Hemisphere VOLUME 19 • SPRING 2010 • HTTP://LACC.FIU.EDU

IN THIS ISSUE

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 3 EDITORIAL Religion in Latin America Ana María Bidegain and Juan Jennis Sánchez Soler 5 REPORTS Religious Transformation in Brazil Ricardo Mariano 8 Religious Diversity in Colombia Sandra Ríos 11 Mexico: Religious Tensions in Latin America’s First Secular State Carlos Garma 13 Religion in Motion in Río de la Plata Néstor Da Costa 15 Globalization and Religious Change in the Caribbean Laënnec Hurbon 17 Latinos and Religion in the 2008 Presidential Election Gastón Espinosa 19 FEATURE Religion and Politics in Latin America since the 1970s Daniel Levine 22 COMMENTARIES Christian Reorder in Latin America Fortunato Mallimaci 29 Indigenous Pentecostalism in Latin America: Argentina’s Chaco Region Pablo Wright 32 New World African Religion: Twenty-First Century Crossroads Terry Rey 34 Transformations in Latin American Judaism Damián Setton 36 Islam in Latin America María del Mar Logroño Narbona 38 BIBLIOGRAPHY 40 Hemisphere

EDITORIAL STAFF

Founding Editor Anthony P. Maingot

Editor Cristina Eguizábal

Guest Editors Ana María Bidegain Juan Jennis Sánchez Soler

Associate Editors Liesl Picard Pedro Botta Alisa Newman

Account Manager Hope Herman

Creative Director Aileen Solá-Trautmann

Production Manager Kristina Sanchez

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Uva de Aragón Ana María Bidegain David Bray Janet M. Chernela Michael W. Collier Carol Damian Troy Elder Damián J. Fernández Eduardo A. Gamarra A. Douglas Kincaid Sarah J. Mahler Andrea Mantell Seidel Félix E. Martín Kathleen Martín Juan Martínez Lisandro Pérez Timothy J. Power Patricia Price Ana Roca Mark B. Rosenberg Richard Tardanico Victor Uribe

Hemisphere (ISSN 08983038) (ISSN 08983038) is published once a year by the Latin American and Caribbean Center, School of International and Public Affairs, Florida International University. Copyright © 2009 by the Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

Hemisphere is dedicated to provoking debate on the problems, initiatives and achievements of the Americas. Responsibility for the views expressed lies solely with the authors. Editorial, Circulation and Advertising Offices: Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University, Modesto A. Maidique Campus, DM 353, Miami, Florida, 33199, Tel.: (305) 348-2894, Fax: (305) 348-3593, E-mail: [email protected].

COVER IMAGE: Members of Argentina’s Orthodox, Catholic, Islamic, and Jewish communities attend an interfaith service and pray for peace in the Middle East at San Nicolas de Bari Basilica in Buenos Aires. Photo: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images. FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Hemisphere readers:

It is with great pride that I write you this letter. Such a great issue warrants immodesty; our guest editors Ana María Bidegain and Juan Sánchez have done a magnificent job putting together this volume on Religion in Latin America and I thank them for their effort, hard work, and commitment. I am pleased to have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Mark Rosenberg and Eduardo Gamarra, both distinguished scholars and accomplished academicians, as well as my predecessors as editors of Hemisphere and directors of the Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) at Florida International University. Latin American and Caribbean religious landscapes have dramatically changed over the last twenty years, becoming more diverse by the day. In the span of one generation, Latin Americans, who used to be identified as mainly Roman Catholic, have rediscovered the religious practices of their indigenous and African ancestors and have also converted in droves to Protestantism while joining evangelical churches at record pace. Given the current rate of conversions, countries such as Guatemala and even Brazil, which was considered the world’s largest Catholic country in 1970, will be mainly protestant by 2020. Jewish communities have had a unique and significant socio-economic and historical presence in many parts of the region, while Muslim communities constitute important segments of the populations in former British colonies in the Caribbean. Islamic populations, although relatively small have increased due to migration from the Middle East and growing rates of conversion throughout Latin America. Increased numbers of those taking a “do-it-yourself” approach to Catholicism, agnostics, and atheists have caused a spike in the numbers of self-identifying non-religious individuals and the secularization of Latin America has had a per- ceivable impact on Latin American society. The year in Latin America is no longer defined by religious holidays. Although Semana Santa continues to be “sacred” in most countries, Mexican and Central American middle classes tend to celebrate the religious holiday by vacationing at beaches and preparing traditional dishes, rather than piously observing the holiday and attending church services. Not unlike for the rest of the world, Christmas in the Southern Cone evokes shopping and enjoying leisurely warm evenings while dining and socializing outdoors. In this issue, the editors succinctly present today’s Latin American and Caribbean religious landscape through different lenses: country profiles (Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia); sub-regional monographs (River Plate and the Caribbean); vignettes on the evolution of particular religious denominations (Christian, Islamic, and Judaic), communities (indige- nous Pentecostals) and practices (New World African religion). The feature article, authored by one of the leading US experts on Latin American religion, Daniel Levine, examines the relationship between religion and politics in the region after thirty years of democratic rule. Different perspectives are represented: from the North and South of the Americas, as well as Europe and established and burgeoning scholars alike have shared their research and perspectives. The panoramic tableau provided by this volume is very broad for obvious reasons and is intended to invite readers to learn more about a phenomenon that profoundly impacts all people throughout the region and the diaspora, regardless of individual beliefs. I encourage readers to further explore other scholarly works on Latin American religion by the contrib- utors and welcome them to cross disciplines, country boundaries, and communities in an attempt to more completely understand the complexity of religion in present-day Latin America and the Caribbean. As with everything at LACC, this publication of Hemisphere was truly a team effort. I would like to thank my col- leagues and Hemisphere Associate Editors, Liesl Picard, Pedro Botta, and Alisa Newman for their valuable contributions related to the translating, copyediting, formatting, and all of the additional little and not-so-little things involved in pub- lishing. I have already thanked Ana María Bidegain and Juan Sánchez for their superb job; allow me to commend them on their excellent work once again. Finally, I would like to thank all the Hemisphere readers who, during the past year hiatus of the magazine, repeatedly came to us requesting another issue of the magazine and to John Stack, the director of the FIU School for International and Public Affairs, who gave us the green light to resume the publication, as we continue to provide insightful research and commentary on contemporary issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Thank you,

Cristina Eguizábal, Ph.D. Director, Latin American and Caribbean Center Florida International University

Hemisphere Volume 19 3

EDITORIAL Religion in Latin America By Ana María Bidegain and Juan Jennis Sánchez Soler

he religious field, with ing together its distinct localized real- the point of eluding any single its multifarious inter- ities. No homogenous Latin descriptive pattern. In this respect, relations with the social, American whole emerges from the there are radical differences both cultural, economic and addition of its disparate parts. between countries and within coun- political fabric, is indeed Simplistically correlating the multi- tries, with distinct cases of both cul- Ta privileged locus for exploring the ple patches of religious diversity with tural conjunction and disjunction. contemporary Latin American compartments such as particular Cuban Santería presents us with a process. Particularly pressing in this nation-states, territories, ethnic classic case of African-European issue of Hemisphere are questions groups, races, social classes, genders, conjunction, while Buenos Aires pertaining to the place of religions ideological persuasions and confes- and Montevideo reproduce largely within still-in-the-making non-con- sions would falsify the messiness that European lifestyles and multiple fessional states, within democracy, we often encounter in the field, Amazonian peoples still represent and vis-à-vis the official recognition where an indigenous group may almost pure forms of Pre- of pluralism and religious freedom. simultaneously advocate for the offi- Columbian life. Many lines of Far from surveying the subject mat- cial recognition of its ancestral cul- memory and identity traits con- ter exhaustively, the reports and tural traits and militate as Pentecostal verge, diverge, struggle, run parallel, analyses included simply underscore believers… where many white clash and merge within Latin the inherent complexity, dynamism, Cubans now seek initiation within America’s cultural substratum. That plurality, vastness and contemporary Santeria and other African Diaspora is why in the same historical epoch relevance of religions in Latin religions. Furthermore, communities we can identify contrasting phe- America. They feature historical and from Latin America have brought nomena that in other parts of the ethnographic sketches, up-to-date their religions and cultures beyond world emerge as more homoge- quantitative data, descriptions of cur- borders with massive migration and neous and unidirectional processes. rent trends and future projections. widespread transnational practices. Today, broad social and cultural seg- The contributors live and work in Bi-dimensional technologies of repre- ments of Latin America follow different Latin American countries, sentation such as maps need to be trends akin to European counter- as well as in the US and Europe, and extremely nuanced to provide credi- parts (urban secularization), others represent different academic disci- ble information. Or rather, no single resemble trends in other parts of the plines and areas of specialty. Some of religious map can anymore convey a global South (the Christian the texts were written originally in reality that we recognize as multi- Charismatic and Pentecostal explo- English, while others were translated dimensional and shifting. The cul- sion, and its institutionalization in from Spanish, Portuguese and tural, political, economic, religious independent churches), and yet French. The contributors inform us and geopolitical maps of Latin other phenomena resonate with about the rapid re-composition now America are simply not coextensive. analogous processes in the US undergoing Southern religious fields, History and culture in Latin (activism regarding the national while they present us with cases that America defy the all-too-neat binary recognition of distinct indigenous problematize many commonly held Western vs. Non-Western civiliza- and African cultural identities). misconceptions, and no longer oper- tion. The region is not intelligible In part, today’s multiplication of ant academic taxonomies. Religious unless one sees how it has been his- religious trends in Latin America identities and their respective roles torically constituted, over the past stem from a historical de jure situa- within the polis are thus shown to five centuries, by centrally defining tion of religious uniformity that behave like complex, mutating, and features of European cultures as well never managed to become de facto. hardly predictable processes rather as by defining traits stemming from All the studies in this issue coincide than like natural or fixed essences. countless Amerindian and African in their assessments regarding the Treating the region as a whole original cultures. The historical con- definite end of Christendom-type under the heading of religion is not frontation between the tri-continen- Catholic hegemony as a definite the same as averaging out or blend- tal forces in the region is complex to mark of the religious horizon of the

Hemisphere Volume 19 5 Editorial

region, for now and for the foresee- the religious field is, therefore, one of of the newer Neopentecostal church- able future. Their observations imply the most crucial processes at work in es have behaved very assertively in that hegemonic Christendom has the region, against the backdrop of a this regard, leaving in the past the been fractured: 1) From the outside, centenary tradition of Church-state traditional political quietism associat- by the visibility of exogenous tradi- symbiosis, refurbished in several ed with these denominations, defin- tions, extraneous to the construed countries throughout their republi- ing their political platforms, seeking colonial homogeneity (Jewish pres- can history. ideological allies in the larger politi- ence, studied here by Damián Setton The cases presented in this issue cal space, forming their own political and Muslim presence, by María del indicate that we must be cautious parties and succeeding in getting Mar Logroño Narbona); 2) from the with assertions to the effect that a their candidates elected. These fea- deep within, by the vindication of future Christendom is emerging tures place Pentecostals away from ancestral religious systems of from the South. Applied to Latin the emancipation promises of Amerindians and African America, such a prediction is ques- modernity, in contrast to the posi- Descendents, historically made tionable. Author Philip Jenkins tions embraced by the Protestant endogenous through the cultural- explains that the next Christendom World Council of Churches and by religious negotiations of these tradi- is gaining momentum now under the Vatican Council II. On the tions and Catholic homogeneity the aegis of the rapidly expanding other hand, many historical subjects (Terry Rey, Pablo Wright, and Charismatic and Pentecostal traditionally marginal to the body Laennec Hurbon); 3) from the insti- Christianity throughout the global politic have been empowered via tutional consolidation, acculturation South. However, in the context of new religious affiliation, and are and coming of age of Historical Latin America, the most tangible now conscious of their potential Protestantism (Presbyterians, result of Pentecostal growth has been for leadership, especially poor and Episcopalians, Mennonites, etc.) in a more conspicuous assertion of the undereducated charismatic women. the different countries of the region; region’s religious diversity. This As Catholic ecclesial base communi- 4) from the increasing visibility of effect, in turn, deepens the fracture ties (CEBs), Pentecostal churches minority New Religious Movements of any Christendom whatsoever. In create a space for participation and such as Hare Krishna, and the differ- their respective articles, Daniel discourse for persons otherwise ent manifestations of interest on Levine and Fortunato Mallimaci marginalized from national life and New Age literature and rituals, and explore the implications of a reli- citizenry. For now, the question of “spiritual but not religious” propos- giously plural society for the consoli- how much and in what precise sense als; 5) from the emergence of centers dation of democracy. However, a rea- the Pentecostal phenomenon will associated with ancient world reli- sonable concern about the consisten- impact Latin American reality gions, such as centers of Zen cy with democracy of many present remains undecidable. Buddhism (more common in large day Southern grass-roots religious The authors in this issue tend to metropolitan areas such as Buenos movements is their characteristic focus mainly on the political impact Aires and Sao Paulo, and prevalent anti-modern outlook. This is mani- of the numerical growth of above all among the educated and fested in terms of excessive supernat- Pentecostalism; that is, the contribu- affluent strata of society); 6) from the uralism, biblical fundamentalism, tion of this growth to the legal defi- explosion of Pentecostal and Neo- and theological and moral ultracon- nition of Latin American societies as Pentecostal groups; 7) from the servatism. The political awakening of religiously plural and to the deeper internal polarization of divergent ide- Pentecostals will likely imply a secularization of the state. As the ological trends within the Catholic stronger concerted lobby of religious question stands now, it is risky to Church and a growing number of groups to push for conservative make predictions, especially in light de-institutionalized Catholics moral and religious agendas affecting of the rapidly mutating nature of (Mallimaci’s católico a mi manera); the general public, as is the case with small churches, which now behave as 8) and finally, from an increasingly issues of sexual morality, contracep- sects (in the sociological, Weberian noticeable segment of citizens who tion, and the definition of marriage. sense), but may soon age into more define themselves as non-religious These agendas would be advanced mainstream denominations. (post-Christian secularists, agnostics through regular legislative processes, Furthermore, despite its tremendous and atheists and never evangelized in which case the religious activists growth, Pentecostalism remains a persons). The end of the Catholic and their followers would formally regional religious minority. We must Church’s uncontested homogeny in participate as citizens. In fact, many also take into account these accom-

6 Hemisphere Volume 19 Editorial

panying facts: Amerindian and Afro torial US. Thus, Laennec Hurbon’s ration of the continent are not revival movements are also emerging text reports not only on religious mature yet. Nevertheless, the main as important players in the religious, developments within the “Latin” processes and trends charted in this social and political fields; within the portion of the insular Caribbean issue of Hemisphere, such as the historical churches, especially within basin, but also within the expansion of a plural religious field Catholicism, consciousness of inter- Anglophone territory. The shared and its recognition by the state, are nal diversity has heightened, as con- postcolonial situations of these not likely to be reversed by drastic trasting ideological and theological islanders and Latin America at large changes in the political field in the trends come to sharp-relive (Da sustain cultural and historical links foreseeable future. I Costa even suggests the advantage of that go beyond the criterion of a the plural term “Catholicisms”), and macro-linguistic community. therefore a position of hegemony or Likewise, the sheer number of people 1 Chesnut, Andrew. Competitive Spirits: Latin privilege would necessarily affect a of Latin American stock living in the America’s New Religious Economy. New York: portion of the faithful negatively; US constitutes today a decisive his- Oxford University Press, 2003. finally, the numbers of secular and torical force. Trespassing into the non-religious citizens are increasing Northern half of the half-sphere, Ana María Bidegain is an associate as well. Gastón Espinosa presents quantita- professor in the Department of The official recognition of the tive evidence regarding both the Religious Studies at FIU and director multi-religious character of the importance of the Hispanic elec- of the Colombian Studies Institute in nations seems to generate centrifugal torate in US politics, and the impor- the University’s Latin American and and centripetal forces causing inter- tance of religion informing their Caribbean Center. nal revitalization within the religions political options. However, Hispanic as well as interesting patterns of comportment during the 2008 elec- Juan Jennis Sánchez Soler is a gradu- interaction between them. Some tions indicates that they are repre- ate of FIU’s Master of Arts Program authors, such as Andrew Chesnut , sented across the American religious in Religious Studies. analyze this aspect through the anal- and political spectrums, and no obvi- ogy of religious markets competing ous correlation exists between their for members. Hurbon illustrates this denominational affiliation and their phenomenon for the Caribbean case, partisan political leanings. where African Diaspora expressions Finally, we need to take into have become more visible and account that a project such as the accepted out of a process of assertion one undertaken for this issue vis-à-vis the institutionalization of demands a mature analysis of data minority evangelical groups. By con- and sound conceptual frameworks. trast, Terry Rey and Ricardo Nevertheless, the changes in the Mariano show that Evangelical religious and political fields in the growth has decimated African reli- region are so rapid, that our analy- gions in Haiti and Brazil respectively. sis of the contemporary, requiring An analogous pattern happens some decantation of lived reality among Amerindians (Wright). An into workable categories, some pru- underlying hypothesis is that, just as dent distance from sources and in prior ages ancestral indigenous phenomena, tends to be referred to and African systems found affinities the recent past rather than to the with symbolic, narrative, ritual and immediate present. The accumula- plastic components of Iberian tion of facts corresponding to the Catholicism, today those affinities latest developments runs parallel to are being transferred to performative the tracking of observations and the components of Pentecostal praxis devising of newer models of inter- (Spirit possession and faith healing). pretation by scholars in the relevant The boundaries of Latin America fields. However, meaningful assess- are elusive, and become more fluid ments of the church-state issues vis- in the Caribbean and into the terri- à-vis the latest political re-configu-

Hemisphere Volume 19 7 REPORTS Religious Transformation in Brazil By Ricardo Mariano; Translated by Alisa Newman

rom 1500 to 1822 Brazil infrastructure and network of semi- ers and visibility in the second half of was under the colonial naries, parishes, dioceses and schools. the twentieth century, but it wasn’t domination of Portugal, In sum, the separation strengthened until the 1980s, in the context of which, like Spain, imposed the church as a religious institution, urbanization, industrialization, cul- and propagated as well as its political power. tural modernization and a return to FCatholicism in the lands it con- For most of the twentieth century, democracy, that the numbers of quered in the “New World.” With the Brazilian religious landscape Evangelicals—especially Pentecostals independence and the foundation of remained dominated by Catholicism, —and those professing no religion empire in 1882, Brazil adopted with very little religious diversity. began to grow rapidly. Catholicism as its state religion and, Until 1970, according to census data In 1970, 4,833,106 Brazilians under the system of padroado (impe- (Table 1), the world’s largest Catholic (5.2% of the population) were rial patronage), defended the institu- country was 91.1% Catholic, Evangelical. This number rose to tion against the entry and expansion accounting for a total of 85.8 million 7,885,650 (6.6%) by 1980, of other faiths, allowing it to main- people. Thirty years later, this major- 13,157,094 (9%) in 1991 and tain a near monopoly on religious ity had fallen to 73.8%, with the 26,452,174 (15.6%) in 2000. life. The advent of the Republic in largest declines in urban and devel- Pentecostals were the main group 1889 led to the legal separation of oped areas, which tended toward sec- responsible for this extraordinary church and state, but left the ularization. Thanks to overall demo- expansion. Protestant denomina- Catholic Church many privileges and graphic growth, however, Catholics tions, with the exception of the allowed for state discrimination still accounted for 125.5 million of Baptist and Adventist churches, against other religious groups, which Brazil’s total population of 170 mil- recorded little growth in this period. in any case represented a tiny minori- lion, almost 100 million more than From 1980 to 2000 Pentecostals ty of the population. Although the Evangelical sects. doubled in number every decade, clergy opposed the separation, in Evangelical movements (Reformist from 3.9 million in 1980 to 8.8 mil- practice it freed the church from state Protestant, Adventist and Pentecostal lion in 1991 and 17.7 million in tutelage, allowing it to become closer denominations), Afro-Brazilian reli- 2000, accounting for almost 80% of to the Vatican, discipline and moral- gions (Candomblé and Umbanda) all Evangelicals. Five Pentecostal ize its ranks, repress liberal clergy, and Kardecism (a form of Spiritism denominations made up 85% of the rein in popular Catholicism, recruit based on the writings of France’s total; by far the largest was the and train new clergy, and expand its Allan Kardec) began to gain follow- Assembly of God, whose 8,418,154 congregants in 2000 made it the largest Pentecostal church in the Table 1 – Brazilian Religions from 1940 to 2000, by Percentage of Population world and represented almost half (47.5%) of the members of this Religion 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1991 2000 faith. In the same period, Catholics 95.2 93.7 93.1 91.1 89.2 83.3 73.8 Pentecostals gained increased visibili- Evangelicals 2.6 3.4 4.0 5.2 6.6 9 15.4 ty, social legitimacy and enormous Other spaces on radio and TV, entered Religions 1.9 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.5 2.9 3.5 political parties, broadened their No religion 0.2 0.5 0.5 0.8 1.6 4.8 7.3 political power and changed the Total (*) 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 nation’s landscape with their temples and congregations. They became a (*) Does not include undeclared or undetermined religions. powerful religious minority, prosely- SOURCE: IBGE, demographic census data tizing aggressively and increasingly active in politics.

8 Hemisphere Volume 19 Reports

Candomblé—a polytheistic religion brought to Brazil by African slaves with cults organized around African gods and goddesses (orixás) and wel- coming members from all ethnic groups—grew from 106,957 to 139,329 faithful in the same decade but still represented only 0.08% of the population. Both the tiny demographic share of Afro-Brazilian religions (0.3% in total) and the decline of Umbanda are surprising. Until very recently North American Protestant mission- aries and Brazilian pastors described a Brazil dominated by Spiritism and African sorcery. Social scientists dis- coursed solemnly on the continuing expansion of these cults. By 2000, however, there were only about half as many people practicing African religions in Brazil as there were Jehova’s Witnesses. Several factors explain this decline, not least of which is the fact that African-based religions are demonized and targeted for proselytism by the country’s rap- Brazilian Evangelist Christians pray during a ritual group baptism. idly growing Pentecostal churches. Photo: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images. Added to this is their lack of power in political or media circles, their The fastest growing religious point they represented 7.3% of the dispersal in a myriad of small movement in Brazil and the rest of population. This enormous growth groups, the absence of an organiza- Latin America, Pentecostalism has its is a strong indicator of the trend tional structure for collective repre- base in poverty and urban centers, at toward secularization and is concen- sentation and the continued social the bottom of the socioeconomic trated mostly in urban areas and stigma of their identification with pyramid. Its followers tend to have among young adult males. black sorcery. little education and earn the mini- In contrast, Afro-Brazilian religions In 2000 Brazil remained over- mum wage (465 reais, or US$230 a declined sharply over the last few whelmingly Christian, with 89.2% month) in jobs as domestic help or decades. The percentage of of the population Catholic or other unstable occupations. It Brazilians professing these religions Evangelical. Christians and the non- attracts more women than men and fell from 0.6% in 1980 to 0.4% in religious accounted for 96.5% of all more black, mixed race and indige- 1991 and 0.3% in 2000 (for a total Brazilians, leaving only 3.5% affiliat- nous people than whites. With rare of 571,329 followers), a loss of ed with other religions. In the entire exceptions, the middle classes shun 101,000 followers in 20 years. From country there were only 18,559 Pentecostalism, whether out of moral 1991 to 2000 Umbanda, a syncretic Muslims, 2,979 Hindus, 101,062 conservatism or sectarianism. religion born in the 1920s in Rio de Jews, 67,288 Esoterics and 10,723 Until 1970 people with no religion Janeiro and influenced to varying followers of indigenous traditions. —those claiming to have no religious degrees by Candomblé, Catholicism, The largest groups were Spiritists affiliation—were a tiny group Pajelança (Afro-Amerindian beliefs) (2,337,432), Afro-Brazilian religions (0.8%). Their numbers jumped to 2 and Kardecism, also lost more than (571,329), Jehova’s Witnesses million in 1980, 7 million in 1991 100,000 adherents, falling from (1,104,879) and Mormons and 12.5 million in 2000, at which 541,518 to 432,001 members. (199,641). Small and little-known

Hemisphere Volume 19 9 Reports

groups such as Santo Daime, born in tically. Despite the repression of an explosion of criminality and vio- the Amazon region in the early twen- Liberation Theology, the church has lence, the decline of traditional reli- tieth century and making ritual use also encouraged its clergy to be active gion, and the rapid spread of of the hallucinogenic drink ayahuas- in social movements, defend human Pentecostalism and religious pluralism ca, fell into the category of “other rights and work toward the social to create a competitive market for reli- religiosities.” An important caveat, inclusion of the poor. gion, the link between national iden- however, is the limitations of quanti- Acknowledging new social and tity and Catholicism has been broken. tative data for understanding reli- religious realities, it has abandoned Political leaders now find themselves gious dynamics and diversity. Tens its old pretensions to national iden- obliged to consider the interests and of millions of Catholics, for example, tity without submitting entirely to demands of other religious groups, practice their own religion infre- the new sociocultural context: The especially Evangelicals. I quently and turn to others for cures church continues to battle ongoing or solutions to their daily problems. trends toward cultural relativism, Ricardo Mariano holds a doctorate in The most recent quantitative data individualism and hedonism—in sociology from the University of São on religion in Brazil was compiled vain, in light of the growing plural- Paulo. He is a professor in the Post- by the Datafolha Institute in 2007 ization of identities, the multiplica- Graduate Social Sciences Program at based on a broad survey of tion of social affiliations and the the Pontifical Catholic University of Brazilians over the age of 16. It increasing autonomy of individuals Rio Grande do Sul, a researcher at the found a country that is 64% from religious authorities, especially National Council of Technological Catholic (56% in the state capi- with regard to morality and and Scientific Development, and tals), 22% Evangelical (17% sexual behavior. author of the book Neopentecostais: Pentecostal and 5% Protestant) and In the last third of the twentieth sociologia do novo pentecostalismo 7% non-religious. With the excep- century, in a context of high unem- no Brasil. tion of the non-religious, whose ployment and the growth of the percentage remained about the informal economy, social inequality, same, these numbers reflect the main trends of the preceding two decades: the strong decline in Catholicism and rapid growth of Pentecostalism. Other religious groups accounted for 7% of the population. Of its 190 million inhabitants, therefore, Brazil has close to 121 million Catholics and more than 40 million Evangelicals, of whom almost 30 million are Pentecostal, giving it the largest number of Pentecostals of any country in the world. During the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the Brazilian Catholic Church has been in sharp decline. At the same time, however, it has become more diverse, created new communities, encouraged the Charismatic Renewal movement to compete with Pentecostalism, stem the loss of congregants and adapt to the popular demand for more dynamic clergy and rituals, and become more conservative morally, politically, theologically and ecclesias-

10 Hemisphere Volume 19 Reports

Religious Diversity in Colombia By Sandra Ríos

n 1991, Colombia’s new consti- tution established the lay char- acter of the state, spurring a reconfiguration of a religious landscape previously monopo- Ilized by the Catholic Church. Catholic hegemony—interrupted by the first Church—State separation attempt (1854) by Liberals- was legit- imized with the establishment in 1886 of a centralized, conservative and Catholic state and an 1887 Concordat with the Vatican. Further- more, in 1902 the country was conse- crated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Colombia’s religious landscape has A Colombian soldier holds a placard which reads ‘XII - Jesus Dies on the Cross,’ indicating the 12th station of the Cross, during the Good Friday procession along the streets of Bogotá. Photo: never been static, however; it has Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Images. always been dynamic, with periodic struggles among different trends, posi- chization; indeed, Protestants were Violencia, in the 1950s. During this tions, practices and beliefs, all in the sometimes called “Catholics with war or series of small regional wars, context of a history characterized by Bible.” In the twentieth century, they membership in one of the parties in violent socio-political conflict. gained some influence through the the dispute was mostly defined in Present-day Colombia is not very dif- creation of schools, temples and soci- terms of place and heritage. The ferent from most other Latin Ame- eties, but they did not attract a wide political discourse was unclear but rican countries in terms of religion: It following and remained a minority. religion served to identify the enemy. has a Catholic majority, a growing They drew the most attention for In this way, the confrontation Pentecostal population, approximately their identification with Liberal between Liberals and Conservatives 100,000 Muslims, a small Jewish ideas, resulting in persecution by masked a hidden religious agenda. community, and an indigenous popu- conservatives. Expressions like the Since the beginning of the twentieth lation that accounts for 1.5% of the one coined by Felix Sardà i Salvany century, conservative pan-Hispanist total population, while Afro-descen- in Spain in 1884 and in Colombia Catholic factions had identified dents make up 20%. by San Ezequiel Moreno (1848- Protestants with American imperial- 1906)—“El liberalismo es pecado” ism, and President Gustavo Rojas A History of Violence (Liberalism is a sin) were widely pop- Pinilla linked them with Commu- During the period of Liberal radi- ularized. Moreno went even further, nism. All in all, the confrontation calism, Presbyterians were called proclaiming: “to kill Liberals is not a led to anywhere between 116 and from England to breakdown the sin.” Pope John Paul II canonized 1216 murders directly related to reli- Catholic hegemony. By the end of Moreno in 1992. gious reasons. As late as the 1960s the nineteenth century, Colombia As Gonzalo Sánchez, director of and 70s some Colombian social sci- was home to a number of Christian the Commission for Historical entist were still branding Protestants churches and even some Protestant Memory in Colombia, has noted, in as imperialists. missions. Initial Protestant mission- Colombia “war often makes people ary efforts were not widely successful live politics as a religious war, and to Growing Religious Diversity and in some areas there was no clear live religion as politics.” This tenden- In contrast to Protestants, who distinction between Protestants and cy to demonize the other was at its often did not differentiate themselves Catholics, due to poor Catholic cate- height during the period of La strongly from Catholics, Pentecostal

Hemisphere Volume 19 11 Reports

converts adopted their new identity II and the Episcopal Conference at Beyond the work of religious insti- at least in part in opposition to Medellín and their discourse focused tutions in peacemaking attempts, reli- Catholicism. Along Colombia’s on the needs of the people. gion has influenced victims’ interpre- northern coast and in the main cities, Important figures included the group tations of their experiences, as well as Pentecostalism grew out of foreign of priests of La Golconda, the SAL how the conflict is understood. For missions but soon adapted to the group and CINEP, and Catholic instance, Colombia’s national brand- local culture as local leaders appeared clergy such as Father Camilo Torres ing campaign, “Marca Pasión,” is and split to form their own churches. and Bishop Gerardo Valencia Cano symbolized by the Sacred Heart. The Initially, Pentecostals were politically adopted the perspective of Liberation deliberate use of this image draws on apathetic, regarding authority as Theology. (Protestants had a similar a principle of unity based on a reli- coming from God and politics as part movement, La Rosca group formed gious idea, and it is controversial of the mundane sphere. Many of by Orlando Fals Borda and Augusto because of the violent story behind them were committed to a millenari- Libreros, among others.) The next the figure of the bleeding heart of an discourse, which distanced them decade saw the consolidation of a Jesus. The icon represents silent res- even more from politics. In strong Conservative trend focused on ignation before a painful fate that Colombia’s armed conflict (in its rebuilding the moral order and pro- finds redemption in the suffering most simple terms, between leftist moting spiritual movements such as heart of Jesus, and through its guerrillas and right-wing paramili- the Charismatic Catholic Renewal as resigned acceptance of tragedy it taries), this position won them favor well as the Pentecostal Movement. helps to normalize the reception of in the eyes of the paramilitaries, who violence. This kind of symbolic use had carried out a “cleansing” of eccle- Religious Symbols in Peacemaking of religious referents is often well sial base communities. During the second half of the received by the public, as the popu- Under the new constitution, 1980s, the Catholic hierarchy larity of President Uribe demon- Pentecostal groups have gained more changed its position toward the strates. Uribe has mined a rich sym- visibility in the public arena. They armed conflict and became a strong bolic capital for his charismatic politi- have launched four political parties defender of human rights. At the cal appeal based on exhibitionist reli- and a range of associations and have hierarchical level, ecclesiastical peace- gious practices and alliances with even signed agreements with the gov- making efforts consist of attempts to conservative religious institutions. ernment (“small concordats”) granti- promote dialogue at the national Rodolfo de Roux has argued that ng them recognition and some bene- level, while at the local level pastoral religion can become unconscious in fits. Currently, approximately 7% of organizations work with victims of a secular society in which elements Colombia’s population is Pentecostal. the violence. Catholics also cooper- of religious language are reproduced In some municipalities in the ate in ecumenical initiatives for peace even if their religious content has “banana axis” (Chigorodó, Apartadó, alongside Mennonites, other histori- been emptied. Values such as Turbo and Necoclí), they are the cal Protestants and selected groups of orthodoxy, demonization of the majority. As is the case in Brazil, Pentecostals. Unfortunately, the adversary, surrogate victim or scape- Evangelical political participation in human cost for churches of peace- goat, dogmatism and blind obedience Colombia is mostly mainstream, making has been high; among to authority appear frequently in emphasizing the same traditional val- Catholics, one archbishop, three daily public discourse in Colombia, ues of family and morality as the bishops, more than 50 priests, nine as does the magic ritual of language most conservative trends of the religious men, two missionaries, that makes tragic realities disappear. Catholic Church. three religious women and many lay On a positive note, the enduring Of course, the Catholic Church members of the church have been power of religious language and sym- too is hardly a static or monolithic killed in the last 10 years. Many bols underlines the importance of the institution. The development of dif- more have been kidnapped and work that religious and pastoral ferent trends within Catholicism has threatened. The situation is no bet- organizations, and all religious tradi- responded to concrete historical cir- ter for Protestants; in the same peri- tions in Colombia, can do to trans- cumstances. One the one hand, in od, more than 50 pastors have been form old discourses of intolerance. I the 1960s and 70s some elements of killed and many others kidnapped. the Church were close to a dialogue According to the Vatican news Sandra Ríos is a graduate of Florida with the political left. Catholics then agency, Colombia has the highest International University’s Master of were influenced by Vatican Council rate of religious murder in the world. Arts Program in Religious Studies.

12 Hemisphere Volume 19 Reports

Mexico: Religious Tensions in Latin America’s First Secular State By Carlos Garma

eligion has traditionally Catholic Church and the practice of 6,000 registered ARs, almost 1,000 been a source of conflict religion in general. Religious institu- of which are linked to the Catholic in Mexican history. tions were accorded no legal or juridi- Church. (Different religious orders Under the Royal cal recognition, churches could not and dioceses have their own records Agreement of 1501, officially own property or run schools, and registers). RPope Alexander VI and the Spanish public religious ceremonies were out- Implementation of the law has monarchy established Catholicism as lawed, and priests and the members not been simple. The resolution of the only religion allowed in the of religious orders could not vote or religious conflicts has required medi- Americas. All other forms of belief be involved in political activities. ation by the state, and its role has were prohibited, including Lutheran Although these laws were difficult not always been objective. An exam- “heresy,” Judaism and traditional to apply, they sparked a popular ple is the treatment of members of Native American practices. The revolt, the Cristero war, in the dissident religious groups in rural Catholic Church enjoyed great eco- 1930s. The outcome was a modus communities, the most notorious nomic and social power during vivendi between church and state case being the expulsion of 30,000 Mexico’s colonial period and the that involved simulated application Protestants by the Catholic indige- Virgin of Guadalupe emerged as an of the laws by the government and nous community of San Juan important source of popular religious passive acceptance by religious Chamula in Chiapas. The persecu- fervor and national identity. authorities. Amazingly, this arrange- tion persisted for more than 20 years After the consolidation of Mexico’s ment remained in place until 1991, due to the negligence of state author- independence in 1821, however, ties when President Carlos Salinas de ities, who refused to get involved. between the Vatican and the national Gortari sent the National Congress a After the new law took effect in government were strained. In the proposal to modify sections of the 1992 the military finally intervened mid nineteenth century, Liberal anti- constitution dealing with the official in the community. In 2000, the clerical leaders fought against attitude toward religion. The result election of an Evangelical governor, Conservatives who supported the was the Law of Religious Pablo Salazar Mendicuchia, brought Catholic Church. The Liberal victo- Associations and Public Worship, a definitive end to the conflict and ry culminated with the presidency of enacted in 1992. mediators were designated to help Benito Juárez, an iconic figure in resolve religious differences at the Mexican history. Juárez separated Bringing the Church Back In community level. church and state in 1875, establish- The new law placed all churches Another problem was how to deal ing the first lay or secular state in under the category of religious asso- with Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are Latin America and opening the door ciations (ARs). Currently, all ARs more than one million strong in to Protestant institutions. Later in must register with the Ministry of Mexico. The millenarian beliefs of the century, the government of the Interior to receive official recog- this creed prevent its members from Porfirio Díaz showed greater toler- nition. To register, they must present pledging allegiance to the national ance toward the Catholic Church, a list of all their clergy and assets, but flag, and as a result some students but when the Mexican Revolution they are exempt from taxation. were expelled from public schools. began in 1910, the church was again Clergy still cannot hold political The National Human Rights branded as a reactionary enemy seek- positions or any post awarded by Commission has condemned the ing to impose a conservative order. popular election. ARs cannot own expulsions as acts of intolerance in The Mexican constitution of 1917 mass media outlets, but they can rent violation of the law and the number codified a series of restrictions on the them. Mexico now has more than of such incidents is on the decline.

Hemisphere Volume 19 13 Reports

The National Panorama According to the 2000 census, Mexico has a total population of 97,483,412 (individuals aged five and older). Eighty-eight percent of the population declares itself to be Catholic, with Protestants and Evangelicals accounting for 5.2%. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists, classified under the vague term “non- Evangelical Biblical,” represent a fur- ther 2.1%. An additional 3.55% say they have no religion, and the remaining 1.15% fall into the cate- gories of “other religions” or “not specified.” The numbers vary from region to region, however. The most atypical state is Chiapas, located on Mexico’s This 19th-century polychromed wooden statue of Christ—Cristo Calvario—is still used in religious southern border, where only 63% of processions in the city of Guanajuato, Mexico. the population is Catholic, the low- est percentage in the country. An Fox (2000-2006) challenged the lay tion under all conditions. additional 13.5% of the state’s resi- or secular tradition of Mexican poli- Conservative sectors have approved dents are Protestant or Evangelical, tics by showing a clear affinity with these measures as a way of curbing 8.5% are Biblical non-Evangelicals, the Catholic Church. It made wide- the extremely liberal position of the and a surprising 13.5% are non- spread use of Catholic symbols and capital city. believers. Other southern states such was obviously reluctant to mediate Politics cannot hide the reality as Tabasco, Quintana Roo, in the resolution of religious con- that Mexico faces a future of Campeche and Veracruz all have flicts. This tendency has continued increasing religious diversity. To lower percentages (about 80%) of under the administration of current meet this challenge, the country Catholics than the national rate and President Felipe Calderón, also of must work to increase respect for double the percentage of Protestants the conservative National Action human rights and especially free- and Evangelicals (10.3 %). One Party (PAN), but a reversal may be dom of belief. Mexican churches explanation for this trend is the high- in the works after victories by more do not have a tradition of accepting er rate of conversion to non-Catholic liberal politicians in the 2009 other creeds, and religious diversity denominations in indigenous com- midterm elections. may bring with it competition munities, which are more prevalent Another controversy in which reli- between different denominations. in Mexico’s south. In contrast, the gion plays an important role is in the Negotiation will be necessary to central-western states of debate on abortion. Mexico City’s resolve the conflicts that will Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Guanajuato municipal government legalized inevitably arise, calling for disinter- and Zacatecas, with more urban, abortion in April 2007 with the sup- ested intervention on the part of Hispanic populations, are almost port of the leftist PRD party, spark- the state. Mexico’s government has totally Catholic. Mexico City, the ing heated discussion among church- a responsibility to assume this role capital, more closely mirrors the es, political parties and non-govern- as part of the process of bringing national average. ment groups. In January 2009, at the country into the future as a the International Conference on plural and open society. I Religion and Politics Family sponsored by the Vatican, The uneasy relationship between President Calderón spoke in favor of Carlos Garma is a professor of church and state continues in the upholding traditional values. anthropology at the Universidad twenty-first century. The conserva- Afterwards, 11 states passed local leg- Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa tive government of President Vicente islation that explicitly prohibits abor- in Mexico City.

14 Hemisphere Volume 19 Reports

Religion in Motion in Río de la Plata By Néstor Da Costa; Translated by Alisa Newman

rgentina and Uruguay but Uruguay formally separated In all, a total of 91% of are countries with many church and state in 1919. Argentines say they believe in God, elements in common, In Argentina the Catholic Church compared to 83% of Uruguayans. but religion has devel- has had and continues to play a An additional 14.5% of oped differently in each prominent role in society, political Uruguayans do not believe in God, society.A Both societies are products life and the collective imagination, while 2.7% doubt that God exists. of colonial Catholicism as well as a and the percentage of Catholics is The numerical differences are massive influx of immigrants—most- around 76.5%. clear: Argentina has higher percent- ly Italian and Spanish—in the late In Uruguay, the early separation ages of both believers and Catholics, nineteenth and early twentieth cen- of church and state—inspired by while a greater percentage of turies. Their religious development the French model and as a result Uruguayans are atheists. For their was similar until that time, but by of clashes between the nascent part, evangelicals make up a slightly the first decade of the last century state and the Catholic Church— lower percentage in Argentina than they had diverged: While Argentina relegated Catholicism and religion in Uruguay (9% vs. 11%). continued on the course of state- in general to the private sphere. Both countries reflect the growth backed Catholicism, Uruguay began The percentage of Catholics in of a recent phenomenon: people a process of institutional separation. Uruguay is somewhere between Today the Catholic religion is 47% y el 51%, according to enshrined in Argentina’s constitution, which poll is consulted. Percentage of Argentines and Uruguayans Who Believe in God

Religious Affiliation in Argentina and Uruguay 100 91.1 90 82.8 90 80 Argentina 80 76.5 70 Argentina (%) Uruguay 70 Uruguay (%) 60 60 50 50 47.1 40 40 30 30 23.2 20 17.2 20 17.2 8.9 11.1 10 10 9 7.3 4.1 3.3 1.3 0 0 Believe Do not believe Catholic Evangelical No religion/ Atheist/ Other in God /doubt religious but agnostic religions do not belong SOURCE: Data extrapolated from to a church Argentina’s First National Survey of Religious Beliefs and Attitudes and SOURCE: Data extrapolated from Argentina’s First National Survey of Religious Beliefs and Uruguay’s Extended National Household Attitudes and Uruguay’s Extended National Household Survey Survey

Hemisphere Volume 19 15 Reports

history, some of which are reflected in the percentages cited in this arti- cle, it is also worth mentioning some similarities. Not least of these is the obvious plurality of religion in both countries. Recent qualita- tive research has revealed the breadth and extent of local religion, whose manifestations can be traced back to different origins and time periods. Some practices were trans- planted from other countries and cultures, especially eastern ones. The African influence is clear, as are localized outbursts of religiosity centering on the veneration of sanc- tified local figures. This diversity may not be reflected in the statistics but it is an important characteristic of the local religious landscape. In both Argentina and Uruguay, of course, the growing plurality of religion has occurred in the con- text of social, political, economic and cultural transformations at the national and international levels. At certain points in the twentieth century some analysts predicted the eventual disappearance of reli- Devotees of the Afro-American Umbandista religion prepare an offering during the celebration of Iemanja, the African goddess of the sea, in Montevideo, Uruguay. Photo: Miguel gion, reflecting both the decline in Rojo/AFP/Getty Images. sacramental Catholicism and the growing trend toward seculariza- who say they believe in God but are groups was so rapid that many began tion. Nevertheless, religious not affiliated with any institutional to wonder if the future of Latin dynamics have gone on developing religion. This group accounts for America would be Protestant instead and transforming themselves. 7.3% of Argentines and as many as of Catholic. Some scholars describe the current 23% of Uruguayans. Catholics, however, are not a climate as a return to religion, While Christians are the majority monolithic group; in fact, it would while others of us prefer to inter- in both countries (85.5% in probably be more accurate to speak pret it as an adjustment to the Argentina and 58% in Uruguay), of “Catholicisms” instead of one realities of our times and the mul- they represent a wide range of single brand of Catholicism. The tiple modernities that coexist in denominations. These can be bro- shades of difference among the Río de la Plata region. I ken down into four main categories: Catholics deserve to be studied in Catholics, Pentecostals, traditional more detail. For most of its histo- Néstor Da Costa is a professor of Protestants (Pentecostals account for ry, the hegemonic model of sociology specializing in the sociology at least twice as many believers as Catholicism in Argentina has been of religions. A native of Uruguay, historical Protestants), and other integralist Catholicism. While in he is the coordinator of social and Evangelical groups. Uruguay, this type of Catholicism religious studies at the CLAEH Researchers began to take note of has been in the minority due to the University Institute in Montevideo the expansion of Pentecostal and separation of church and state. and coordinator of the Department neo-Pentecostal churches in the Beyond the specific trends differ- of Religious Studies at the Catholic 1980s and 90s. The growth of these entiating each country’s religious University of Uruguay.

16 Hemisphere Volume 19 Reports

Globalization and Religious Change in the Caribbean By Laënnec Hurbon; Translated by Valerie Leteinturier

n its very foundations, the Caribbean region contains var- ious cultural and religious tra- ditions like Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Catholicism, and IProtestant confessions. In it, there are also African religions derived from the context of slave colonization. Until the 1970s, leading religions such as Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Baptist and Methodist Protestantism worked along with the States, thus ensuring a sort of contin- uation of the colonial system, and imposing a Western-type cultural order. Nevertheless, from the 1970s to the present, an array of religious movements has been observed: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Adventists, the Pilgrims gather for ritual bathing at the Saut d’Eau waterfall near the village of Ville Bonheur in Japanese Mahikari, Moon followers, central Haiti. The pilgrimage to the waterfall takes place each year in July to commemorate the appearance of the Virgin Mary at the site. The tradition mixes Catholicism and elements of the Scientologists, Mormons, Catholic vodou religion. Photo: David Stewart-Smith/Getty Images. dissidents such as the Apostles of Infinite Love in the French portions tioned stand out, becoming more Dominican Republic, the Bahamas of the Caribbean, Rastafarians from and more popular since the 1990s. and the French West Indies (Guyana, Jamaica, Palma Sola from the They seem to characterize themselves Martinique and Guadeloupe); or of Dominican Republic (a syncretic by cutting across the Caribbean: the Dominicans to Guadeloupe. These movement mixing elements of Afro- Pentecostal and Rastafarian move- movements of population entail a American cults and Catholic prac- ments. They represent two cultural disorganization of family and com- tices). Simultaneously, there has orientations that appear to be dia- munity systems, and also call into been a revitalization of Afro- metrically opposed. However, let us question traditional identity marks. Caribbean beliefs and practices such examine the changing background of In this context, the regulations pro- as the Haitian Voodoo, the Cuban the region in the context of global- ceeding from leading religions that Santeria and the Shango Cult of ization. In fact, every Caribbean had been established alongside Trinidad. In the age of globalization, country is going through social and national States are weakened and any what is the significance of this cultural upheaval, due to fast “deru- individual find him/herself quite change in the pattern of religions in ralization” (drift from the land), wild helpless in a world which, to him or the Caribbean region? We shall urbanization and, above all, massive her, seems to be going towards a cul- attempt to examine this change by immigration to Western countries tural leveling out and where he or relating it to the problem of secular- (England, United States, Canada, she doesn’t find his/her points of ref- ization and cultural diversity. France, Holland). We also notice an erence anymore. Moreover this lev- Two among the new religious inter-Caribbean immigration, like eling out which remains the brand of movements that we have just men- the influx of Haitians to the globalization is ironically far from

Hemisphere Volume 19 17 Reports

calming the social and political ten- Afro-American cult cannot be used ing identity marks that he or she sions that are even on the rise in big as a protection system and then, they starts seeking a new social connec- Caribbean cities like Port-au-Prince are over-symbolized as hunting down tion, imaginary and symbolic refer- or Kingston. forces moving around town. ence points that new religious move- The Pentecostal and Rastafarian At a different end of the religious ments are eager to offer. At the same movements are particularly symbolic spectrum, we find the offensive of time, he or she steps onto a path of the transformations of the reli- Afro-American cults with a will to which leads him or her to put an end gious Caribbean scene. On one affirm an otherwise failing cultural to the memory of slavery (like the hand, as far as the Pentecostal move- identity. The Rastafarian movement Pentecostal movement), but this ment is concerned, we witness a is appealing to the young in popular memory stays alive and keeps on drive to create a new family and urban neighborhoods, as well as in pursuing him or her in the Holy community living space which allows the areas of the Caribbean Diaspora. Spirit trances, beliefs in dreams, and the convert to get away from the Contrary to the position of the practices of miraculous healings, thus dominant world, now conceived as Pentecostal movement, the reinforcing this memory and cultural an evil order, and to find a tempo- Rastafarian movement, re-using the identity (like the Rastafarian move- rary shelter from the violence of daily imaginary of the African continent, ment and the revitalization of afro- life and the risks associated with the explicitly accepts the memory of the American cults). realms of work and politics. The slave trade and slavery itself. That In any case, it is as if the secular- spectacular success of the Pentecostal memory actually lurks within the ization process is weakened by the movement goes hand in hand with afro-American beliefs and practices. success of new religious movements the one of the Catholic charismatic The Rastafarian movement succeeds that are creating an actual re- movement that, in fact, recognizes in co-existing with Voodoo as well as enchantment of social space, in spite that it shares the same origin as the Islam in some popular neighbor- of a real progression of formal edu- Pentecostal movement. Practices hoods of the Haitian capital. The cation in the region, for example in such as speaking in tongues, reaching derogatory vision of Afro-American the French-Caribbean regions, a state of trance as a sign of the Holy cults is losing intensity and as Cuba, Puerto-Rico, the Dominican Spirit’s presence in the believer’s Protestant Confessions, Adventists Republic and the British-colonized body, and resorting to miraculous and Jehovah’s witnesses gain more islands. At the same time, one can- healings, indicate a clear deviation ground, Afro-American cults insist not talk about cultural and religious from the patterns of modern western even more on introducing themselves monolithism like in the past: the culture, for they imply that the con- in the public space, taking over some plurality of religious movements verts genuinely start re-valuing the chapels and Catholic churches, like refers to a cultural diversity which afro-American religious traditions. in Haiti, and especially to be can be interpreted as an essential Indeed, said traditions are seen as evil assertively taken as a source of inspi- characteristic of the Caribbean. It is and interpreted as among the great- ration in the Arts, including music, the states’ responsibility to take on est sources of the evil and misery of dance and painting. In this same and defend the principle of secular- modern life. Curiously, though, they context, the Taino-type Amerindian ism in order to protect this diversity are used as a support for the conver- traditions are re-vitalized through and put a brake on the propensity to sion process, which implies that afro-American cults like Santeria in solve inter-religious conflicts those beliefs are somehow kept alive Cuba or what we call the Winti lan- through violence. I and well. Moreover, we are witness- guage in Surinam, Belize, and ing a re-vitalization of afro-American English Guyana. Laënnec Hurbon is a founding mem- cults a bit everywhere in the In any case, it seems that the new ber and professor of Quisqueya Caribbean, just when they bear the forms of religious expressions devel- University in Port-au-Prince, as well criticism of the Pentecostal and the oping in the Caribbean demonstrate as a researcher at the CNRS. He has Charismatic Catholic movements a change in the relationships of an written several socio-anthropological which deny them the ability to individual with his family and his works on subjects including Haitian address the different problems of traditional community, in the sense vodou and slavery, among them Le modern life (employment, housing, that he or she detaches himself or barbare imaginaire (1988) and Pour marital status, violence, etc,). The herself from them and appears to be une sociologie d’Haiti au XXIe siè- invisible forces to which an individ- left to fend for himself or herself; it is cle (2001). ual resorts within the context of precisely in the circumstances of fail-

18 Hemisphere Volume 19 Reports

Latinos and Religion in the 2008 Presidential Election By Gastón Espinosa

atino communities are him gain a majority among devout (12%) and New York (11%). We transforming the com- Latinos, contributing to his victory. can expect this trend to continue plexion of American soci- given the fact that 10 million US- ety. According to the US The Growing Value of Latinos in born Latinos are under the age of 18. Census Bureau, the Presidential Politics If only two out of five come of age Lnational population increased from One of the main reasons why by 2010, the country will have four 22.4 million in 1990 to 46 million Latinos figured so prominently in million new Latino voters. in 2008 (not including the four mil- the 2008 election is their rapid The youthfulness of the Latino lion residents of Puerto Rico and an growth and concentration in strate- population, however, contributes to estimated 12 million undocumented gic states. Latinos have added one the discrepancy between its absolute immigrants, the vast majority of million new voters since 2004 and numbers and voting capability. A them Latinos). By official count, one make up a growing share of the elec- full 34% of Latinos are under the out of every six Americans is Latino, torate in states such as New Mexico voting age of 18 and 26% of those accounting for 15% of the popula- (37%), Texas (25%), California who are of age are not US citizens. tion. By 2050, the nation’s popula- (23%), Arizona (17%), Florida Sixty percent of Latinos, therefore, tion will soar to 128 million, with (14%), Colorado (12%), Nevada are ineligible to vote, compared to Latinos representing 29%. Not surprisingly, this growth has been felt politically as well. This arti- cle, based in a larger study, chal- lenges the notions that Latino Catholics and Protestants vote Republican, that faith and morals were dead issues in 2008, and that President Obama, like Clinton before him, has a lock on the Latino vote. The majority (56%) of Latinos identify themselves as Democrats, 17% as Republican, and 27% as independent or other. Obama won over religious Latino voters by pro- viding a more bipartisan and com- pelling vision for economic recovery, participating in faith forums, speak- ing openly about his Christian faith, inviting Latino theologians and cler- gy onto his campaign team, splitting the moral vote by supporting a woman’s right to abortion but not gay marriage, and reaching out ener- Then Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton speaks to members of a Puerto getically to Latino Catholics and Rican Pentecostal congregation in San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the 2008 presidential campaign. Protestants. These efforts helped Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

Hemisphere Volume 19 19 Reports

23% of Americans of European the highest rates (59%+) of born- views in a larger socio-religious con- descent, 34% of African Americans again identity and Mexicans the text that takes into account a con- and 49% of Asian Americans. lowest (34%). stellation of other issues, among nThese factors have undermined them social justice, a living wage, Latinos’ political clout; despite the The Religious Vote jobs, immigration, health care, edu- fact that they represented 15.3% of According to the LRAP survey, cation, family, and a positive atti- the US population in 2008, they 77% of Latino Christian registered tude toward Latin American immi- accounted for only 9% of the elec- voters report that religion provides grants and values. The top four torate. In contrast, African guidance in their day-to-day life, issues for Latino voters in 2008 were Americans made up 13%, Asian including politics. The importance jobs, the cost of living, education Americans 2% and Americans of of religion in the 2008 election was and health care. These were fol- European descent 74%. evident in the finding that the major- lowed by crime, the war in Iraq, ity (66%) of Latino registered voters affordable housing, immigration Changing Religious Profile believed that a political candidate’s reform, abortion and gay marriage. According to the Latino Religions personal faith and morals were rele- The decisive level of Latino sup- and Politics (LRAP) National vant to their voting decisions. This port for Obama contributed to his Survey, 94% of Latinos self-identify was true for both Latino Catholics victories in key swing states for two as Christian: 66% of them as (58%) and Protestants (79%). reasons. First, the Latino electorate Catholic (30 million) and 34% as Did religion help McCain among in those states was larger—in some Christian non-Catholic (15.6 mil- Latinos, as it did Bush in 2000 and cases significantly larger—than lion), Pentecostal and other 2004? The answer is no. In 2000 Obama’s margin of victory. Second, Christian (11.5 million), and and 2004, Latino Catholics voted Latinos voted for Obama by a deci- Protestant (9.2 million). The Democrat and Protestants split their sive margin in all four swing states at growth of Evangelical Protestantism votes—voting Democrat in 2000 much higher rates than they did for among Latinos is politically signifi- and Republican in 2004. In Kerry in 2004. Obama won a cant because adherents to this faith October 2008, the LRAP national majority of the Latino vote in vote at higher rates than Catholics, survey found that Obama was lead- Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and are concentrated in swing states, ing McCain among Latino registered even Florida, a state Bush carried in and have shifted their vote by 20 voters by 59% to 27%, with 14% 2004 by a wide majority. Latino points between election cycles. As undecided. Significantly, Obama led support for Obama in these states many as 600,000 Latinos convert to McCain among Latino Catholic surpassed his margin of victory: Protestantism annually and a (63% vs. 24%), Protestant (50% vs. 12.4% vs. 9% in Colorado, 7.9% Hispanic Churches in American 34%), and born-again (46% vs. vs. 2% in Florida, 12.4% vs. 12% in Public Life study found that for 38%) voters. Obama was able to Nevada and 28.3% vs. 15% in New every Latino who returns to present himself as a genuine centrist Mexico. The Latino electorate was Catholicism, four leave it. Latino candidate on many religious issues. critical to Obama’s victory in these Protestants and Evangelicals make His views, ideas and policies are a states and will remain so in future up as large or a larger share of the blend of right- and left-of-center presidential politics given its rapid electorate than Jews, Muslims, impulses. Obama, like Clinton, rec- growth in numbers. Episcopalians or Presbyterians. ognizes what many Democrats do Sixty-seven percent of all Latino not: Although the American elec- Religion and Moral Views Protestant and 24% of Latino torate is “operationally progressive,” One of the keys to Obama’s suc- Catholic voters in the LRAP survey it is nonetheless “philosophically cess in 2008 was his ability to win self-identified as born-again moderate conservative.” over a plurality of Latino moderates Christian. The numbers were simi- The simple reason why this strate- and even the most religious Latino lar among Latino registered voters: gy works is that although many voters—those who opposed abortion 65% of Protestants and 26% Latino registered voters hold conser- and gay marriage, read the Bible, Catholics self-identified as born- vative moral and social views, no prayed and attended church once a again and Pentecostal or single moral or religious issue week or more. By opposing gay Charismatic. When analyzed by decides their vote. Latinos take a marriage but supporting abortion, country of origin, Cubans, holistic view of a candidate. They Obama split the Latino moral vote, Dominicans, and Puerto Ricans had place the candidate and his or her allowing religious Latinos to rational-

20 Hemisphere Volume 19 Reports

ize that Obama agreed with them on (2006), which came out in Spanish a Future Democratic Support at least one of two key moral issues. year and a half before the election, It is impossible to predict whether Was this mere political expediency, Obama discussed the organic link the Latino Catholic and Protestant given that gays and lesbians make up between faith and social change. He faith communities will remain loyal less than 4% of the US electorate, reaffirmed the link between religion, to Obama and the Democratic Party compared to the almost half of the morality and social transformation in 2012, although history cautions population that opposes abortion in and urged the US government to that what goes up can come down. one form or another? Perhaps, but it partner with faith-based programs to George W. Bush’s ability to cut into was a strategy that helped pave the “feed the hungry, reform the prisoner, the Latino Protestant and Catholic way to victory. rehabilitate the drug addict, and keep vote in 2004 despite Clinton’s over- While McCain too reached out to the veteran employed.” whelming victories in 1992 and religious voters, his outreach was Going one step further than JFK 1996 reveals that a Republican limited in scope, vision and creativity but still echoing Democratic presi- Catholic or Protestant born-again and lacked genuine passion on faith dents before him, Obama chided sec- candidate who is positive, youthful issues. Obama and his team ran a ularists for asking religious believers in spirit, compassionate, down-to- brilliant campaign by outflanking to leave their religion and morality at earth and committed to social justice McCain on traditional Republican the door of American public life. He could flip the Protestant vote again, issues, including faith-based initia- argued that many of the greatest making enough inroads among tives. Obama also courted and put American reformers were shaped by Catholics to win key swing states on his campaign team Catholic, faith, including Frederick Douglass, and perhaps the presidency. Evangelical and Pentecostal Latino Abraham Lincoln, William Jennings Similarly, the question of whether leaders, defined many of the cam- Bryan, Dorothy Day and Martin Obama’s outreach efforts were gen- paign issues, took the initiative on Luther King, Jr. “To say that men uine or a ploy to win the Latino promoting faith issues in the elec- and women should not inject their Catholic and Evangelical vote will be tion, and responded rapidly and ‘personal morality’ into public-policy answered by his political appoint- effectively to McCain’s critiques, thus debates is a practical absurdity,” ments and policy decisions. neutralizing Republican rallying Obama concluded. “Our law is by Obama owed his victory in 2008 points. In addition, many Latino definition a codification of morality, to the economy, Latino Catholics Catholic and Evangelical leaders sup- much of it grounded in the Judeo- and Protestants in key swing states, ported immigration reform, a topic Christian tradition.” his bipartisan and optimistic vision anathema to some Republicans. Perhaps the most compelling rea- for social change and economic Finally, McCain did not put any son why Latino Catholics and recovery, and a 4-14% increase in major financial resources behind his Evangelical Protestants were comfort- support among religious, racial-eth- outreach to Latino Catholics and able with voting for Obama was his nic minority and women voters. His Evangelicals, in contrast to Obama, spiritual journey. Although critics vision attracted Latino voters because who announced plans to invest $20 charged that he emphasized this it provided hope for a better tomor- million into outreach to the Latino point to counter rumors that he was row. Whether or not this will community. His efforts paid off, as a Muslim, distance himself from the enable him to surpass Clinton’s his- he won not only among Latino reli- Reverend Jeremiah Wright and show toric Latino support in 2012 remains gious moderates but also a plurality that he wasn’t simply a traditional lib- to be seen, but history, initiative and of Latino conservative voters who eral Protestant, Obama began talking inspiration are—at least at this opposed gay marriage. about his spiritual development long moment—on his side. I Obama made it clear to these vot- before the campaign began (perhaps ers that he was a person of genuine anticipating later criticism). He won Gastón Espinosa is the Arthur V. faith and a religious moderate. A key the support of many Latinos by pro- Stougton Associate Professor of element of this persona was his claiming, “I let Jesus Christ into my Religious Studies at Claremont strong and outspoken support of life” and “learned that my sins could McKenna College. He is the president church-state partnerships aimed at be redeemed and if I placed my trust of La Comunidad of Hispanic alleviating inner city poverty and in Jesus, that he could set me on a Scholars of Religion at the American drug abuse. In his autobiography, path to eternal salvation.” This kind Academy of Religion and co-editor of The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on of Evangelical narrative resonated the Columbia University Press Series Reclaiming the American Dream with many Latino Christians. in Religion and Politics.

Hemisphere Volume 19 21 FEATURE Religion and Politics in Latin America since the 1970s By Daniel H. Levine

nderstanding the rela- tion between religion and politics in Latin America since the 1970s requires equal Uattention to both spheres. The trans- formations of politics, and the social and cultural changes that underlie them: military authoritarian rule, civil wars, restoration of democracy, eco- nomic crises, the spread of literacy and access to mass media, internal migration and urbanization together provide the context within which the great transformations of religion gain meaning and direction. These include the theology of liberation, the end of a 500-year Catholic monopoly The faithful wave flags of South American countries as Pope Benedict XVI presides over Mass, and the surge of Pentecostal and neo- opening the 5th general meeting of CELAM in front of Brazil’s most famous shrine in the city of Pentecostal churches, the need of all Aparecida. Photo: Franco Origlia/Getty Images. churches to adapt to pluralism and competition, and the place of church- around them was utterly different screens, public platforms and arenas es in civil society and politics in the from the one in which most had been of power with other churches. democratic period beginning in the born and raised. The unquestioned Within Catholicism itself there is a mid 1980s. monopoly of the Catholic Church growing diversity of opinion with This article examines four aspects had eroded, replaced by a plurality of many voices competing to be heard. of these transformations: the vision churches and pervasive competition These trends have continued despite manifest in the Latin American among them for members, space, the efforts of many prelates to rein in Episcopal Conference (CELAM V) public sanction and goods. Statistics division by cutting funds to dissident at Aparecida, Brazil in May 2007; show that the number of people groups and striving for greater control religious pluralism and competition declaring themselves “Catholic” has over schools, universities and publica- among churches; the new role of declined steadily while the rate of tions. churches in civil society; and the Protestant affiliation (especially The decay of the Catholic monop- relationship between the many kinds Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal oly and the growth of pluralism have of violence in this period and churches) has grown sharply, along occurred in the context of the democ- changes in the churches as well as in with small but notable segments ratization of civil society and politics patterns of religious affiliation, belief claiming to be católico a mi manera in the last two decades. This process and practice. (“Catholic in my own way”) or no has moved religious groups, issues and connection to any religion at all. The leaders off the center stage of public Aparecida Catholic Church no longer monopo- debate and political discussions. In the period preceding Aparecida, lizes public discourse about morality: Christian Democratic or explicitly the world that Catholic leaders saw It must share the airwaves, TV Protestant parties or candidacies have

22 Hemisphere Volume 19 Feature

weakened substantially and there has underscored throughout the confer- Facing a situation seen in this way, been a deliberate pull back on how ence documents. an institution like the Catholic and how much the institutional The discussions at Aparecida and Church (accustomed for so long to churches sponsor social movements. the final documents approved there dominant cultural influence) has sev- Religious groups have returned to underscored the value of Latin eral options. It can simply adapt and more traditional lobbying for a core America’s Catholic tradition and iden- go with the flow, engage as a partici- group of conventional issues sur- tity but saw these as highly threatened pant in the process with its own mes- rounding education, public morality in the future. The future as seen at sage and enthusiasm, or resist change, and sexuality and away from the Aparecida is filled with peril: dangers rebuilding its structures and reorgan- social justice issues that dominated from cultural inroads into Catholic izing around a common purpose and the 1980s and 1990s. ideas of a proper moral sphere (espe- leadership. Aparecida takes the third In combination, these changes have cially with regard to traditional gender option. Whether or not it works, and profoundly altered how religion is roles) and the role of the church in what policies it may generate, will present in the public sphere. In much ordering that sphere; the related disso- depend on how accurate its underly- of the region, images and symbols of lution of a world view once united ing analysis of reality turns out to be. religious-civic fusion once affirmed around the Catholic faith and guided the identification of “the Church” by its official leaders; the threat of Religious Pluralism and the (only one was recognized) with politi- competition by other churches (espe- Encounter with Democracy cal and economic power and social cially neo-Pentecostal); and the danger Plurality and pluralism are reshap- hierarchy. The public face of religion posed by indifference, apathy and the ing the public face of religion in Latin is very different now: Street preachers trend toward catolicismo a mi manera, America as they intersect with the need only a Bible, a loudspeaker and disengaged from church supervision equally new fact of pluralism in poli- something to stand on to make their and discipline, all of this in a context tics and civil society. A plurality of pitch, new churches proliferate, and of social dissolution accelerated by churches, social movements and voic- many voices jostle for space and atten- poverty, violence and drugs. es claim the moral authority to speak tion. Where there was monopoly This list of dangers was balanced by in the name of religion. This is a there is now pluralism; where a limit- nuanced recognition of progress in two-way street, a dialectical relation- ed number of spaces were once offi- politics (democracy), education, ship: Just as religious plurality and cially reserved for religious observance human rights and recognition of pluralism transform social and politi- (with a limited number of authorized excluded groups, especially indigenous cal life, putting more actors, voices, practitioners) there is now a rich pro- communities and those of African and options into play, so too the con- fusion of churches, chapels and mass descent. But the predominant note solidation and expansion of demo- media programming, not to mention sounded at the conference, was fear of cratic politics, participation and a plu- campaigns and crusades that carry loss and fear of control. These fears ral civil society have a visible impact the message to hitherto “profane” are grounded in a particular under- on the daily life of religion and the spaces such as streets and squares, standing of change in contemporary ways religious institutions situate beaches, sports stadiums, jails, bars Latin America. What is the force themselves in society and politics. and nightclubs. behind this change, who are its agents The most obvious expression of When the region’s Catholic bishops and what does it mean for the church religious plurality and pluralism in met at Aparecida, their stated goal was as an institution and collection of Latin America is the sheer number of to preserve, enrich and extend the faithful? A highly compressed answer churches, religious venues and Catholic faith of the region’s peoples, is that globalizing forces (economic spokespersons and the competition which they described as “a fundamen- and cultural, visible for example in for members, loyalties and resources. tal basis of the identity, originality and the mass media) are undermining cul- In a real sense there is more religion unity of Latin America and the tural unity, reordering social roles and available in Latin America now than Caribbean” and “among its greatest destroying important values and rela- in the past: more churches, more riches.” This rich tradition of faith tions of authority. The fact that the chapels, greater presence in the mass provided the context for the overall Catholic Church is no longer an media, more opportunities for partici- theme of the meetings: the role of the unchallenged moral arbiter is taken a pation and a greater variety of reli- church and faithful as missionary dis- sign of loss of control and in that giously-based or inspired groups. In ciples, a theme that was echoed by the sense of the unity that characterized response to this trend, as we have Pope in his opening speech and the past. already seen, the Catholic Church has

Hemisphere Volume 19 23 Feature

reorganized and redirected its institu- groups, and in any case, members talists); and churches in urban settings tional resources (with Vatican sanc- have more options now in an open grow faster than others. The well- tion) away from support of social civil society. Explicitly religious politi- established historical tendency to fissi- groups and innovative religious voices cal parties or voting blocs have also parous growth within Protestantism is to a re-sacralization of its projected had limited success. Among fully exemplified in contemporary message. As a part of this process, it Evangelicals, such parties have been Latin America. Competition among has placed greater emphasis on issues unable to mobilize or guarantee a bloc Protestant churches and alternative defined as moral and corresponding vote of the faithful, nor have they national and continental confedera- pressure on groups and individuals to attracted masses of voters of any kind. tions—for members, resources and a refrain from “undue politicization.” Christian Democrats remain strong public voice—is now as notable as Another response to the explosion of only in Chile (with relatively little Protestant-Catholic competition. religious options is what Timothy trace remaining of the impact of This continuing and accelerating Steigenga terms the “pentecostaliza- Catholic Social Doctrine), and efforts growth has brought a shift in the pub- tion” of religious belief and practice. to create explicitly Protestant parties lic presence of Protestantism and the Elements once limited to Protestant have had limited success. The very elaboration of innovative means of (and specifically Pentecostal) experi- idea of a confessional state, which res- managing its new status in a changed ence, including stress on the direct onates strongly in some fundamental- political arena. No longer isolated experience of charismatic power, faith ist circles, finds little echo in Latin minorities and weak supplicants for healing, speaking in tongues, certain American Protestantism. public recognition, Protestant church- kinds of music and patterns of group Social and cultural pluralism, along es have vigorously pressed claims to organization and leadership have been with emerging democratic rules of the equal status in the public sphere and a diffused widely throughout the game in politics, also challenge the share of the benefits (including subsi- Christian community. activist collection of groups, ideas and dies for schools) long allocated to the All this does not mean that Latin practices that emerged within Catholic Church. In case after case, America is “becoming Protestant,” to Catholicism in the crucible of the churches, interchurch alliances and cite the title of an important early 1970s to 1990s. For those inspired individual figures have moved actively book by David Stoll. Rather, the by Liberation Theology, the global to engage in what was once seen as region is becoming pluralist for the and regional collapse of the left has the tainted and corrupting world of first time in its history and in a way required wrenching reappraisals of politics. At the same time, Protestant that provides general support for democracy as a goal and of the mean- churches have engaged broader issues democracy. Although the orientations ing of politics and political activity. and entered into a wide range of and alliances of particular churches Accommodation, compromise and social and political alliances that are located all across the political spec- alliance building are more the norm would have been unimaginable a few trum and at all levels of the social in plural societies than revolution. In decades ago. structure, with rare exceptions, all of many countries, activists have been Political opening, along with grow- the region’s churches, now support drawn out of religiously inspired ing pluralism within the Protestant democracy and an open civil society. groups into ordinary politics. At the community, has brought several The pattern of political change over same time, the Catholic Church as an important elements to the scene. the last few decades has had impor- institution has opted to move out of New leadership and utterly new lead- tant and often unexpected impacts on the center of political activity and ership styles have emerged, along with religion. As democratic politics have reduce its support for groups and media skills and careers in religious or been restored and expanded across the movements. other broadcasting as steppingstones continent, churches and religious Plurality and pluralism bring chal- to politics. There has also been a leaders have lost (and sometimes lenges to the growing Protestant com- notable revaluation of politics itself: deliberately abandoned) their openly munity as well. In the attention paid Once seen as the realm of corruption political roles. To the extent to which to the overall rate of growth of and evil, it is now presented as a pos- political parties and a “normal politi- Protestantism, it is sometimes easy to sible, legitimate and even necessary cal life” have regained strength and ignore the process of change embed- field of action for believers. Where presence, the viability of civil society ded in the numbers. New churches once the children of light were groups with some link to churches grow faster than old ones; Pentecostals enjoined to concentrate above all on has declined. Church leaders have cut grow faster than other groups (includ- personal salvation and building a their moral and material support to ing mainline churches and fundamen- community of the elect, they now

24 Hemisphere Volume 19 Feature

visualize politics, despite the dangers it The Churches and Civil Society, the The resituating of the institutional holds, as a central part of their identi- Churches as Civil Society church within civil society as one ty and responsibility. The explosive The relation between churches and group among many has been accom- growth of these churches has, not sur- civil society has changed notably in panied by the development of a civil prisingly, drawn in new members recent years. The Catholic Church, society within the church itself, mani- with a wide variety of experiences, followed not long after by many fest in the proliferation of research careers and orientations. The experi- Protestant churches, played a critical centers, radio and television stations, ence of Brazil is particularly well doc- role in Latin America in the creation, and groups of all kinds. Catalina umented, with self-identified promotion and protection of social Romero writes that “through these Evangelicals (many of them adult movements of all kinds. As sponsors, distinct forms of association and new converts) present in parties and move- churches provided access to resources, spaces for encounter and interaction, ments across the ideological spectrum. information and leadership training the church has renovated itself and Pluralism offers opportunities as while facilitating cooperation between has been able to infuse the challenges well as challenges. Among the most religiously inspired activists and other of daily life with religious meaning. notable is the chance to acquire new grassroots groups. They also provided Over the last decade, there has begun followers, to reach and energize them material aid and legal defense when a process of closing these same spaces, in new ways, and to exploit new necessary. With the restoration of due to the intervention of various media. Another is the opportunity democracy and the weakening of bishops who are trying to re-take con- to develop ways of acting in politics many of these movements, churches trol of public spaces within the and relating to potential political continue to function in civil society church, as well as of the forms in allies and partners. This task is com- through less confrontational groups as which the church expresses itself and plicated by the fact of a more open, well as through networks of schools, is represented in civil society, politics, less regulated civil society and by the local and regional radio, cooperatives and the state.” more open kind of politics that has and health centers. The tendency that Romero notes accompanied transitions to democra- Throughout the region, the transi- for Peru is evident in many countries. cy. At the very least, more open pol- tions to democracy of the last 30 Groups of all kinds abound, but they itics means the possibility of greater years have been accompanied by the are fragmented and lack the ability to choice, more options to compete for marginalization and demobilization sustain themselves or exercise endur- the allegiance and membership of of many of the same popular move- ing influence in public life. The one’s audience and less regulation of ments that played an important role groups and movements promoted by the effort. Protestants in many in these transitions. The struggle was the church in years past (the comu- countries have devoted substantial difficult, costly and exhausting, and nidades eclesiales de base, for example) effort to leveling the playing field, by the end many groups had weak- turned out to be much more vulnera- above all by sharing in public subsi- ened, divided or disappeared. ble to the withdrawal of support by dies hitherto limited to Catholic Successive economic crises meant that the institutional church than many institutions and by removing or for many the daily struggle for sur- early observers imagined. Fearful of fighting barriers to the ordinary life vival took precedence over collective division and loss of control, bishops of their communities, such as laws and political efforts. The difficulties often try to subordinate groups, cut- regulating “noisy churches.” that so many groups experienced in ting financial and organizational sup- These new democratic realities consolidating themselves, and even in port and taking measures to gain have nurtured and at the same time surviving, were exacerbated by the greater control over schools, seminar- benefited from a consistent effort on impact of neoliberal economic poli- ies, universities and publications. the part of many churches to create cies that created obstacles to collective The cumulative weight of changes in a democratic presence within society. organization. The restructuring of Vatican policies over the past few But as democracies have consolidat- the state and of public institutions decades—the naming of conservative ed, much of this effort has moved effectively eliminated many instances bishops, removal from their posts of out of politics to civil society, where in which citizens could present sympathetic clergy, withdrawal of both Catholic and Protestant demands and exercise political pres- official backing from groups deemed churches remain active in a range of sure. In this way, neoliberal reforms to be excessively “politicized,” drastic efforts from social centers to schools, that were in theory directed at reductions in the flow of human and neighborhood associations, coopera- increasing citizen participation in material resources and the closing of tives and other movements. practice helped reduce it. institutions of great symbolic value,

Hemisphere Volume 19 25 Feature

among them Chile’s Vicariate of practices with the new message of the argue that these groups advanced Solidarity—have had a devastating Gospels. Beginning in the 1970s, this ideas, movements and networks that impact on many groups. model was challenged by another that emerged as part of the effort to create Issues of gender and ethnicity play a affirmed the value of indigenous cul- linkages and points of entry between prominent role in many of the reli- tures, respected the presence of God the state and political parties and the giously inspired or connected groups in their traditions, incorporated daily lives of citizens. and movements in question. The very indigenous peoples into the clergy visible role often played by women and trained clergy in indigenous lan- Violence and Religion in reflected their relative availability, their guages. In some countries, churches Recent History closeness to issues such as the cost of have also assisted indigenous commu- Latin American history over the living, as well as the belief that nities in the pursuit of their claims to last 50 years has been deeply marked women might be less subject to retali- lands and rights. This has been most by the relation between violence and ation. With the restoration of notable in the Andean region, north- religious change. Both violence and democracy, these movements and eastern Brazil and Guatemala. In religion come in many forms, and it is their activists lost the direct support of Bolivia and Ecuador, churches have useful to distinguish among the most churches whose leaders sought to played a key role in building networks notable kinds of violence and religious “normalize” relations with the state of indigenous organizations, including transformations in this period. and elite and clearly expected female communal radio and the creation of Violence can be distinguished by its activists to return home. The results new political parties. level as well as its source and inten- of this demobilization varied accord- As noted, many of the groups that tion. On the most generalized level is ing to the circumstances of each case, arose in civil society in the 1970s and civil war, such as the conflicts in with very different results for the 1980s have failed, dispersed or at the Central America, Peru and Colombia. activists themselves. In Chile, for very least weakened substantially. But There has also been an important example, a strong church investment even though the hopes of those phenomenon of state repression on a in human and material resources was involved have often been frustrated scale not seen before. A new element accompanied by greater control and and cut short, these church-supported in the violence of the last 50 years has direction from the hierarchy, resulting movements helped open the public been a systematic attack on churches, in groups that were more dependent sphere to individuals and groups creating many martyrs among bish- with a lower capacity for managing whose voices had hitherto been silent ops, clergy, nuns, catechists and lay on their own. In Brazil, in contrast, or tuned out, creating a series of people. Such attacks have been most the operative model of the “popular spaces that simply did not exist frequent in civil wars and in countries church” encouraged greater independ- before: neighborhood associations, where repressive state held power for ence on the part of groups, with fewer women’s groups, cooperatives, com- many years (Chile, Brazil, Argentina resources and much less top down munal kitchens, cultural associations, and Uruguay). supervision. As the institutional sports clubs, micro businesses, new The phenomenology of violence is churches cut back their commitment unions and protesters of all kinds. of course not limited to politics at the and reduced their support, Chilean Although only a handful of these can national level. There is also an ever women were left weaker, more disori- trace explicitly religious origins or present violence of daily life, experi- ented and much more resentful than sponsorship, many enjoyed close ties enced everyday in the form of crime, their Brazilian counterparts, who to churches and religious groups with domestic abuse, unemployment and ended up more autonomous, confi- whom they exchanged ideas, agendas, poor health, among others. In the dent and open to alliances with other personnel and resources. discourse of Latin American civil society groups, albeit with fewer These groups did not create democ- Catholicism since the landmark bish- resources. racy by themselves. Many are not ops’ conference of Medellín (1968), it The role of religiously sponsored explicitly political nor can they be has been common to incorporate movements in ethnic communities understood as social movements, if we these phenomena under the rubrics of and their relation to questions of understand this to refer to formally institutionalized violence and struc- identity has also undergone far-reach- constituted groups whose explicit tural sin, underscoring the impact of ing changes in recent years. objective is to pursue claims and seek elements such as unemployment, eco- Historically, the task of missionary material or symbolic goods from the nomic inequality, poor health, low life work was to “civilize” indigenous peo- state for their members. If we broad- expectancy and social injustice on ples and replace their traditions and en the definition, however, we can individual and community life. But

26 Hemisphere Volume 19 Feature

although the notion of institutional- ty as a result of forced migration and ever, is that the initial impulse for ized violence has been influential in the prohibition of public rituals of change was rooted in reaction to the many Catholic circles in Latin mourning. One result has been a experience of massive violence and the America, it often fails to highlight and wave of conversions to new churches search for a meaningful and appropri- denounce the violence of daily life, that offer a way out of a violent world ate response. including alcoholism, drugs, crime, through a change of life and entry This confluence of interests helped local or family vendettas, and the into a community of faith that pro- open the churches to a new set of domestic violence and physical abuse vides moral and material help in ideas about rights and turned their inflicted on women and children, negotiating the threats and dangers of leaders and institutions into promot- which is often related to these ele- daily life. For its part, the Catholic ers of human rights. In Brazil, Chile, ments. Personal and community Church has articulated issues of jus- El Salvador, Peru (and later, experiences of such violence have led tice, rights, participation and libera- Guatemala) the institutional Catholic many people to Pentecostal and neo- tion and made a sustained effort to Church (with support from transna- Pentecostal churches, which offer a give these a prime place in the agenda tional networks) provided critical way out of a difficult and dangerous of institutions and groups. Beginning resources in support of human rights life via entry into a new and support- with the Medellín (1968) and Puebla and to victims of repression, helping ive community of faith. (1979) conferences, which further families find shelter and work, with Much of the impact of violence on articulated the theology of liberation legal assistance, and in the difficult churches and religious life stems and carried it to the public sphere in task of finding the disappeared. The from the victimization of churches numerous pastoral letters and the pro- defense of classic human rights (to be and religious personnel. In the grams and commitments of groups free from arbitrary arrest, abuse and midst of repression and open civil and social movements, elements in torture and to reject the impunity of war, churches have often defended the Catholic Church broke traditional political leaders, military and police) the victims, in the process becoming alliances with political and social was accompanied by efforts to pro- targets themselves. Religious person- power and put themselves on the side mote and make effective the right to nel and church institutions such as of those seeking change. collective organization (by the land- radio stations or educational organi- To put oneself on the side of less, by slum dwellers, by indigenous zations became prime targets of vio- change in this period in Latin communities) and in general to assert lence in El Salvador, Guatemala, America has varied meanings: form- the right of the poor and powerless to Chile, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru. ing and supporting reformist groups participate in political and social life. The direct experience of official ter- and Christian Democratic parties; The incorporation of a commit- ror led many in the churches to see backing social movements of slum ment to rights as an integral part of themselves as victims, to identify dwellers or landless peasants; provid- discourse and agenda was not limited with victims and to ally themselves ing legal, moral and material support to Catholicism. Within the with victims in defense of their for new trade union movements; even Protestant community, there are rights. Churches and church-spon- allying with insurgent movements, as numerous examples of churches, sored organizations became prime in Nicaragua and El Salvador. Such national and regional organizations, protagonists of human rights move- positions are costly and bring resist- and lay groups that joined ecumenical ments and key intermediaries in ance from governments, and often coalitions in defense of human rights processes of peace, reconciliation and from the high leadership of the while acting in defense of their own the recovery of historical memory. churches themselves. Once the exter- churches and membership. The Where repressive states held sway, nal pressure of violence declines (as impulse for change came in response church hierarchies and the institu- has occurred with the end of civil war to the direct experience of violence. tions they directed acted both as and the transition to democratic poli- In Peru, Protestant and Pentecostal opposition and complicit ally: oppo- tics throughout the region), many churches grew exponentially in the sition in Brazil and Chile, complicit church leaders have look to cut their 1980s and 1990s, a period that coin- ally in Argentina. losses, rebuild good relations with cides with the rising arc of violence The long-term psychosocial conse- states and social elites, and return to a related to the Shining Path insurrec- quences of violence have created a more conventional agenda centered tion. Many churches and communi- legacy in Latin America of fear, night- on personal morality, issues of sexuali- ties found themselves trapped mares, suicide, alienation, broken ty and family, and the search for pub- between the guerrillas (who targeted families and the erosion of communi- lic subsidies. The salient point, how- any group that tried to mobilize the

Hemisphere Volume 19 27 Feature

population) and the repressive actions Conclusions tures.” Instead we face groups that are of the army, police and Special Forces. The events of the last 40 years dynamic, active in all social classes, As the toll of victims grew within the present deep, conflicted and interre- which move and pressure for their own Protestant churches, the National lated transformations in the panora- objectives, which can be short or long Council of Evangelicals of Peru ma of Latin American religion. To term, with a multiplicity of ties not only (CONEP) began to create organiza- draw a balance, it is helpful to within the religious sphere but also tions and to take public positions in underscore how very different the throughout social life… Believing and defense of human rights. With the word of religion and politics is now belonging, believing without belonging, defeat of Shining Path and the decline (2009) from then (1970). and belonging without believing are of large-scale violence, pressure arose Catholicism’s 500-year monopoly is part of the various options that men and within the Protestant community to gone and will not return; religious women find today as they look to give return to a more traditional emphasis pluralism is not merely present but meaning to their religious life. on preaching the word of God, continues to grow. Democracy has Do the past four decades have any “growing the church” and keeping out established itself almost everywhere lessons for the future? Although it is of politics. in the region, with notable conse- always risky to extrapolate current The commitment to rights was quences including the end of civil trends into the future, some elements not shared by all the churches. A wars and a substantial reduction in of the process of change appear well transformation of this magnitude political (albeit not everyday) vio- established. The combination of does not happen without costs or lence. Confessional political parties intense religious transformations with resistance. In the context of what (those linked to a particular church) a return to democracy makes it likely was presented as a war against sub- have not prospered, and in general that churches will continue to with- version and leftist atheism, some churches have withdrawn from the draw from partisan politics to cut churches reinforced their ties with center stage of politics. This does their losses and recover strength. At state and military, articulated a posi- not mean they have abandoned all the same time, they will fall back on tion of Christian nationalism, and actions of a political nature; most more conventional themes and efforts became deeply involved in repression churches and religious groups con- to gain privileges and legitimacy along and complicit in tortures and disap- tinue to lobby governments on issues with the resources and tools they need pearances. Argentina is the best such as birth control, family law, to maintain and grow their institu- known and best documented case of public morality and education and tions. Competition among churches this kind, but even in this case, reali- continue a constant search for official will continue, intensify and spread to ty is less homogeneous than might subsidies, support and recognition. new areas. There will be a continued appear at first glance. During the Religion, in all the variants of diffusion of intense and spirit-filled 1970s, important liberationist cur- Christianity, appears to be flourishing, forms of religious practice (in the rents were present in the Argentine but it is not the Christianity of 40 Pentecostal style), the region’s Catholic Church. They promoted years ago. There have been too many Protestant churches will continue to social mobilizations and allied them- changes in society, culture and in the become more independent from their selves with elements of Peronism to churches themselves for that to be the origins in the north, and these form the base of the Montonero case. What Fortunato Mallimaci has churches will intensify the projection movement. They were ultimately said about Argentina holds true for of their message to the global south marginalized within the institutional the region in general: and back to the north. I church, defeated politically, and in Today in Argentina people do not many cases arrested, tortured, and believe—be it in politics or in reli- Daniel H. Levine is a professor of killed. With the transition to democ- gion—more or less than in other periods political science at the University of racy, the broad discrediting of the but differently. Politics has not disap- Michigan. He is the editor of such military, and the election of Peronist peared but rather is “exploding” and books as Popular Voices in Latin governments willing to break tradi- “emerging” outside, above, below and American Catholicism, Religion and tional ties to the Catholic hierarchy within the old structures of political par- Political Conflict in Latin America (beginning with the government of ties. Nor do we find ourselves in the and Constructing Culture and Nestor Kirchner) the country has presence of religious groups that are Power in Latin America. begun to experience a genuine reli- “static,” “pressured,” seeking shelter in gious pluralism, still resisted by the the “private” or which are no more than bulk of the Catholic hierarchy. “a reflection of socio economic struc-

28 Hemisphere Volume 19 COMMENTARIES Christian Reorder in Latin America By Fortunato Mallimaci; Translated by Alisa Newman

s part of the reconfigu- one can predict their outcomes. The crisis of the state, along ration of social struc- Going beyond what is normative with privatization and deregula- tures and beliefs in and prescriptive to analyze concrete tion, has dislocated not only our recent decades, Latin situations is a challenge that scientific material existence but also our America has transi- studies cannot ignore. symbols, memories and expecta- tionedA from a virtual Catholic The historical foundation of the tions. During the longest demo- monopoly to a plural and diverse nation-state (alternating democracies cratic period the region has ever Christian majority characterized by and dictatorships under multiple neo- known, life is full of contradic- the spread of Pentecostalism and a colonialisms), policies to expand citi- tions, both among states and with- growing number of people claiming zenship—or not, the type of social in them—on the one hand, the no religion at all. framework, the formation of social heterogeneity of poverty and the Secularization does not mean the movements and the role played by penal/repressive control of popula- disappearance or privatization of reli- Christian movements—Catholicism tions destabilized by unemploy- gious beliefs but rather their continu- during the nineteenth and twentieth ment; on the other, the extension ous reordering. Capitalism’s multiple centuries, along with Evangelicalism in of new rights of citizenship to vast modernities are not linear, nor are the twenty-first—are a central part of sectors of the population accompa- they evolutionary; they are indeter- the socio-religious narratives that have nied by an aggressive rebuilding of minate and multidirectional, and no dominated our national histories. state and civil society capacities.

French nun Yvonne Pierron speaks during an ecumenical celebration in honor of French nun Leonie Duquet, kidnapped and murdered by navy forces during Argentina’s military dictatorship. Photo: Daniel Garcia/AFP/Getty Images.

Hemisphere Volume 19 29 Commentaries

Categories such as time, space and in the region. Unaffiliated believers Catholicism, we find that three-quar- promise have been reformulated in account for 23.2% of the population ters of Catholics practice their beliefs such a way that—especially for and atheists and agnostics 17.2%. without the Church as an intermedi- young people—time has been trans- Uruguay has the lowest percentage of ary (65% practice their religion on formed into something instanta- Catholics (47.1%) of any country in their own and 10% never do). neous, into a permanent presence the Southern Cone. 11% of Among Evangelicals, in contrast, the that makes it hard to plan for the Uruguayans identify themselves as split is more even: 55.8% connect future. The world-space has been Evangelical and a little more than with God through their church while expanded by new information tech- 2% as belonging to other religions. 42.4% say they do so on their own. nologies, and globalization and the In a study that combines census As we have seen, Christianity, the collective promises of a better tomor- figures and ethnographic research, overwhelmingly majority religion on row have lost credibility, and this Mexican researchers using data from the continent, is undergoing a pro- leads to many individual exit plans. the National Institute of Geography found transformation. On the one Meaningful institutions—the state, and Statistics (INEGI) analyzed the hand, the Catholic Church (which family, labor unions, churches, politi- complex world of religious identity has difficulty maintaining a dialogue cal parties—no longer create long- in their country. Renée de la Torre with emerging sects, obsessed as it is term legitimacies and are being eroded and Cristina Gutiérrez Zúñiga with the topic of sex and tangled up in our so-called “liquid modernity.”1 found the “territories of religious in its own dogmas and bureaucratic diversity” in Mexico today to authority) is losing its hegemony to Religious Institutions and Beliefs include 88.9% Catholics, a little countless and diverse religious groups A quick look at institutions and more than 5% Evangelicals, 2.5% that “negotiate” their public pres- beliefs on the continent shows us an “non-Evangelical Biblical religions” ence, foremost among them the active market in salvation and a and 3.52% no religion. “The dissi- powerful and vital Evangelical move- broad religious field with strong dence is composed of a diversity of ment. On the other hand, we are demands and multiple sources of religious minorities, internally very witnessing an “emotionalization” of supply. Religiosity does not end with disparate, where we find both firmly beliefs that cuts across Christian institutions and religious beliefs are consolidated religions and a pulver- groups that prioritize organization, not only channeled through clergy. ization of religious offerings.” authority and emotional community In Brazil, Catholics make up The results of Argentina’s First over dogma. Faith healing, speaking 73.8% of the population and Academic Poll of Religious Beliefs, in tongues, ecstatic dancing, entering Evangelicals 15.6%, ranking it as one carried out in 2008, also reflect the into trances, creating a climate of of the Latin American countries with strong inroads made by Christian human warmth and seeking a direct the highest percentage (and absolute religions other than Catholicism. connection to the sacred with no or numbers) of Evangelicals Argentina is still Catholic majority, little institutional mediation, along (17,733,477 Pentecostals and but other denominations have with “hyper-modern” use of the mass 8,477,068 mission-oriented expanded and diversified: 76.5% of communications media and links to Evangelicals). The category “no reli- respondents identified themselves as more “pragmatic” sources of financ- gion” is as high as 8%. Catholic, 9% as Evangelical and ing are a part of both the Ricardo Salas confirms the grow- 11% as indifferent (in other words, Charismatic Catholic Renewal move- ing plurality of religion in Brazil. atheists, agnostics and no religious ment and the many different “The Catholic Church may still be affiliation). The rest were divided Pentecostal Evangelical groups. the majority religion (73%),” he between Jehovah’s Witnesses (1.2%), In response to this religious writes, “but there has been sustained Mormons (0.9%) and other religions nomadism, however, communitarian growth by Evangelicals (16%) (who, (1.1%), among them Judaism, Islam, Catholic and Evangelical groups have on the one hand, tend to look to Umbanda or other African-inspired emerged that offer certainty, security their neighborhoods for meaning religions, Buddhism and Spiritism. and totality to small groups, with the and, on the other, tend to be more One noteworthy finding is that more goal of achieving long-term continu- indifferent toward democracy than Argentines have no religion or reli- ity. Among Catholics, groups like Catholics) and other religions (4%).” gious education (11.2%) than are the Legionaries of Christ, Institute of Uruguay, perhaps the most secular Pentecostal (10.4%). the Incarnate Word, Knights of country in Latin America, has the If we focus on the religion with Christ the King, New Catechume- highest rates of religious indifference the most followers in Argentina, nate, etc. and, among Evangelicals,

30 Hemisphere Volume 19 Commentaries

the Assemblies of God, God Is Love, sectors, the institution and/or society. emergence of a political-religious Universal Church of the Kingdom of While many Christian groups and sphere characterized by a back and God and others create their own movements join in criticism of forth flow that merits more trans- authorities, legitimacies, memories unbridled market economics and the parency and analysis. Legal equality and relationships. The Catholic external debt, other issues, among among all religious groups (or the groups are in a state of permanent them complicity with power, effort to gain the same privileges as tension with local ecclesiastical imposed dogma, and opposition to those enjoyed by Catholicism), as authorities and have varied links to state-mandated reproductive health well as the quest for equality, justice Rome. The Evangelical groups can be and sex education create strong divi- and inclusion for all men and likened to small salvation businesses sions both within Catholic groups women, may represent a potential that act as micro-enterprises, with and between the Church and impor- source of conflict among religions. local inputs and legitimacy limited to tant segments of society. In conclusion, we must remember their leader and congregation. The The weakening of the social state that in Latin America historically the network structure makes these groups and the privatization of public policy great majority of believers have not permeable but complicates the for- has created new spaces for religious been active members or daily partici- mation of shared national or regional groups, especially those with a strong pants in any religious group. Latin policies. Ultimately, individualization institutional presence. One example America does not have the same tra- and communitarianism are part of is the increased role of religious dition of mass parochial culture that the same social and cultural process. groups in public education and social characterized Europe for many cen- Long-term studies should keep in assistance. As a result, neither the turies. These are not “apathetic” or mind that Christian institutions main- state nor political parties can claim “passive” men and women who are tain historical relations with the state, hegemony over popular spaces; “objects of manipulation” by their culture and society through negotia- instead, an assortment of religious churches. Their religious beliefs tions and by the power they accumu- groups enjoy so much legitimacy in influence their daily lives and provide lated in each nation state. this sphere that the state and party answers to important challenges at Christianity—especially Catholicism leaders are compelled to consult them the level of identity, belonging, fami- —is a social space, not just an institu- and invite their participation in ly structure, etc. In situations of gen- tional one, with strong roots in Latin social, educational, cultural and eralized anxiety or uncertainty, reli- American society that go beyond the employment-related activities. gious ethics are one of the main number of churches or clergy. A com- In addition, the loss of credibility sources of meaning. The panorama mon and differentiated universe of of government and party promises of experiences ranges from believing belief feeds “diffuse Catholic imaginar- and mediation in the redefinition of without belonging to religious indi- ies” that compete with other imaginar- the public and private spheres (an vidualism. By affirming the primacy ies in the current context of globalized effort in which the women’s move- of emotional experience, Pentecostal communications, but that endure as ment has played a central role) has groups—whether Catholic or symbolic capital always ready and opened a whole new range of spaces Evangelical—do not respect, or sim- available for use by different religious for religious leaders and their agen- ply reject, the imposition of religious actors and constituting “natural conti- das. This explains the increasingly fre- authority through institutional sym- nuity” in a “long Catholic tradition.” quent appearance of priests, pastors, bolic violence. I It is these different Catholic imaginar- rabbis, imams and other religious ies that have been at stake in Latin leaders in mediating or managing Fortunato Mallimaci is a professor at America since the end of the Cold social conflicts. They have more cred- the Universidad de Buenos Aires and War, the triumph of the market and ibility as social actors than as “repre- a senior researcher at CONICET US global hegemony: a Catholicism sentatives of the sacred” or for their (Argentina’s National Council of based on certainties, another on emo- moral or religious recommendations, Scientific and Technical Research). tions and a third on asceticism. Once and they have the ability to claim more the question is whether to con- greater institutional power. ciliate or confront “liberalism,” US Religious institutions do not con- 1 Concept introduced by Zygmunt Bauman, imperial policy, modern values, sider themselves to be on the margins referring to the privatization of ambivalence hedonism and individualism, and of political power, nor do state offi- and increasing feelings of uncertainty, a kind whether the effort should be based at cials think of themselves as apart of chaotic continuation of modernity. the level of the dominant or popular from religion. We have seen the (Editor’s note)

Hemisphere Volume 19 31 Commentaries

Indigenous Pentecostalism in Latin America: Argentina’s Chaco Region By Pablo Wright; Translated by Alisa Newman

he Protestant expansion nous groups are synonymous with gious expressions they witnessed at in Latin America, which cultural, economic and political missionary camps targeting mostly has progressed at a vary- oppression. The combination of the area’s mestizo population and ing pace across the these two factors, in varying degrees went on to recreate Pentecostalism in region in the last centu- according to region and ethnic their own way. Today, the dominant Try, marks a new chapter in societies group, favored acceptance of the religious form is the so-called whose socio-religious structures were Pentecostal message as an interesting Gospel, the native synthesis of this shaped historically by Catholicism. and liberating cultural, ritual and encounter between religions prac- Even in the colonial period, however, organizational synthesis with count- ticed by Toba churches scattered when Catholicism was imposed on er-hegemonic potential. throughout the Chaco region. Each indigenous groups as the hegemonic One example of this trend is the church has a committee of pastors, faith of the Spanish conquerors, it spread of Pentecostalism among deacons, secretaries, etc., who act as gave rise to countless cultural recre- indigenous groups in Argentina’s local power councils. Religious serv- ations blending ancestral languages, Chaco region. Pioneering fieldwork ices have the same structure as con- rituals and sacred images with those by Elmer Miller, Edgardo Cordeu ventional Pentecostalism but with of the European Christian world. and Sandra Siffredi shows the same elements of Shamanism, especially in These re-elaborated religious and rit- factors at work as those cited above. the therapeutic techniques practiced ual forms were the context for the A similar story seems to have been during the phase of the service arrival of Protestantism, extending repeated among other groups in known as “healing.” Finally, in the mostly from two geopolitical powers, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Mexico. shamanic-Pentecostal amalgam of the United States and England. All demonstrate complex, non-linear religious representation we have an Of all the varieties of Protestan- cultural recreations in which tradi- example of highly creative symbolic tism, Pentecostalism has had the tional mythic and historical elements recreation. The Christian deity is strongest impact on indigenous soci- combine with Pentecostal interpreta- inserted in the most powerful posi- eties, thanks to two interrelated fac- tions of Biblical mythology. tion of the Toba pantheon, along tors. First, certain characteristics of Among the Qom or Tobas people with Jesus and the Bible; the tradi- Pentecostalism, which emphasizes in the Argentine Chaco, we see the tional “lords” have been relegated to the “gifts of the Holy Spirit,” such as encounter between native shaman- secondary positions and generally, as speaking in tongues and faith heal- ism and US Pentecostalism. The was the case during the Spanish spir- ing, as well as ritual forms of the former is based on powerful beings itual conquest, characterized by their manifestation of divine power—its on earth, underground and in the demonic nature as representations of cosmological and ritual aspect, its heavens who are the “lords” of plant evil on earth. universe of practices and representa- or animal forms; an emphasis on The Toba Gospel is as much of a tions—find an echo in indigenous dreams as points of contact with the social system as a religious one, and traditions. Second, in the majority numinous; and the social prestige of the only way to understand it is as a of Catholic countries, Catholicism both male and female shamans. In product of modern Latin American has been associated historically with the context of these practices and history. This is clear in the responses the state, political power and the representations, the Tobas were of Toba church members in studies ruling elite, which for many indige- impressed by the Pentecostal reli- of the region; when asked by ethnog-

32 Hemisphere Volume 19 Commentaries

raphers why they converted to the Gospel a common answer is that LACC Haitian Summer Institute 2010 Catholicism is a “white” religion— one practiced by non-indigenous The Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) at Florida social groups—and that they are now better off in terms of health and eco- International University will hold its 13th Annual Haitian Summer nomically. In other words, Institute in 2010. Pentecostalism allows indigenous groups to become more visible and The thematic focus of the institute is: “Haiti, Language, Culture and legitimate citizens despite the incom- Society.” The institute features intensive Haitian Creole language prehension of “whites,” in whose eyes training at the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels, as well Protestant Indians seem somehow as an interdisciplinary lecture series in Haitian Studies. “less Argentine.” The Toba Gospel, since its begin- The institute takes advantage of Florida International University’s nings in the mid 1950s, has under- location in Miami, home to a vibrant Haitian community and gone many transformations, crises, participants benefit from daily contact with native speakers of schisms and confrontations both Haitian Creole. within its ranks and with the politi- cal system, but it represents the most powerful and dynamic socio-cultural The institute is designed for students already enrolled in an academic and religious condensation of its program, for school teachers who want to increase their knowledge of type to date. As in all social trans- Haiti and the Haitian community and for those in the general public formations, its members are the ever who desire a deeper understanding of the social, historical and politi- more visible protagonists of their cal development of Haitian society and language. The institute is own history. I open to degree and non-degree seeking students and credit hours may count towards teacher recertification. Pablo Wright is a researcher with Argentina’s National Scientific and Tentative Dates: June 23 - August 7, 2010 Technological Research Council (CONICET) and affiliated with the Credits: 6 credits Universidad de Buenos Aires. Courses: HAI 3213 Accelerated Beginning Haitian Creole HAI 3214 Accelerated Intermediate-Advanced Haitian Creole

Housing: Housing is available on-campus for an additional cost. Students may also arrange off-campus housing.

Tuition Cost: $1,200.00 (approximate)

The Haitian Summer Institute is co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida.

For more information: LACC Academic Programs 305-348-2894 [email protected] http://lacc.fiu.edu

Hemisphere Volume 19 33 Commentaries

New World African Religion: Twenty-First Century Crossroads By Terry Rey

frican religions not Let’s take the case of Haitian Afro-Brazilian religious adepts but only survived the Vodou, for example. The most reli- rather for society,” which was followed transatlantic slave trade able demographic statistics indicate several years later by a centennial cel- but have flourished so that between 1982 and 1997 the ebration of her birth in the city of robustly that today in number of Protestants in Haiti had Salvador, “presided over by the mayor BrazilA electoral candidates court the doubled to roughly one-third of the and the governor”; the appearance sanction of priestesses of total national population, leading since the 1990s of “literally hundreds Candomblé, an African-derived two leading Haitian sociologists to of thousands” of Brazilians along the religion that counts millions of assert that “Haiti is on pace to beaches of Rio each New Year’s Eve adherents. Its largest sibling reli- becoming a country of a Protestant to venerate Yemaya, Candomblé’s gions, Cuban Santería and Haitian majority” (Houtart and Rémy 1997: feminine orixa (spirit) of the sea; and, Vodou, meanwhile, have likewise 34-35)! Moreover, because through- the use by Brazil’s national airline, overcome a whole range of racist, out Haiti “the mixture of sèvis lwa Varig, of the slogan “Fly with Axé,” or political, and economic obstacles [Vodou] with Protestantism is rare” with the divine life force that is cen- and today enjoy unprecedented vis- (Woodson and Baro 1996: 54), it is tral to the religion’s theology and ibility and acceptance, not to men- likely that at least one in three people ontology alike. tion more followers than ever. In in Haiti today does not practice This is not to suggest, however, part because of these obstacles, Vodou; if we add to them the num- that Candomblé and related tradi- membership in New World African ber of fran katolik (lit: frank tions are being given free reign over religions in Latin America and the Catholics; i.e., Catholics who do not Brazil’s religious field. On the con- Caribbean is notoriously difficult to also practice Vodou), it would appear trary, Brazil, like Haiti and, to a less- gauge, but most careful observers that presently Vodouists in Haiti, er extent Cuba, remains a predomi- would agree that from Rio to who are themselves mostly also nately Christian nation, and Miami there are clear signs of Catholic, constitute a slight but Christian churches are finding new growth and/or stability overall. In declining majority of the population. ways to compete in an increasingly addition to the beauty and power And whereas President Jean-Bertrand competitive religious marketplace that has always drawn followers to Aristide’s granting of legal status to (Chesnut 2003). Although lacking these religions, they will continue Vodouist marriages in 2003 lends the state sanction and the related to be shaped in part by their rela- new legitimacy to the religion, this assistance of military and police tionship to church and state. has done little, if anything, to stem forces that the Catholic Church Colonial slave states of course pro- the outward flux of apostates. enjoyed for years in its persecution of hibited their practice, a suppressive By contrast, Candomblé has con- African-derived religions, Evangelical juridical reality that did not change tinued to demonstrate remarkable churches have taken to the task in much with independence and growth and to develop an increasing- recent decades with equal zeal. For would only recede, variously, dur- ly public national standing in Brazil. one of the most glaring examples, ing the last quarter of the twentieth One scholar (Johnson 2002: 157) Vodouists traditionally have flocked century. In light of this newfound speaks of this as a “Widening to Bois Caïman, a few hours north freedom from state persecution, Semiotic Community,” which in of Port-Prince, each August 14/15 to one would expect these religions to recent decades has featured, among commemorate the 1791 Vodou cere- continue to grow in the twenty-first other impressive public displays: a mony there that—as national century. Some, indeed, will, while period of national mourning for a mythology has it—sparked the others are beginning to decline. priestess in 1986, “a loss not just for Haitian Revolution; this tradition

34 Hemisphere Volume 19 Commentaries

Hundreds of followers and devotees of Cuba’s patron saint La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre take part in a procession during celebrations in Havana. Photo: Adalberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images. has in recent years been impeded by ly promoted atheism and thereby still facing stiff competition in the overwhelming throngs of curtailed public religious life on the ever-diversifying religious markets of Evangelicals seeking to exorcise Bois island in general; on the other hand, Latin America, New World African Caïman—and, by extension, it has long acknowledged Santería’s religions have grown remarkably in Haiti—and preaching that Vodou is place in Cuban national identity recent decades and taken their right- satanic. The Evangelical assault in (Brandon 1997: 101), and Fidel ful place, a central one at that, in the Latin America is also aimed at the Castro himself is widely believed to mosaics that make up cultural iden- Catholic Church, furthermore, be a practicing Santero. tity in many parts of the region, and which was quite shockingly illustrat- Furthermore, the Castro govern- not just for people’s of African ed in 1995 by Reverend Sérgio Von ment has demonstrated surprising descent. For, the Latin American Helder’s kicking and punching an (for communists) entrepreneurial story is in significant part an African icon of Nossa Senhora da Imaculada acumen in exploiting the religion’s story, one that is told with unsur- Conceição Aparecida, Brazil’s patron growing popularity at home and passed beauty in the drumming and saint, on a televised broadcast. Not abroad by monopolizing the open dancing of the Vodou temple, the to be outdone, outraged protesters, sale of Afro-Cuban ritual parapher- Candomblé terreiro, and the Cuban Catholics and Candomblistas alike, nalia and by selling visas to foreign- casa de santo, and in the depth of burned the televangelist in effigy. ers drawn to Cuba’s burgeoning reli- meaning and power that these reli- Cuban Santería faces similar, if less gious tourist trade, which is affec- gions bring to people’s lives. I dramatic, challenges from tionately known as “Santurismo”! Christianity, though its recent histo- Gone are the days—thankfully Terry Rey is a professor in the ry is distinguished from that of and hopefully forever—when adher- Department of Religion at Temple either Candomblé or Vodou by its ents of African-derived religions in University. Dr. Rey specializes in the ambiguous relationship to the the Americas had to practice their anthropology and history of African Castro regime. On the one hand, faith in secrecy and/or in fear of and African diasporic religions. the communist regime has effective- legal and social reprisals. Though

Hemisphere Volume 19 35 Commentaries

Transformations in Latin American Judaism By Damián Setton; Translated by Alisa Newman

atin American Judaism at the same time that the process of a movement that could express the has experienced a series of globalization and the consequent national realities of different coun- transformations since the weakening of national referents have tries, as Leonardo Senkman notes, 1980s that have signifi- opened a space for the construction Orthodox congregations have little cantly altered its makeup of transnational identities. While use for national considerations in the Land given rise to new social actors Conservative Judaism tried to create construction of their identities. In and conflicts. As in other parts of the world, Judaism in Latin America in the early twentieth century was built on a foundation of secular matrixes that reflected Jewish aspirations to become part of the nation, with the religious dimension relegated to the background. It is this religious dimension, however, that came to monopolize the attention of both Jewish communities and social scien- tists by the early 1980s. Again, as in other parts of the world, Latin American Judaism is currently experiencing a revitalization of Orthodox sentiments. Many Jews are practicing what in Hebrew is known as teshuva, a word that can be translated as “return,” and which in sociological terms implies a process of religious conversion. Typically, Jews socialized in non- Orthodox environments adopt lifestyles emphasizing strict obser- vance of Jewish law. This trend reflects the transformation of the dynamic between religion and modernity that has affected other religions, including Christianity, Islam and “Oriental” religions. Some scholars, among them Susana Brauner and Renato Ortiz, have argued that the gap left by Zionism as a factor in Jewish identity has The Mikve Israel Synagogue on the Dutch island of Curaçao is the oldest Jewish house of worship been filled by religious movements still in use in the Americas.

36 Hemisphere Volume 19 Commentaries

Argentina, for example, followers of intellectuals. The Pole for Pluralistic As a result, we are witnessing a the Chabad Lubavitch movement Judaism, which was created in moment when two apparently con- identify themselves as Lubavitchers, Argentina in 2008, defines Judaism flicting trends are intensifying simul- not as Argentine Jews. In definitions from a perspective that acknowledges taneously: on the one hand, the cre- of identity, the transnational com- the many different ways of being a ation of communities with well- munity takes pride of place over the Jew and the individualization of defi- defined borders, and on the other, national. This doesn’t mean, howev- nitions of identity. individuals for whom these borders er, that we should ignore local partic- Finally, for many Jews, Judaism do not represent an insurmountable ularities when analyzing the teshuva itself is an arena for free circulation barrier. Orthodox Judaism benefits movement in its different contexts. and fluid borders. They construct from both of these movements. I The Chabad movement has altered their own Jewishness from a patch- the physiognomy of Latin American work of different influences without Damián Setton is a researcher at the Judaism through its practice of send- affiliating themselves with any single Center for Labor Research and Studies ing emissaries to countries where one. They build their own Judaism and the Program in Economic Orthodox Judaism lacks a strong out of multiple sources of meaning Research on Technology, Labor and presence. Their goal is to create that incorporate diverse Jewish and Employment (CEIL-PIETTE) at the spaces for socialization that have a non-Jewish influences and, within National Council for Scientific and markedly Orthodox stamp. Other Judaism itself, different religious Technical Research (CONICET) in baalei teshuva (returnees) look for expressions. Buenos Aires, Argentina. cities that offer the type of commu- nity infrastructure that was not avail- able in their countries of origin; for example, many Uruguayan baalei teshuva emigrate to other countries because Uruguay does not have the infrastructure they need to practice their desired lifestyle. Several factors are important to consider when discussing these trends, above all the political trans- formations involved in Jews’ emer- gence into the public arena. In Argentina, the return to democracy in 1983 opened spaces for the expression of different religions. Argentine society stopped thinking of itself as a monolithic whole and began to recognize and legitimate its own plurality. And in Mexico, the end of the PRI’s monopoly over poli- tics brought to power the National Action Party (PAN), whose tradition of conservative Catholicism lent new legitimacy to religion in public life. Another trend developing on the fringes of Orthodoxy is the emer- gence of a heterogeneous collective that defines itself as “pluralistic Judaism” and comprises such sectors such as the Meretz party, the ICUF (Federation of Yiddish Cultures), Conservative rabbis and various

Hemisphere Volume 19 37 Commentaries

Islam in Latin America By María del Mar Logroño Narbona

slam is one of the world reli- According to scholars of Islam in of 1979, and more recently of gions practiced in Latin non-Muslim countries, the main September 11, 2001. America today. Since the late issues behind statistical discrepan- 1950s mosques are part of cies lie both in the parameters as A Controversial History the urban and religious land- well as in the tools used to identify The historical presence of Islam scapeI of cities like Sao Paulo, Muslim identity. Can we define in Latin America is also a contro- Buenos Aires, Caracas, and Bogota only as Muslim the person who versial subject. There is no agree- among others. While statistics are attends the Friday prayer at the ment among historians as to when contradictory and its history is con- mosque as prescribed in Islam? Do exactly date the origins of Islam in troversial, Islam is nonetheless part Muslims self-identify themselves as Latin America. Some Muslim of the social and cultural reality of Muslims when asked in a survey? scholars often date the presence of most Latin American countries. While the first question begs for Islam to colonial times, whereas Today Latin Americans of Muslim comparison with similar problems others have questioned this descent and converts alike practice faced by scholars of other religions, approach, since the presence of Sunni or Shiite Islam, along with the second question needs to con- moriscos and Jews was banned by other more or less controversial sider how Muslims have historically the colonial authorities. forms such as Sufism. been subject of high profiling after Although academic research on the events of the Iranian Revolution this subject is starting to question Contradicting Statistics Despite an increasing presence of Islam, to this date there are no trust- worthy statistics that convey the exact number of Muslims in any Latin American country. Lack of reli- able official censuses and discrepancy in the available data are among the problems that scholars face when analyzing this phenomenon. For instance, as scholars of Islam in Brazil have explained, “[t]here is an enormous discrepancy between the data about Muslims gathered by the official census and the numbers pre- sented by Muslim entities.”(1) If the official census indicated the existence of 27, 239 Muslims in Brazil in the year 2000, Muslim institutions claim the existence of up to one million Muslims in the same Brazilian terri- tory. Scholars of Islam in Argentina face a similar challenge, with esti- mates ranging from 900,000 in the country to as low as 4,500 in Buenos Aires, the city with probably the A group of Muslims pray at the Al Imam Ali Eben Abi Taleb Mosque in the city of Curitiba in largest number of Muslims. (2) southern Brazil.

38 Hemisphere Volume 19 Commentaries

the success of this prohibition, and associations mark the spaces of María del Mar Logroño Narbona is most scholars have traditionally Islam in large and small cities of an assistant professor of modern agreed that the presence of Islam in Latin America. Likewise, Islam Middle Eastern history at FIU. She is Latin America can be traced back shares some of the radio waves in currently leading a project on Islam first to the presence of African cities like Buenos Aires. The ubiq- in Latin America through the Muslim slaves in Brazil since the uity and interconnectedness of University's Latin American and late eighteenth century; the intro- internet, however, has turned the Caribbean Center, funded by the duction of indentured labor in the cyberspace into the preferred medi- Social Science Research Council. Caribbean starting in the nine- um among Latin American teenth century; and finally the Muslims who, in their Spanish, waves of Arab Muslim migration to Portuguese and English speaking Latin America since the final websites provide support to this decades of the nineteenth century. growing community. I

Islam in Latin America Today Of these three trends explained by historians, only African Islam in Brazil seems to have left no trace in “Islam in Latin America” today's Brazilian Muslim communi- ty. On the contrary, indentured labor in the Caribbean and long- LACC Wins Grant to Improve Public Knowledge on Islam and term migration from Muslim Muslim Communities in Latin America. The project aims to: Middle Eastern countries are among the processes that have led • Support research on the increasing presence of Muslims in to the development of Islam in Latin America. Along with them, Latin America, a result of both conversion and migration conversion is the third way by means of which Islam is increasing • Develop scholarship on Islam as a public resource its presence in the continent. To this day, conversion does not seem • Facilitate scholarly engage with policymakers and journalists to represent a significant demo- graphic trend within Latin and create new channels for the distribution of high-quality American societies. It is nonetheless an interesting phenomenon that expert knowledge so that it might directly inform journalism, can be explained by two different policy, and public discourse factors: on the one hand, conver- sion is the result of efforts from • Revitalize the public mission of universities by addressing within existing Muslim communi- ties who, funded mostly by the topics of critical importance to ongoing national debates Iranian and Saudi Arabian govern- ments, expand their social activities and policy and networks attracting followers; on the other hand, events like the • Communicate the diversity of Islamic civilizations and Muslim Iranian revolution and September communities and bring attention to regions and issues that 11 have sparked interest in Islam among Latin Americans in search have been largely neglected in public discourse of religious fulfillment. Islam in all its diversity is today present both in the urban landscape Funded by The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and the public sphere. Along with the construction of Shiite and For more information contact LACC at 305-348-2894 Sunni mosques, smaller prayer halls

Hemisphere Volume 19 39 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Albarsson, Jan-Åke and Rita Laura Espinosa, Gastón. Latino Religions Levine, Daniel. Churches and Politics Segato. Religions in Transition: and Politics: Catholics, Protestants, in Latin America. Beverly Hills: Sage Mobility, Merging and Globalization the 2008 Election, and Beyond. Publications, 1980. in Contemporary Religious Adhesions. Claremont, CA: Claremont Uppsala: Uppsala University McKenna College, 2009. —-. Religion and Political Conflict in Library, 2003. Latin America. Chapel Hill: Garrand-Burnett, Virginia and University of North Carolina Press, Aquino, María Pilar and María José David Stoll. Rethinking 1986. Rosado-Nunes. Feminist Intercultural Protestantism in Latin America. Theology: Latina Explorations for a Philadelphia: Temple University Olupona, Jacob K. and Terry Rey. Just World. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Press, 1993. Orisha Devotion as World Religion: Books, 2007. The Globalization of Yourba Religious González, Ondina E. and Justo L. Culture. Madison: University of Bastian, Jean-Pierre. La mutación González. Christianity in Latin Wisconsin Press, 2008. religiosa de América latina. Para una America: A History. Cambridge, sociología del cambio social en la mod- New York: Cambridge University Parker, Cristian. Popular religion and ernidad periférica. México: Fondo de Press, 2008. modernization in Latin America: A Cultura Económica, 1997. Different Logic. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Hagopian, Frances. Religious Orbis Books, 1996. Bidegain, Ana María and Juan Pluralism, Democracy, and the Diego Demera Vargas. Catholic Church in Latin America. Pelton, Robert S. Aparecida: Quo Globalización y diversidad religiosa Notre Dame, IN: University of Vadis? Chicago: University of en Colombia. Bogotá : Universidad Notre Dame Press, 2009. Scranton press, 2008. Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, 2005. Hurbon, Laënnec. Le phénomène Peterson, Anna L. and Manuel A. religieux dans la Caraïbe : Vásquez. Latin American Religions: Bidegain, Ana María. Historia del Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, Histories and Documents in Context. cristianismo en Colombia: corrientes Haïti. Paris: Éditions Karthala, New York: New York University y diversidad. Bogotá: Taurus, 2004. 2000. Press, 2008.

Brandon, George. Santería from Johnson, Paul Christopher. Secrets, Segato, Rita Laura. Frontiers and Africa to New World: The Dead Sell Gossip, and the Gods: The Margins: The Untold Story of the Memories. Bloomington and Transformation of Brazilian Afro-Brazilian Religious Expansion to Indianapolis: Indiana University Candomblé. New York: Oxford Argentina and Uruguay. Brasilia: Press, 1997. University Press, 2003. Departamento de Antropologia, Universidade De Brasília, 1996. Brieger, Pedro, and Enrique Jozami, Gladys. “The Manifestation Herszkowich. “The Muslim of Islam in Argentina.” The Segato, Rita Laura. La nación y sus Community of Argentina.” The Americas 53.1 (1996): 67-85 otros: raza, etnicidad y diversidad reli- Muslim World [Hartford] 92, nos. 1, giosa en tiempos de políticas de la 2 (Spring 2002): 157-68. Langdon, Matteson, E. Jean and identidad. Buenos Aires: Prometeo Gerhard Baer (eds.). Portals of Libros, 2007. Chesnut, R. Andrew. Competitive Power: Shamanism in South Spirits: Latin America’s New America. Albuquerque: University Wright, Pablo. “Explaining the Religious Economy. New York: of New Mexico Press, 1992. Global Religious Revival.” In Gerrie Oxford University Press, 2003. ter Haar and Yoshio Tsuruoka: Lesser, Jeffrey and Raanan Rein. Religion and Society: An Agenda for Elkin, Judith Laikin. The Jews of Rethinking Jewish-Latin Americans. the 21st Century. Leiden and Boston: Latin America. New York: Holmes Albuquerque: University of New Brill, 2007. & Meier, 1998. Mexico Press, 2008.

40 Hemisphere Volume 19