Latin American Catholicism in an Age of Religious and Political Pluralism: A Framework for Analysis

Abstract

This article identifies and proposes a framework to explain the responses of Latin America's Roman Catholic churches to a new strategic dilemma posed by religious and political pluralism. Because the church's goals of defending institutional interests, evangelizing, promoting public morality, and grounding public policy in Catholic social teaching cut across existing political cleavages, Church leaders must make strategic choices about which to emphasize in their messages to the faithful, investment of pastoral resources, and alliances. I develop a typology of Episcopal responses based on the cases of Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico, and explain strategic choices by the church's capacity to mobilize civil society, its degree of religious hegemony, and the ideological orientations of Catholics. The analysis draws from 620 Episcopal documents issued since 2000. RESUMEN Este artículo identifica y propone un marco para explicar las respuestas de las Iglesias Católicas latinoamericanas a un nuevo dilema estratégico que plantea el pluralismo religioso y político. Puesto que las metas eclesiásticas de defender los intereses institucionales, evangelizar, promover la moralidad pública y basar la política pública en las enseñanzas sociales católicas atraviesan los clivajes políticos existentes, los líderes de la Iglesia deben hacer elecciones estratégicas acerca de cuáles metas enfatizar en sus mensajes a los fieles, en sus inversiones de recursos pastorales y en sus alianzas. Desarrollo una tipología de respuestas episcopales basadas en los casos de Argentina, Chile, Brasil y México y explico las elecciones estratégicas de acuerdo con la capacidad de la Iglesia para movilizar a la sociedad civil, su grado de homogeneidad religiosa y las orientaciones ideológicas de los católicos. El análisis se basa en 620 documentos episcopales, emitidos desde 2000.

Religion and Politics in Nicaragua: What Difference Does A Revolution Make?

“…According to Hagopian (2008), the strategic dilemmas posed by religious and political pluralism in secular and democratic polities often leaves the Church relatively isolated, since most parties that are willing to defend the Church's institutional interests and preferred moral policies do not espouse economic policies consistent with its social justice agenda, and vice versa. The continuous flagrant violations of the secular state in the post-revolutionary period and the democracy-constraining limitations of political pluralism as a consequence of the infamous Ortega-Alemán pact of 2000, reduce the relevance and applicability of Hagopian's analytical framework for explaining the power relations between Church and State in the Nicaraguan case.…”

The relationship between religion and education in Brazil

“…Moreover, religion has proven to influence decisionmaking, self-esteem, academic performance and other issues. Resumo Levando em consideração a discussão sobre a relação entre religião e educação em um estado laico, e as possíveis consequências de tal relação para a sociedade (DUARTE e NETO, 2013;EMMERICK, 2010;HAGOPIAN, 2006;MENDONÇA, 1995), a presente pesquisa bibliográfica objetiva investigar possíveis efeitos da religião sobre a educação no Brasil. Para tais finalidades, foi conduzida uma revisão da literatura, resultando em 13 estudos.…”

“…So, the Church, as an institution, used education (and other means) as a vehicle to propagate its beliefs and it was also concerned with its own preservation and expansion (HAGOPIAN 2006;MAINWARING, 1986, SOUZA et. al., 2002.…”

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AbstractTaking into consideration a discussion on the relationship between religion and education in a laic country, and possible consequences of such relationship for society (DUARTE and NETO, 2013;EMMERICK, 2010;HAGOPIAN, 2006;MENDONÇA, 1995), this bibliographic paper aims at investigating possible effects or consequences of religion on education in Brazil. For such purposes, a literature review was conducted, resulting in 13 studies.

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“Ideologia de gênero”: notas para a genealogia de um pânico moral contemporâneo

“…Segundo Hagopian (2006), no Chile, em que a Igreja Católica opôs-se bravamente contra atos da ditadura de Pinochet, desde a redemocratização seus líderes se distanciaram da política, desencorajaram os chilenos de processarem os responsáveis por violações dos direitos humanos e apoiaram a "reconciliação nacional". Também se voltaram contra a aprovação do divórcio, em 2000, a regulação das escolas religiosas, a introdução da educação sexual, a distribuição de camisinhas para prevenir a contaminação pelo HIV assim como qualquer ampliação das leis em relação ao aborto.…”