, why is there censorship of Liberation Theologists via non-invites to CELAM? The likely Church response would be that there is no room for ideologies that fall outside of faith and can be harmful, such as those that try to create a 'utopia' on Earth. However, if the Church is truly upholding its values, for example, ensuring human dignity, then why did controversial bishops such as Opus Dei's Cipriani, who backed the autocrat Fujimori for some time and the Sodalicio's Eguren, who suppresses those who protest unjust conditions in the Tambogrande mines of Peru, attend CELAM? This sort of censorship makes little sense; it suppresses meaningful dialogue and brings further controversy and conflict within the Church. It also rewards some bishops with authority over others, whether 'meaningfully deserved' or not.


Another observation out of the CELAM visit: A martyred Liberation Theologian, murdered in a Church, is being discussed by the Pope as a man of faith first and an agent of social change second. If he were alive, he would be lumped in with other non-violent Liberation Theologists, such as Jon Sobrino and Gustavo Gutierrez, with the m-word introducing and following his name well into his likely natural and undramatic death. But, everyone loves a martyr.

Catholic News Agency: During his May 9 flight to Brazil the Pope also spoke about Archbishop Oscar Romero [see: Prominent Liberation Theologist], who was an outspoken voice for social change before he was gunned down by a right-wing "death squad" during a Mass at his cathedral in San Salvador. Commenting on a new book about the slain archbishop, the Pope said that the death of Archbishop Romero should not be seen simply as a political figure.

"He was killed during the consecration of the Eucharist," the Pope observed. "Therefore, his death is testimony of the faith.”