Marxism in the Emergence and Fragmentation of Liberationist Christianity in Argentina

Abstract

Studies of liberationist Christianity in Argentina have largely explained its emergence with reference to changes or continuities within the Catholic Church. This article instead analyses firstly how Marxist humanism, dependency theory and left nationalism shaped a rapprochement with Christianity in the 1960s, with Peronism often functioning as an intermediary. Moreover, it demonstrates the ways in which the ongoing ambivalent relationship between Marxism and the liberationist Christian movement in Argentina manifested in the fragmentation of the Movimiento de Sacerdotes para el Tercer Mundo (Movement of Priests for the Third World) in the first half of the 1970s. In doing so, it identifies Marxism not as merely a passive repository of ideas but as an active agent in liberationist Christianity's development, and adds a new layer of understanding of the dynamics and fragmentation of the movement.

The concept of shared development from the perspective of Marxist anthropological thought

“…To fully implement shared development, we must start from "realizing", "developing" and "safeguarding" the fundamental interests of the broadest number of people, and put the value of "people-oriented" into practice. The value orientation of "people-centeredness" must be carried through the whole process of social development and the whole process of social development practice [10].…”