RECENT BOOKS
Resurgent Voices in Latin America: Indigenous Peoples, Political Mobilization, and Religious Change (Rutgers, 2004)
Eric Patterson, Latin America's Neo-Reformation: Religion's
Influence on Contemporary Politics (Routledge, late
2004)
David Tombs, Latin American Liberation Theology (Brill,
2002)
The Theological Studies reviewer
called the book by Tombs, a lecturer in Reconciliation
Studies
at Trinity
College Dublin, "a significant contribution."
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Visit
our Companion Website
This site reflects heightened contemporary interest in Bartolomé de
Las Casas. It provides information, research, and analysis
of the life and writings of the person who has become a symbol
of justice and human rights in Latin America and elsewhere.
http://www.lascasas.org
The Base Christian Communities Are Doing Well, Thank You
Robert Pelton (University of Notre Dame) Responds
To Recent Article in National Catholic Reporter
The series “Latin America: A Search for the Future” is
an important contribution toward appreciating both the reality
of Latin America and the challenges it faces. However, the
headline for the article “Base Communities, One Hope
of Church, Now in Disarray” (NCR, Nov.12) is confusing
when compared with the research published recently by Luis
Gomez de Souza, the Executive Director of CERIS, a research
center in Rio de Janeiro that has been in existence since 1962.
In his recent book, Do Vaticano II a um novo Concílio? (From
the Second Vatican Council to a New Council?), published
by Loyola Press, Sao Paulo, 2004, Dom Luis states: “The
CEBs continue to play an active role in society, from assistential
activities to mobilizations and involvement in associations,
syndicates, and parties as well as in national campaigns.”
NCR’s researchers would be well-advised to consult this
extensive study of Brazilian CEBs and municipal councils (p.147).
Clearly, the CEBs continue to be a vital work in Progress.
Is
Evangelical Growth Leveling Off?
And Other Issues
As the national censuses and polls from the
early part of the millennium
are reported, several aspects of religion in key countries have become
clearer.
1. The increase of evangelicals appeared to
have peaked in two of the
three countries most talked about when dealing with evangelical growth:
Guatemala: the SEPAL and CID-Gallup polls show
virtually no growth since
the early 1990s. The percentage of evangelicals remains at about 25 per
cent of the national population.
Chile: Carla Lehmann of el Centro de Estudios
Públicos (2001) believes
that the national percentage of evangelicos has stabilized at 15 per cent
in her country.
2. Apostacy among evangelicals is extraordinarily
high. See “Shopping
Around” article (below).
3. Lack of regular attendance among evangelicals
has been a problem in
some countries for years. In 1991 less than half of evangelicals (most of
whom are Pentecostals in Chile) attended church weekly. Further, lack of
regular attendance among Chilean evangelicals increased to 38 per cent in
1998.
4. The category of no religion is growing in
Latin America. Polls in
Guatemala since 1990 have showed about 12 per cent of citizens saying
they have no religious affiliation. Kurt Bowen’s study of evangelicals
in
Mexico found that 43 per cent of second-generation of evangelicals no
longer claimed any religious affiliation. The recent census of Brazil
also pointed out large increases in this category.
For sources: see “Shopping Around” (below)
