sign in sign up
<<
Home , CEB (High school), Samuel Ruiz

Other Voices in the Mexican

Tanius Karam* E V A / a v a N

o i v a t c O

TRENDS IN ’S Juan Bautista Libanio says that the es four ten dencies in the post-Council CATHOLIC CHURCH model of “Catholic identity” —that is, church: institutional doctrine, practice and struc - a) The postmodern position consid - The Catholic Church is no uniform tures with a firm, coherent, stable le - ers the current situation irreversible monolith. Its view of itself and under - gal basis— appeared in the sixteenth and favors the disappearance of a standing of its mission and presence in century with the Council of Trent and com mon identity, leaving the task of history varies from one time, country re mained almost unquestioned and with - perpetuating the message of Christ or region to another. This article takes a out significant fissures until Vatican to the free will and spontaneous look at one of the faces of the manifold Council II (1963-1965). After that date, choice of small groups. complex that is the Mexican Catholic the eccle siastic zeitgeist can be ex - b) The conservative position does not Church. To do that, we need to estab - plain ed by the attempts at restoration recognize the irreversibility of the lish minimum criteria. or destruction of that identity, by the collapse of the identity inherited from different reactions it has caused and, the Council of Trent and diligently con sequently, by the different pas - attempts to maintain and rebuild it. * Professor of communications at the Ma - rista University of . toral pro jects that have grown out of c) The moderate, neo-fundamental - tanius @yahoo.com.mx it. In this context, Li banio distin guish - ist tendency proposes creating an

19 Voices of Mexico • 56

identity that would be the true cod - Because the other voices in Mex- experience of the poor. It attempts to ification of Vatican II. This tenden - ico’s Catholic Church are a minority help them see their own faith in a cy is based on two suppositions: the and because they receive scant if any new light so that the reading of the irreversibility of the dissolution of media coverage, I think it is useful to Scrip tures will give them the suste - the identity established by the Coun - present some of the characteristics of nance for affirming their dignity and cil of Trent and the need for a clear this other face, the critical “other” with - worth, as well as their right to fight common identity for all. Their stra - in the church that falls into the cate - together for a better life. Poverty is con - tegy is to proceed with the reforms gory of Libanio’s pluralist-commit - sidered the product of a social struc- of Vatican II in the fashion of the ment tendency. ture, and there fore this is Council of Trent; that is, to develop critical of that struc ture which makes a compact, simple message and re - it possible for a few to have so much sort to ecclesiastical authority as the while millions and millions live in des - main unifying factor. titution. Liberation theologians have d) The tendency of pluralism and In 1971, Peruvian theologian Gustavo criticized those ideologies that justify commitment strives for a more dia - Gutiérrez published his Teología de la this inequality, in cluding the use of religious symbols . Berryman describes this theology With the exception of a minimal start ing from three points: the inter - opening between 1969 and 1971, motivated pretation of Christian faith through suffering, the struggle and the hope of by the cruel events of October 1968, Mexico’s Catholic the poor; a critique of society and the hierarchy has been a faithful follower ideologies that support it; and a cri - of the Vatican line. ti que of Church activity and that of Chris tians from the point of view of the poor. At the same time it is a new in - ter pretation of the meaning of Chris - lectical, historical and dynamic Liberación (Liberation Theology) in tianity and the recovery of a prophetic Ca tholic identity that would be which he summarized the tendencies tradition found in the Bible. 3 built through commitment and and orientations derived from the sec - pluralism in today’s , ond and third Latin American Bis hops’ in the spirit of the Latin American Conferences ( CELAM ). They ori ginated ECCLESIASTIC BASE COMMUNITIES Conferences of Medellín, in documents that came out of the Co lom bia (1968) and , Mex - Va tican Council II, such as Lumen One of the main movements inspired ico (1979). 1 Gen tium and the pastoral in this conception of faith and of the Gau dium et Spes , which redefine the church is that of the ecclesiastic base In general, the Mexican Catholic church as the “people of God” and pro - communities ( CEB ), which arose inside Church continues to be vertical, cen - mote the active participation of lay the Catholic Church in the late 1960s tralized, hierarchical and conservative. peo ple in the world. The Latin Amer - in the turbulent context of that time: With the exception of a minimal open - ica bishops effected their own reading stagnation and crisis of national eco no - ing between 1969 and 1971, motivated of Vatican II from the point of view of mies, emergence and consolidation of by the cruel events of October 1968, 2 the Latin American situation, leading authoritarian and regimes, par - Mexico’s Catholic hierarchy has been to the second Latin American Bishops’ ticularly in the Southern Cone of the a faithful follower of the Vatican line. Con ference in Medellín, Americas, and the emergence of new This can be ex plained by relations be - in 1968. social theories like dependency theo - tween church and state in the last two Liberation theology interprets Chris - ry. The CEB s’ novelty consisted in their centuries in Mexico. tian faith from the point of view of the ability to mobilize and their redefini -

20 Politics

tion of religious faith from the pers pec - and idealistic; sometimes, they were a In January 1979, in the framework tive of poor people when surrounded mere inventory of proposals. They did of CELAM III in Puebla, attended by by an ethos that for decades had sought not integrate fully into the popular mov e - Pope John Paul II on his first visit to to reproduce and maintain the estab - ment and action was centered main - Mexico, the CEB s analyzed the road they lished order. ly on thinking about council documents had travelled since 1968 and took advan - The CEB s define themselves as com - and on courses and workshops about tage of the opportunity to meet and munities because of their lifestyle. the lay people’s apostolate, the church dialogue with theologians and bishops Usually, each CEB is made up of 10 to as missionary and the situation of the from other parts of the hemisphere. The 15 people who meet once or twice a church in today’s world. Document of Puebla that came out of week to discuss their problems and solve In 1973 the working method changed the meeting took on board and fol - them according to the Gospel. Each to using the needs of the grassroots com - lowed the general orientation of what has a coordinator whose function is to munity as its starting point, begin ning had been said in Medellín, confirming preside over celebrations, moderate group a liberating Biblical reflection and af - the CEB s in their work. A year later, in member participation and foster dis - firming that faith should lead to a cri - March 1980, some members of the cussion. Their conception of religion tique of social reality. The groups were Mex ican communities participated in is not divorced from the transformation of the world and for that, they use a me th odology known as “see-judge-act”: One of the main movements inspired in “see” the people’s situation and identi - Liberation Theology is that of the ecclesiastic fy both social and ecclesiastic projects base communities, which arose inside the and practices; “judge” and think about the kind of society the members want Catholic Church in the late 1960s in the in both socio-political and Biblical-theo - turbulent context of that time. logical terms; and, finally, “act,” that is, implement stra tegies for organized action in the construction of a more just order of things. 4 better organized and the communities the hemisphere-wide meeting of CEB s Mexico’s first CEB appeared in 1967 began to grow, particularly in those in Redonda, Brazil. in Cuernavaca with Fathers Rolland dioceses in which they had support and Genoel, and the Mov ement for a from the bishops. CEB members stud - Better World ( MUMM ), led by Father ied the relationship of faith to political GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION Orozco, promoted them. In 1968, the commitment, critically read the Mex - OF THE CEB s MUMM coordinated different meetings ican bishops’ letter called El cristiano to turn the parish into a true Christian ante las opciones sociales y políticas (The CEB s are not evenly distributed in all of community. The following year saw the Social and Political Options Facing Chris - Mexico. The states with the largest first national meeting of CEB s. Many tians) and discussed attitudes contrary number of these groups have dioceses of these communities were born linked to the Gospel in society and politics. whose pastoral activity is different from to the Biblical movement and other From the methodological point of view, most, dioceses, with a critical perspec - kinds of groups that did not have the they advanced somewhat by discover - tive, more open to social issues. It was same orientation as the CEB s. At the end ing that their methods for ana lyzing the in that they appeared first, with of 1969, a first national meeting of Mex - world had to be consistent with th e kind the complete support of Monseigneur ican theologians was held where par - of society they aspired to. In those years, Sergio Méndez Arceo (1907-1992), one ticipants promoted the need to create new analytical methodologies were de - of the most important figures in the new secular movements like the CEB s. v eloped and communica tion with a com - current called “the Church of the poor.” In the first stage, 5 the analysis the munity, educational and popular per - For 20 of the 30 years of his bishopric, CEB s had of the situation was often naive spective was strongly promoted. from 1963 to 1983, he acted with a li -

21 Voices of Mexico • 56

be ration theology perspective. In 1983, García, of San Cristóbal de las clearly show up Prigione’s intentions. when he retired because of age, he Casas, stand out. Both Lona and Ruiz Years later, amidst a shower of nega tive found ed the Óscar Arnulfo Romero labored in the framework of pastoral opinions, Prigione was removed by the So lidarity Committee to continue his activity open to political, economic and . In accordance with cano n - work with the peoples of Central Amer - social dimensions, and their lives were ical law, resigned his dio - ica, an outstanding feature of his years often threatened or directly endangered, cese when he turned 75 in 1999. as bishop. With his death in 1992, lib - as were those of the people who worked In the 1990s, after the fall of the eration theology lost one of its main de - with them. Berlin Wall and the collapse of the re- fenders and an individual with an ex - Don Samuel Ruiz came into na tio n - gimes of so-called “real socialism” many tremely high international public profile. al and international public view with groups went into crisis, particularly after Other areas of the country with a high the January 1994 events of the Chia pas Brazilian theologian Leo nardo Boff left concentration of communities is Vera - Highlands, but his work dates back to the priesthood. 6 These events shat - cruz, particularly the region called La 1960 when he was named bishop of tered and dispersed the communities Huasteca, the industrial area of La La - the San Cristóbal diocese. Two years in Mexico, but they did not disappear guna (Torreón, Coahuila and Gómez after his arrival, he initiated an ambi - completely. In 1992, at their fourteenth national meeting, the communities es - timated that there were 10,000 CEB s At the end of the 1980s, nongovernmental nationwide, located in 40 of the coun - organizations began to multiply nationwide and became try’s dioceses. an alternative space for creative participation for

many Christians who wanted a more active THE EMERGENCE OF NGO s commitment to the oppre ssed groups of society. At the end of the 1980s, nongovern - mental organizations began to multi - ply nationwide and became an alter - Palacio, ) and , par - tious program to train indigenous peo - native space for creative participation ticularly the Tara hu mara Mountains, ple as catechists. He started schools for many Christians who wanted to because of encouragement from its bish - and ensured that his was one of the experience their faith as part of a more op, Mon seig neur Llaguno, who par ti - first dioceses to ordain indigenous dea - active commitment to the oppre ssed cularly fostered pastoral activity among cons. In 1974 he organized the Indige - groups of society. the indigenous people there. I should nous Congress, atten ded by 2,000 in - Many civic human rights organiza - also mention Monseigneur Talamás, digenous delegates representing the tions have been created because of a bishop of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, just under 400,000 indigenous people concern about justice and the justice and Mon seigneur Robalo, former bish - living in the state of . In gen - system in Mexico. The decline in liv - op of , as some of the few who eral, his work is widely recognized. ing standards has meant that the fight supported liberation theology and the In 1993, papal nuncio Girolamo Pri - for justice has been taken up by civic CEB s. The dioceses of the southern gione organized a campaign to promote associations committed to the de fen se Pa cific area ( and Chiapas) de - Samuel Ruiz’s removal arguing, among of human rights like equality before serve special mention: for some years other things, “deviations in doctrine.” the law, security, individual liberties, they were the site of important church In the midst of that campaign came freedom of association, etc. Several dio - activity, growing participation with an the of January 1994, ceses throughout the country —par - orientation to social commitment and after which Ruiz be came an important ticularly in the more conflict-ridden re - non-traditional positions. Here, figures mediator between the indigenous and gions— have human rights centers. This like the bishop of Te huantepec, Mon - the federal government. This did not is the case of the dioceses of Tehuan - seigneur Arturo Lona, and Samuel Ruiz stop the ecclesiastic dispute, but it did tepec and San Cristóbal de las Casas.

22 Politics

Some parishes, like San Pedro Mártir nization of the conference than for - México de hoy (Mexico City: Universidad Ibero - americana, 2000), pp. 134-135. in the outskirts of Mexico City, have a merly, making it difficult for the bishops high level of participation and their to present a position that more faith - 2 Miguel Concha Malo et al., La participación de own human rights center. Others are fully represented their own. The Santo los cristianos en el proceso de liberación popu lar not located directly in parishes or dio - Domingo document reaffirmed the pre - (Mexico City: Siglo XXI , 1986), pp. 91-96. ceses but do belong to religious con - ferential , but not 3 gregations from where they carry out with the vigor of previous documents: Phillip Berryman, Teología de la Liberación (Mexico City: Siglo XXI , 1989), p. 11. defense and promotion of these rights. there are fewer allusions to social issues

This is the case of the Jesuit Miguel than in the Medellín and Puebla doc - 4 Comisión de Análisis de la Biblia y Teología de Agustín Pro Center and the Domi ni - uments, and the language to deal with las CEB , CEB y compromiso político (Mexico can Fray Domingo Vitoria Center, both the ones that are mention has been City: n. p., 1988), pp. 8-12. in Mexico City. modified. 5 See Miguel Concha Malo et al., op. cit., In the 1990s, the most visible CEB The CEB s do not act together as a pp. 225-247. participation was in solidarity move - compact movement. Rather, they are ments and activities at different spe - linked to communities or networks that 6 In 1985, Franciscan theologian Leonardo Boff cific political moments like during the agree on certain values contained in published Iglesia: carisma y poder (Church: Xi’Nich March 7 and the “Exodus for the spirit that founded them. Charisma and Power) (Salamanca, España: Editorial Sígueme), in which he questioned .” 8 These were mo ments and We can conclude that liberation the - matters such as the infallibility of the pope. spaces in which Chris tians, CEB mem - ology and the CEB s in Mexico are not Boff was ordered to abstain from writing or bers committed to grassroots causes, as visible as they were in the 1970s; giving lectures for a year and, in exemplary together with other groups, have de- although their participation, such as fashion —surprising even church authorities— he obeyed the order. Church authorities lifted manded justice in matters of human in the cases of the Xi’Nich March and the prohibition before the year was up, but the rights and democracy. the “Exodus for Demo cracy,” has been relationship continued to be tense until Boff picked up by the me dia, in general they finally left the priesthood in 1992. receive less and less coverage in both 7 The 1994 Xi’Nich March began in Palenque, SOME FINAL CONSIDERATIONS secular and religious media. Never - Chiapas, and culminated at the Our Lady of theless, some events show how the pre - Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City. Indige - Liberation theology and the CEB s have ferential option for the poor —which nous people and their organizations from Chia - been minority and marginal but very implies a more horizontal, collegiate pas demanded the freedom of unjustly jailed vibrant movements. Some priests, re - vision of ecclesiastic relations— con - prisoners, the implementation of promised pu - blic works projects and the return to the com - li gious and lay persons have given their tinues to be alive and well among some munities of money that had been “lost” by lives or been subject to harassment and groups. In the last few years —side - local mayors. After the march, the Xi’Nich Or - violation of their basic rights as they stepping the old so cial-analytical cate - ganization was formed. This group was de co - rated by the French government in De cember have supported grassroots struggles, gories— religious congregations and 1999 for its human rights defense work and 9 as is the case of Bishop Samuel Ruiz. other groups have founded many civic its support for other sectors of the Chiapas The last Latin American Bishops organizations from which people are social movement. Conference held in Santo Domingo, trying to struggle for the creation of a Dominican Republic, in 1992, was th e less unjust world. 8 In March 1999, an estimated 15,000 Party of the Democratic Revolution activists began the scene of a battle to maintain the spir - “Exodus for Democracy,” a march from the Gulf it of the decisions of Medellín and state of Tabasco to Mexico City to demand Pue bla. It was not an easy battle, sin - NOTES honest elections and the investigation of the ce large sectors of the church distrust murder of Aurelio Peñalosa by the Federal Electoral Tribunal and then-President Ernesto liberation theology’s doctrinal propos - 1 Juan Bautista Libanio, La vuelta a la gran dis - Zedillo. als. The new balance of forces —with ciplina (Buenos Aires: Ediciones Paulinas, the presence of more conservative sec - 1986) as quoted in José de Jesús Legorreta, 9 For a more detailed description, see Miguel tors— made for a more centralist orga - comp., La Iglesia católica y la política en el Concha Malo, op. cit., p. 158 onward.

23