Politics and the Catholic Church in Nicaragua

Politics and the Catholic Church in Nicaragua PDF

Author: John M. Kirk

Publisher: Gainesville, Fla : University Press of Florida

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 9780813011387

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Guerrilla-priests and liberation theology are not new phenomena in Nicaragua. Ever since the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores, Catholic Church leaders have played a major role in that country's politics. The result, John Kirk writes, is a polarized church, one with a progressive minority at loggerheads with the conservative hierarchy. Kirk sets each stage of the church-state debate in a historical continuum, then examines the forty-year period of Somocismo and the Sandinista period (1979-90) that followed. This social revolution - blending nationalism, Marxism, and Catholicism - dared to be different, he claims, and accordingly it paid the price. Kirk wrote this book following three trips to Nicaragua during the 1980s, when he witnessed firsthand the social polarization occurring at the time. But the involvement of the Catholic Church in Nicaraguan politics is not exceptional, he says: "Most - if not all - religions are also encumbered with socio-political concerns that go beyond the essentially 'religious.'"

The Catholic Church and Politics in Nicaragua and Costa Rica

The Catholic Church and Politics in Nicaragua and Costa Rica PDF

Author: Philip J. Williams

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre

Published: 2010-11-23

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 0822975424

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Unlike most recent studies of the Catholic Church in Latin America, Philip J. Williams analyzes the Church in two very dissimilar political contexts-Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Despite the obvious differences, Williams argues that in both cases the Church has responded to social change in remarkably similar fashion. The efforts of progressive clergy to promote change in both countries have been largely blocked by Church hierarchy, fearful that such change will threaten the Church's influence in society.

The Catholic Church and Social Change in Nicaragua

The Catholic Church and Social Change in Nicaragua PDF

Author: Manzar Foroohar

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1989-06-13

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 9780887068652

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This book presents an in-depth, uniquely historical perspective on Nicaragua, focusing on the key role of the Catholic Church in the political, social, and religious issues that confront this country today. It examines the profound transformation of the Church via the radical approach of liberation theology and the development of the clergy’s socio-political alliances in Nicaragua. Foroohar’s analysis highlights the complex role of religion in politics and social change in Latin America.

Nicaragua's Other Revolution

Nicaragua's Other Revolution PDF

Author: Michael Dodson

Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press

Published: 2000-11-09

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 0807861065

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The 1979 rebellion in Nicaragua was the first in modern Latin America to be carried out with the active participation and support of Christians. Like all revolutions, the Nicaraguan Revolution has provoked controversy and hostility, and the Christian presence has been a focal point in the debate. In this work Michael Dodson and Laura Nuzzi O'Shaughnessy offer a detailed study of the religious sources of the revolution set against the backgound of the revolutionary traditions of the United States. Nicaragua's Other Revolution places the experience of the Nicaraguan Revolution in a historical framework that extends back to the Protestant Reformation and in an institutional framework that encompasses the whole of Nicaraguan politics. Examining the broad process of religious change, this work explores how that process interacted with the political struggles that culminated in the revolution. Dodson and O'Shaughnessy conclude that the religious values and attitudes arising out of postconciliar renewal in the church contributed powerfully to demands for revolutionary change in Nicaragua. In England and America the Protestant Reformation gave a tremendous boost to demands for democratic changes in society and politics. This work shows that something similar happened in Catholic Central America in the post-Medellin period. Changes in religious thought and action were part of, and served to reinforce and stimulate, a wider movement for social and political change. Without denying the importance of Marxism, the authors demonstrate that other important influences are at work there. Originally published in 1990. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

The Church and Revolution in Nicaragua

The Church and Revolution in Nicaragua PDF

Author: Laura Nuzzi O'Shaughnessy

Publisher: Ohio University Press

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 9780896801264

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This volume addresses the complex issue of the Christian response to the Nicaraguan revolution from a perspective generally sympathetic to the Sandinista's goals. Luis Serra, himself a Latin American who has worked with the peasantry, argues that the institutional Church has now become a major autonomous source of opposition to the revolution. Laura O'Shaughnessy, analyzing the years leading up to the 1979 revolution and through the Papal visit of 1983, argues that the Church heirarchy has mistrusted the revolution as a threat to its traditional authority. Both authors view the involvement of the progressive clergy in the revolution as the best way to keep the revolution "Christian," both as an institution and as "the people of God," in revolutionary times, and they ask if Church-state conflict is inevitable at the outset of a social revolution or if adaptation and accommodation are possible.

The Catholic Church and Power Politics in Latin America

The Catholic Church and Power Politics in Latin America PDF

Author: Emelio Betances

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9780742555051

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Click here to see a video interview with Emelio Betances. Click here to access the tables referenced in the book. Since the 1960s, the Catholic Church has acted as a mediator during social and political change in many Latin American countries, especially the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Although the Catholic clergy was called in during political crises in all five countries, the situation in the Dominican Republic was especially notable because the Church's role as mediator was eventually institutionalized. Because the Dominican state was persistently weak, the Church was able to secure the support of the Balaguer regime (1966-1978) and ensure social and political cohesion and stability. Emelio Betances analyzes the particular circumstances that allowed the Church in the Dominican Republic to accommodate the political and social establishment; the Church offered non-partisan political mediation, rebuilt its ties with the lower echelons of society, and responded to the challenges of the evangelical movement. The author's historical examination of church-state relations in the Dominican Republic leads to important regional comparisons that broaden our understanding of the Catholic Church in the whole of Latin America.

Religion and Political Conflict in Latin America

Religion and Political Conflict in Latin America PDF

Author: Daniel H. Levine

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2016-08-01

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1469615894

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The authors examine popular religion as a vital source of new values and experiences as well as a source of pressure for change in the church, political life, and the social order as a whole and deal with the issues of poverty and the role of the poor within the church and political structures. Exploring areas from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Chile, the authors analyze the transformation in popular religion and reevaluate the growth of grassroots organizations.

The Catholic Church and Social Change in Nicaragua

The Catholic Church and Social Change in Nicaragua PDF

Author: Manzar Foroohar

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 1989-06-13

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1438403038

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This book presents an in-depth, uniquely historical perspective on Nicaragua, focusing on the key role of the Catholic Church in the political, social, and religious issues that confront this country today. It examines the profound transformation of the Church via the radical approach of liberation theology and the development of the clergy's socio-political alliances in Nicaragua. Foroohar's analysis highlights the complex role of religion in politics and social change in Latin America.