Word: medellin
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...movement is rooted in the liberalization of the Latin hierarchy that followed the Second Vatican Council's emphasis on the need of the church to play a more active role in social and economic life. It was given added thrust by the 1968 CELAM in Medellin, Colombia, when the bishops overwhelmingly denounced the "institutionalized violence" of various Latin American governments. Since then, many supporters of the comunidades have enthusiastically adopted the language and goals of the "theology of liberation," a peculiar blend of Marxian economic analysis and Gospel imperatives, best articulated by Peruvian Priest Gustavo Gutierrez in the early...
...delicate balance that discouraged many progressives by its ambiguity. A source of more distress was Colombian Bishop Alfonso López Trujillo, the CELAM secretary general who reportedly had received Vatican approval to stack the group with conservatives to avoid a reprise of the 1968 CELAM II in Medellin, Colombia. There, a liberal minority pushed through strong documents that inspired the Marxist-tinged "theology of liberation." Since the Puebla statement does not condemn liberation theology−or even mention it by name−progressives felt relieved. Pope John Paul was described by aides as "delighted" with the document. Said CELAM...
...Unexpectedly, the bishops gave a vote of confidence to the comunidades de base, or grass-roots base communities, that have sprung up across Latin America since Medellin. Most comunidades number less than 20 Christians, who meet privately and often clandestinely to talk out social and economic problems as well as religious issues. There are as many as 150,000 such communities, most of them in Brazil. Despite some tension between the lay-centered comunidades and the traditional church hierarchy, the bishops acknowledged that "the faith of Christ has flourished" in them...
...Vatican, liberation theology went too far, as did Medellin, where, it decided, a liberal minority had steamrollered its ideas past an apathetic majority. In 1972 Vatican officials favored the CELAM board's selection of auxiliary Bishop Alfonso López Trujillo from the staunchly conservative Colombian hierarchy as secretary-general, or top staff executive. López Trujillo is a firm, shrewd anti-Marxist who once declared, "I don't believe that in Latin America Marxism has any possibilities. Nor does a capitalism that turns its back on mankind." He is a foe of liberation theology and apparently...
...bishops a "preparatory document" for the current meeting. It contained only tepid criticism of militarism and of violence aimed at priests. The poor were offered "the happiness of the [spiritual] kingdom of which no human sorrow can deprive them." Outraged liberals charged that a campaign was afoot to "betray" Medellin. Brazil's bishops took the lead in attacking the document; a new, somewhat less conservative version was subsequently prepared. The Brazilians also rebuffed two top officials of the Vatican's Justice and Peace Commission who made a quiet trip to persuade them to mute political statements at CELAM...