Filling the Gaps in Civil Society The Role of the Catholic Church in Latin American Democratization

Authors

John Thiede, Marquette UniversityFollow
Matthew Carnes, Georgetown University

Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Publication Date

2018

Publisher

Creighton University

Source Publication

Journal of Religion & Society

Source ISSN

1522-5658

Abstract

In this paper, we seek to draw lessons about the roles that religious institutions can play in promoting democracy in deeply divided societies by examining the experience of the Catholic Church in Latin America. We focus on the cases of Chile and El Salvador, two countries where the Catholic Church played a decisive role in advancing democracy after autocratic military rule. These two cases illustrate where theology and action productively promoted social change in highly conflictual societies. We note challenges to democracy in the region, but also new opportunities in the era of the first Latin American pope, Francis.

Comments

Published version. Journal of Religion & Society, Vol. 20, (2018). Publisher link.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Thiede, John and Carnes, Matthew, "Filling the Gaps in Civil Society The Role of the Catholic Church in Latin American Democratization" (2018). Theology Faculty Research and Publications. 753.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/theo_fac/753