Emmanuel
EUCHARIST: LIVING & EVANGELIZING
The Chilean Catholic Church:
Challenges and Hopes
by Robert S. Pelton, CSC
The experience of Chile’s Catholic Church reflects the hopefulness and renewal
envisioned by Vatican II as well as the present challenges facing a church and a
society which are changing.
Father Robert
S. Pelton is
professor
emeritus in
the theology
department of
Notre Dame
University and
the director of
Latin American/
North American
Church
Concerns.
Having celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council,
it now seems appropriate to review both Chile’s early response to
Vatican II and how well it is currently living out the council. Perhaps, it
is time to once again ask the famous question posed by then-Father,
now Saint Alberto Hurtado (1901-1952) in his 1941 book Is Chile a
Catholic Country?
Historically, the Latin American Catholic Church responded quicker
and more vigorously in its efforts to reconfigure itself in the light of
Vatican II than either its European or North American counterparts,
and CELAM (the Conference of Latin American Bishops) has, from
the very first, been in the vanguard of innovations despite internal
differences of opinion about how best to live out the council.1
Chile’s Past Experience
Even when compared to Latin America as a whole, the Chilean church
was often a leader. Indeed, Chile anticipated Vatican II as well as
responded to it. By the early 1950s, a sizeable percentage of Chilean
bishops, priests, and progressive lay Catholics had already developed
an acute awareness of social and economic injustices and the impact
those injustices were inflicting on a majority of the Chilean people.
Seeing such injustices as a failure to follow Jesus Christ’s teachings,
they responded with many challenging pastoral letters, the
beginnings of major land reform initiatives, and the election of the
Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei to the presidency of Chile, among
other responses.
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