In 1964 the Catholic Inter-American Cooperation Program (CICOP), described as “basically religio-social; certainly . . . not political,” held a conference of some 1,500 participants at Chicago. Those present included leaders of the Catholic clergy and laity of the United States and Latin America as well as Protestant observers. This book is made up of extracts from the papers and discussions of this meeting, all skillfully edited by Father Considine. It fairly brims with information and viewpoints not easily found elsewhere. Among the topics discussed are the historical background of the present position of the Church in Latin America (a section rendered especially valuable by the insights of Doctor Joseph A. Gagliano); the role of the Church in a revolutionary environment; its functions in economic planning and the overall material development of Latin America; the Catholic educational structure; the proper attitudes for one attempting to do apostolic work in Latin America; and the place of the laity in helping the Church to work toward reform and social change.
As is proper and inevitable, the work reflects divergencies of opinion. Bishop Mark G. McGrath of Panama speaks persuasively of the need to appreciate the past role of the Church in the history of Latin America, and yet some of the contributors, among them Monsignor Joseph Gremillion and Doctor Sergio Ossa, give the impression that only in the most recent years has the Church begun to play a genuinely creditable role. Doctor Aristides Calvani Silva observes eloquently that one of the secrets of success of a priest who “goes overseas for the Gospel” is his readiness to adapt himself to the culture of the people among whom he labors; yet even some of the Latin American churchmen quoted in the present work seem to have little respect for the historical culture of their lands, judging from the glib and facile generalities they make about the need for total, instantaneous revolutionary change. Father Renato Poblete observes that there now exists a pluralistic society in Latin America and adds: “Today the key to planning is the recognition that the Church occupies a position of minority status.. . . The Church has to try to slow down the expansion of its Catholic institutions and to penetrate other structures and collaborate with them as much as possible, giving to them a Christian spirit.” For other discussants the role which Father Poblete is willing to accept for the . Church may not be sufficiently powerful.
Three fundamental questions raised by this book are these: Is it really true that Catholicism cannot flourish in Latin America unless the area acquires virtually overnight a degree of widely shared material affluence which may require the most remarkable economic revolution in the history of the world? Are the well-intentioned Church spokesmen who advocate social justice sufficiently aware of the economic problems involved? Are they justified when they tend to side exclusively with the proletariat and ignore the extent to which many members of Latin America’s affluent classes have come to accept the need for reform?
