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Marcelo Gabriel Magne, Dios está con los pobres.

El Movimiento de Sacerdotes para el


Tercer Mundo (Buenos Aires: Imago Mundi, 2004)

Introduction

pp. 11-16

In a church intrinsically allied with governmental and military powers, supporting the
authority of the crown/oppressive state and legitimising social order, voices within the same
church challenged this role and sought to support the oppressed
 First in the period of conquest, against abusive power, injustice and exploitation of
indigenous – Antonio de Montesinos, Bartolomé de las Casas, Antonio de Valdivieso,
Antonio San Miguel, Juan del Valle, Luis Beltrán and Antonio de Vieyra
 Then in the independence struggles, rebelling against church’s support of Spanish
dominion but also challenging the creole class’ exploitation of indigenous peoples –
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and José María Morelos
 Finally, in the second half of the 20th century, with an interpretation of liberation
struggles in Latin America, opting for the exploited an doppressed – MSTM, Onis
(Peru), Movimiento para la Reflexión Sacerdotal (Ecuador), Golconda (Colombia),
Grupos Camillistas (Colombia and Venezuela), Movimiento Populorum Progressio
(Panamá), Éxodo (Costa Rica), Gostegua (C. America) and Sacerdotes por el Pueblo
de México

Priest movements sought to construct ‘a Church put at the service of the poor’

Radicalised priest movements – ‘those priests that advocated the direct and open use of
human and material resources of the institution in order to promote a social change
directed to a form of democratic socialism; that consider the Gospel as a source of active
liberation of all the forms of oppression, be they political, economic, social, racial, cultural or
spiritual; that employ social analysis from Marxism; that reject capitalist reformism and
favour cooperation with popular non-Christian movements, including the secular left-wing
movements’ (p. 15)
 [does this definition hold with the MSTM – the Bs As group became far more
nationalist and less socialist or democratic, and more firmly rooted in the
church/confessional movements]

Renewal of Church thought


 Decision of John XXIII
 Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris provided a ‘motive for the Church to assume
concrete problems that the faithful suffered’
 Renewal continued with Paul VI

MSTM
 Emerged in context of church renewal and the authoritarianism of Onganía regime
o [this does not explain how and why Marxist analysis could be adopted]
p.18

Questions
 ‘What are the origins of tercermundista Catholic thought?’
 Why did the MSTM emerge before other Latin American priest movements?
 What was the MSTM’s organisational structure?

p.19

 What provoked the MSTM’s fracture?

Two parts
1) Origins of tercermundista thought
 Chapter 1: Crisis in the Church from end of 1940s to 1960s; emergence of ideas
that proposed need for profound changes in order to recover space, image and
credibility lost by the church; renewal which was continued in Populorum
Progressio, with social content
 Chapter 2: Argentinian Catholicism – what was the political thought of the
church?; Church driven by a hierarchy that strongly opposed renewal at start of
1960s but could not impede some important members taking up conciliar ideas
and reforms; conflicts initiated by conservative sectors and progressive sectors;
other sectors that helped to spread conciliar ideas (youth, union etc)

p.20

Council of Quilmes, attended by some bishops and 80 priests which made an


important step towards unity and organisation of renewing sectors
2) MSTM
 Chapter 3: In context of authoritarianism, post-conciliar Catholics were evolving
towards radicalised political positions
o [this formula of <Vat II + authoritarian regime = liberation theology> can
be disputed – other factors were important, such as changes within left
and nationalist sectors, increased autonomy of Catholics vis-à-vis the
institution etc]
Clear manifestation of advance of radicalised thought was MSTM – but why was
MSTM able to form before Medellín?
 Chapter 4: Organisational structure – horizontal, small and flexible structure;
constant and fluid interaction between different bodies; use of democratic
mechanisms of representation and participation

p.21

protagonistic role for diocesan groups which allowed full participation of the
grassroots; function of national encounters
 Chapter 5: Period of major political protagonism, 1969-1972 – deepening of
activity in context of new reality from Cordobazo; attacks on MSTM grew;
internal debates over Peronism increased: socialists, Peronists; Peronist
socialists; political independents

p.22

 Chapter 6: New political juncture from March 1973 – disappearance of clear


enemy; divisions deepened over Peronism; violence from 1974

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