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Authority in Church and Society: Latin American Models

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2009

Daniel H. Levine
Daniel H. Levine
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan
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Extract

This article examines the relationship between the Catholic Church's self- image and the way its leaders and organizations perceive the world around them and act within it. By focusing on the development of central religious concepts, (most notably ‘authority’ and ‘the Church’) and their changing expression in organizational structures and patterns of behavior, a first step is taken toward a more complete and adequate analysis of the Church's evolving role in Latin American society and politics.

Type
The Adaptability Of Religious Institutions
Information
Comparative Studies in Society and History , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , October 1978 , pp. 517 - 544
Copyright
Copyright © Society for the Comparative Study of Society and History 1978

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References

I am grateful to Brian Smith and Alexander Wilde for comments and criticisms

1 This process has been extensively documented in recent years. Two good general studies are Hebblethwaite, P., The Runaway Church (New York: Seabury Press, 1975)Google Scholar, and O'Dea, T., The Catholic Crisis (Boston: Beacon Press, 1968)Google Scholar. The Latin American scene has been surveyed, among others, by Levine, D., ‘Religion and Politics: Recent Works,’ Journal of Inter-American Studies and World Affairs, 16:4 (11. 1974), 497–507CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Smith, B., ‘Religion and Social Change: Classical Theories and New Formulations in the Context of Recent Developments in Latin America,’ Latin American Research Review, 10:2 (Summer, 1975), 3–34.Google Scholar

2 The specification of levels of action in the Church and the impact of their relations on the understanding of change is discussed extensively in Smith, , loc. cit.Google Scholar, Bruneau, T., ‘Power and Influence: Analysis of the Church in Latin America and the Case of Brazil,’ Latin American Research Review, 8:2 (Summer, 1973), 25–52Google Scholar, and in Vallier, I., ‘Comparitive Studies of Roman Catholicism: Dioceses as Strategic Units,’ Social Compass, 16:2 (1969), 147–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3 The major proponents of viewing change in terms of reponses to social threat have been Ivan Vallier and, in a different vein, Mutchler, David. Cf. Vallier, , Catholicism, Social Control, and Modernization in Latin America (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970)Google Scholar, and Mutchler, , The Church as a Political Factor in Latin America (New York: Praeger, 1971)Google Scholar. For a view that combines theological and ideological concerns with attention to external threat, see Levine, D. and Wilde, A., ‘The Catholic Church, ‘Polities’, and Violence: The Colombian Case.’ The Review of Politics, 39:2 (04 1977), 220–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

4 Daniel Berrigan chides many studies of the Church, stating that ‘What is most precious to us are the elements in our faith which sustain us, and those elements are very mysterious and very difficult to speak about. I often feel that to be asked what is essential to you in your faith is almost as delicate and secret a matter as to be asked what are the elements of a good marriage. And by the same token I am often appalled by the superficiality and the vulgarity of mind that is revealed in those discussions of ‘What Jesus means” and “what the Church means” and on and on.’ Coles, R. and Berrigan, D., The Geography of Faith (Boston: Beacon Press, 1971), p. 130.Google Scholar

5 This approach, grounded in the Weberian tradition, has been developed recently particularly in the works of anthropologists, most notably in Geertz' analyses of religion and ‘thick description.’ and in the studies of Cicourel and others on ethnomethodology (the methodology of everyday life). For Geertz see Islam Observed (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968)Google ScholarPubMed, and two essays in his The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973)Google ScholarPubMed: ‘Religion as a Cultural System’ (pp. 87–125)Google Scholar and ‘Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture’ (pp. 3–32)Google Scholar. A useful introduction to ethnomethodology is Turner, R., ed., Ethnomethodology: Selected Readings (Baltimore: Penguin, 1974)Google Scholar. A good statement of the perspective taken here is Forman, S., ‘The Significance of Participation: Peasants in the Politics of Brazil.’ in Booth, J. and Seligson, M., eds., Faces of Participation in Latin America (forthcoming)Google Scholar. See also Forman's comments on peasant religion in his The Brazilian Peasantry (New York: Columbia University Press, 1975), Ch. 6.Google Scholar

6 Berger, P., Berger, B., and Kellner, H., The Homeless Mind: Modernization and Consciousness (New York: Vintage Books, 1974), p. 18.Google Scholar

7 For a full discussion, see his ‘Religion …,’ esp. pp. 91–94.

8 Mich, I., ‘The Vanishing Clergyman,’ in Illich, , Celebration of Awareness (Garden City: Doubleday. 1970), p. 84.Google Scholar

9 For example, the Argentine Jose Miguez Bonino attributes much of the failure of revolutionary propaganda in Latin America to the impact of religion. Revolutionary groups, he argues, have not understood ‘…the depth to which Christianity—as a sociological entity—has penetrated and still moulds the Latin American consciousness, at a visceral level where theoretical, rational explanation fails to make an impact…. People “live” their economic and social alienation in a world of mythical representation which political ideology is not able to pierce.’ Bonino, Miguez, Christians and Marxists: The Mutual Challenge to Revolution (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Co., 1976). p. 26.Google Scholar

10 Peter Worsely makes this point well: ‘But religion, it ought to be said, is neither intrinsically conservative nor revolutionary. It can be infused with any kind of social content. notably political; there are both religions of the oppressed … and the kinds of religions that have been summed up in the label given to the Church of England as “The Conservative Party at prayer.” The relationship of religious beliefs, let alone movements and organizations, to the established power-system thus varies, and is not a matter for metaphysical pronouncement disguised as sociological generalization. It requires empirical investigation to see what the case is.’ ‘Introduction to the Second Edition: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations,’ The Trumpet Shall Sound (New York: Schocken Books, 1968), p. XXIX.Google ScholarPubMed

11 The most notable example of this process has been the development in Latin America of a ‘Liberation Theology,’ which has sought to refashion the symbols and concepts of Catholicism, placing them in the service of social and political change. The literature on Liberation Theology is enormous and still growing, but one very useful review remains Berryman, P., ‘Latin American Liberation Theology,’ Theological Studies, 34:3 (09. 1973), 357–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Other important sources are Gutierrez, G., A Theology of Liberation (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1973)Google Scholar, Dussel, E, History and the Theology of Liberation (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1976)Google Scholar, Geffre, C. and Gutierrez, G., eds., The Mystical and Political Dimensions of the Christian Faith (New York: Herder and Herder, 1974)Google Scholar, and Segundo, J. L., The Liberation of Theology (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1976).Google Scholar

12 De Tocqueville, A., Democracy in America, Vol. ll (New York: Schocken Books, 1961), p. 9.Google Scholar

13 In his discussion of the ‘Roman School,’ Sanks notes that here ‘…authority is the very foundation of the church…. In this mode, unity depends on subordination. There could be no unity unless all are properly subject to some authority–the people to their bishops, the bishops to the pope…. The authority did not depend on the ability of the truth to convince, but on the legal right of the bearers of authority to command. And so a great deal of time and energy was expended to show that these were the legal heirs who had validly and legitimately succeeded to the authority.’ Authority in the Church: A Study in Changing Paradigms (Missoula, MT: The Scholar's Press, 1974), pp. 111–13Google Scholar. See also Y. Congar's essay on the history of authority in the Church, ‘Le Développement historique de l‘autorite dans l'Eglise. Elements pour la reflexion chretienne,’ in Todd, J., ed., Prohlemes de L 'Autorité (Paris: Editions de Cerf, 1962), pp. 145–82Google Scholar, and the historical study by McKenzie, John. Authority in the Church (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1966).Google Scholar

14 McKenzie, , op. cil., p. 19.Google Scholar

15 The issue of authority has been the subject of extensive debate in the Church since the Vatican Council. In addition to the works cited above, see Dulles, A., Models of the Church (New York: Doubleday, 1974)Google Scholar, and Meissner, W. W., The Assault on Authority: Dialogue or Dilemma (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1971).Google Scholar

16 These are fully discussed in Dulles, , op. cil.Google Scholar, where five different models are elaborated: The Church as Institution, as Mystical Communion, as Sacrament, as Herald, and as Servant. The political implications of various models are explored, for Colombia, in Levine and Wilde, , loc. cit.Google Scholar

17 Sanks, T. H. and Smith, B., ‘Liberation Ecclesiology: Praxis, Theory, Praxis,’ Theological Studies, 38:1 (03 1977), 11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

18 This shift is part of a general move away from the paternal models and images long basic to the Church. In his work on ‘prophetic authority,’ Metz argues that the Church has confused religious authority with the authority of the father. In his view, a move away from patriarchal authority to the authority of witness underlies change in the church: ‘… one should not underestimate the change this implies for the norms of the ecclesiastical exercise of authority. It decisively brings the practical understanding of authority and church office to the Church's enduring witness and to the whole of the Church as a pilgrim people of God. The recent council emphasized this new view of authority in order to define the meaning and function of church leadership as testimony.’ Metz, J. B., ‘Prophetic Authority,’ in Moltmann, J., et al. , Religion and Political Society (New York: Harper & Row, 1974), p. 195.Google Scholar

19 This point is emphasized in Bonino, Miguez, op. cit.,Google Scholar and Miranda, J., Marx and the Bible: A Critique of the Philosophy of Repression (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1974).Google Scholar

20 Vekemans, R., ‘La Iglesia en el Proceso de Liberacion,’ Tierra Nueva (Bogota), 19 (09. 1976), 82. Vekemans speaks further of changes in the Latin American Church in terms of mundanizacion, politizacion, and praxeologizacion (i.e., overwhelming concern for the world, strong drive for political action, and emphasis on action, or ‘praxis,’ as the ultimate measure of validity).Google Scholar

21 In his analysis of New Testament concepts of authority, McKenzie highlights two themes: (1) authority is not central to Biblical discussions at all; and (2) in the final instance authority derives from the Holy Spirit and is given to the whole Church, not to its leaders alone. Cf. McKenzie, , op. cit., p. 58Google Scholar. See also Meissner, , op. cit., pp. 174 ff, for a discussion of multiple sources of authority in the church.Google Scholar

22 This view is expressed in various calls by laymen for institutions to express public opinion within the church in a permanent and effective manner. A good example from Colombia is Avila, R., Teologia, Evangelization, y Liberacion (Bogota: Ediciones Paulinas, 1973)Google Scholar, esp. ch. XII. Brian Smith's work in Chile shows the extent to which tensions have developed in the Chilean Church because those at the base (priests, nuns, and lay leaders) now have more responsibilities and a different ecclesiology from the bishops at the top. These differences come into conflict with traditional values in these areas. See his ‘The Catholic Church and Political Change in Chile, 1925–78’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1978).Google Scholar

23 See, for example, the excellent study by Poggi, G., Catholic Action in Italy (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1971).Google Scholar

24 One organizational expression of these models is the ‘base communities’ which have developed with particular vigor in Brazil and Chile. See Smith, B., ‘Liberation Theology and Base Communities’ (forthcoming) for a stimulating discussion of these groups in Chile.Google Scholar

25 Interview 80506. 17 Feb. 1972. As this passage indicates, religious education itself has become the subject of sharp debate in many Latin American countries, with controversy centering on attempts to develop ‘liberation’ catechisms, which refocus the catechism around issues of social analysis and social justice.

26 For the contemporary Church in Venezuela, see Levine, D., ‘Democracy and the Church in Venezuela,’ Journal of InterAmerican Studies and World Affairs, 18:1 (02. 1976)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, passim, and the sources cited there. On Colombia, useful sources include Mutchler, , op. cit.Google Scholar, Wilde, A., Politics and the Church in Colombia (Durham: Duke University Press, forthcoming, 1978)Google Scholar, and Levine and Wilde, , loc. cit.Google Scholar For a more complete comparative analysis, see Levine, D., ‘Church Elites in Venezuela and Colombia: Context, Background, and Beliefs,’ Latin American Research Review, (forthcoming, 14:1, Spring 1979).Google Scholar

27 The close ties of the Colombian Church to the Conservative Party are well known. A recent example is the attempt by a prominent Conservative politician to define the proper scope of religion in conservative political terms in Hurtado, E. Gómez, Respuestas (Bogota: Editorial Revista Colombiana Ltda.), 1971Google Scholar. Gómez Hurtado is the son of Laureano Gómez, the ultraconservative president of Colombia in the early 1950s, who sought, among other things, to rewrite the nation's constitution on more theocratic bases.

28 ‘Instruccion Sobre la Autoridad Episcopal,’ in Conferencias Episcopates de Colombia Tomo 11 (1954–1960) (Bogota: Editorial El Catolicismo), pp. 32–33.Google Scholar

29 Conferencia Episcopal de Colombia, La Iglesia Ante el Cambio (Bogota: Secretariado Permanente del Episcopado Colombiano, 1969), paragraphs 334–35, pp. 128–29.Google Scholar

30 Ibid., paragraph 340, p. 130.

31 In Venezuela, 22 interviews were conducted, with one refusal and three bishops unavail- able because of sickness or travel. Of those interviewed, three were auxiliary bishops, 14 were bishops, and five were archbishops. In Colombia, 38 interviews were completed, with six auxiliary bishops, 25 bishops, and seven archbishops. There were five refusals and three bishops unavailable because of sickness or travel. For all practical purposes, the interviews cover the entire group of bishops in each country, with the exception of prelates in charge of mission territories, who were excluded as they are almost entirely foreign.

* Percentages do not always sum to 100 because of rounding. This table displays all coded responses: up to three were coded for the questions dealing with the Vatican Council and changes in each Church, while up to two were coded for the question on the future.

32 Interview 60115, 19 Aug. 1971.

33 Interview 80123, 1 May 1972.

34 Several bishops felt that lay participation in the Church can be overdone. For example, one Venezuelan noted that, ‘On the other hand, in the promotion of the Lay Apostolate, although good in general, at times we have fallen into danger. Thus, many lay people, without preparation, consider themselves, in a position to direct the Church. Since now ‘we are all the Church’, and the ‘People of God’, and so forth, they begin to encroach on the field of the priestly ministry proper.’ Interview 60112, 9 Aug. 1971.

35 Interview 80139, 10 June 1972.

36 Interview 60118, 14 June 1971.

37 In this context, a small group of bishops (one in Venezuela and five in Colombia) sees the Church of the future as a minority, i.e., a group with greater awareness, training, and understanding of the faith. This, of course, runs counter to the traditional notions of the Catholic Church as embracing all who accept its sacraments, not only the highly prepared and motivated.

38 Interview 60130, 27–28 May 1971. * Parish Councils, Base Communities, Family Assemblies.

39 For a general discussion, see Floridi, A. and Stiefbold, F., The Uncertain Alliance: The Catholic Church and Labor in Latin America (Miami: Center for Advanced International Studies, 1973). esp. ch. 1Google Scholar. In addition, see Urrutia, M., The Development of the Colombian Labor Movement (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1969), part IV.Google Scholar

40 This pattern of combining semisecret leadership groups with open mass labor organizations is not unique to Colombia. For example, see the data on Catholic labor in Mexico, in Mabry, D., Mexico's Accion Nacional: A Catholic Alternative to Revolution (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1973), esp. ch. 2.Google Scholar

41 Interview 80509, 9 March 1972.

42 Interview 80510, 11 March 1972.

43 Interview 80512, 24 March 1972.

44 For details, see Levine, D., Conflict and Political Change in Venezuela (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973), ch. 4.Google Scholar

45 It is true that the Christian Democrats in Venezuela have a considerable youth wing, but this is a political and not a confessional group.

46 Interview 60509, 1 July 1971.

47 Ibid.

48 At the time of research, Valencia was larger in area, covering two states (Carabobo and Cojedes), but since then a separate diocese has been created out of its former territory to cover the state of Cojedes.

49 Useful studies of Manizales include Ocampo, J. F., Dominio de Clase en la Ciudad Colombiana (Bogota: Editorial La Oveja Negra, 1972)Google Scholar, and Drake, G., ‘Elites and Voluntary Associations: A Study of Community Power in Manizales, Colombia’ (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Wisconsin, 1970)Google Scholar. See also Parsons, J. J., Antioqueno Colonization in Western Colombia (Berkeley: University of California Press), 1968.Google Scholar

50 On Valencia, see Cannon, M., Fosler, R., and Witherspoon, R., Urban Government for Valencia, Venezuela (New York: Praeger, 1973).Google Scholar

51 Interview, 19 Aug. 1971.

52 Interview 60403, 8 June 1971, with officer of the Maryknoll order in Venezuela.

53 Interview 60320, 16 July 1973.

54 Msgr. Lebrun was promoted to Cardinal Archbishop of Caracas in 1972.

55 He resigned for reasons of age and health in 1975.

56 My fieldwork shows that this role, in which the priest acts as a local employment agent, is quite common in the parishes of both countries. Indeed one of the most common reasons people come to see bishops is to get letters of recommendation for jobs.

57 Interview 6 Aug. 1973

58 Interview 80326, 6 Aug. 1973.

59 Berger, P. and Luckmann, T., The Social Construction of Reality (New York: Anchor Books, 1967), p.97.Google Scholar

60 In a recent discussion of Marxism in American political science, Alfred G. Meyer stresses this point, noting that the very idea of ‘orthodox Marxism’ is a contradiction in terms, since its dependence on the dialectic presupposes a continual process of transformation and transcendence. Cf. Meyer, , ‘The Aufhebung of Marxism,’ Social Research, 43:2 (Summer. 1976), 199–219.Google Scholar

61 The emergence of ‘dependency theory’ as a framework for understanding the secular development of Latin America has had a profound effect on Liberation Theology, whose proponents have incorporated many of its key notions into their own analysis of Latin American society and the situation of the Church.

62 As Geertz has pointed out, when established visions of both society and religion are reworked, change is likely, but there is little concensus as to its proper scope, direction, and expression. Thus the legitimacy of both established and new patterns is thrown into question, as concepts and symbols no longer fit the societies in which they are lived out. Cf. Geertz, , Islam Observed, esp. pp. 102–3.Google Scholar

63 Yinger, J. M., The Scientific Study of Religion (New York: Macmillan. 1970), p. 2.Google Scholar