The FSLN’s relationship with religion has always been contradictory
2018 Febrero Nicaragua
On November 29, 2017, President Ortega introduced a fast-track bill in the National Assembly to declare the festivities honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary’s...
A priest, a coop and a peasantry that regulates the elites
2017 Febrero Panamá
Which peasant cooperative in Central America is the strongest in trade? Which one is in charge of all stages of coffee processing—removing the pulp,...
Francis: Pastor... and Head of State
2016 Marzo México
The media and political show set up for Pope Francis’ visit to Mexico has ended. Now, his pointed, provocative, vindicating, inspiring and sometimes...
The Franciscan Left and ethical socialism
2016 Febrero Internacional
Where are we failing? is the title of a book coordinated by Jorge Riechmann, in which he reflects upon the reasons why the ecological discourse...
Words for changing course
2015 Julio Nicaragua
Social justice and national sovereignty were General Sandino’s rallying cries. Fifty years later, the Sandinista revolution added three more—political...
What influence will Pope Francis have on the Nicaraguan Church?
2014 Julio Nicaragua
Pope Francis is exercising a notable degree of leadership in global society. The influence he could have on the Catholic Church depends on a number...
The bishops’ document: A road map?
2014 Junio Nicaragua
When Archbishop of Managua Leopoldo Brenes returned to Nicaragua on March 4 after having been invested cardinal in Vatican City, we learned that, after...
In search of new horizons for a better Nicaragua
2014 Junio Nicaragua
Mr. President and Madam First Lady, on behalf of all my brother bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua, I thank you for the kindness you have...
The constitutional reforms will institutionalize Ortega’s total control
2013 Diciembre Nicaragua
With the Purísima (Immaculate Conception) festivities nearly upon us and a Christmas mood growing by the day as Managua is lit up by the thousands...
Why have the lights been turned off at the Archbishopric’s Legal Protection Office?
2013 Noviembre El Salvador
What did José Luis Escobar Alas, the archbishop of San Salvador, close off when he locked the door of the Archbishopric’s Legal Protection Office and...
Memories of a committed generation
2013 Junio Nicaragua
In early May, 800 nuns, mother superiors of their orders, met in Rome for the general assembly of the International Union of Mother Superiors. Pope...
Pope Francis: “A poor Church for the poor”
2013 Abril Internacional
Three days after being elected bishop of Rome and successor to St. Peter, the 76-year-old Francis—who even two weeks later hadn’t yet referred to himself...
Reflections from the “end of the world”
2013 Abril Nicaragua
The Latin American Left has come up with two widely opposing interpretations of the meaning of an Argentine cardinal of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s stripe...
The Third Horseman of Neoliberalism: The Neo-Pentecostals (part 5)
2012 Noviembre Centroamérica
The worship of managerialism and positive thinking and the consecration of the neoliberal postulates as a canon of common sense have not been the fruit...
“We could have a better country”
2012 Octubre Nicaragua
Mindful of having been called upon to be “co-workers in God’s service” (1 Corinthians 3:9) and “servants of Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:1) in proclaiming...
The third horseman of neoliberalism: The Neo-Pentecostals (part 4)
2012 Octubre Centroamérica
Half a century ago, Antonio Gramsci wrote that “religion must be approached not in the confessional sense but in the secular sense of a unity of faith...
The third horseman of neoliberalism: The Neo-Pentecostals (part 3)
2012 Septiembre Centroamérica
The last five decades have borne witness to how and how much the Catholic Church has lost its monopoly
in the Latin American religious market. In...
The legacy of a brilliant generation of bishops
2012 Julio Guatemala
Rodolfo Quezada Toruño, archbishop emeritus of Guatemala and cardinal of the Catholic Church, died on June 4 at 80 years old. With him a brilliant generation...
Fifty years after Vatican II: What are the challenges?
2012 Julio Internacional
Few people would be surprised to hear me say that the Second Vatican Council—which began 50 years ago this year—was the most important and positive event...
The third horseman of neoliberalism: The Neo-Pentecostals (part 2)
2012 Junio Centroamérica
The Neo-Pentecostals, the most inexperienced of the four neoliberal horsemen galloping over Central America, have the greatest worldly success, contrary...
Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to violence-torn Mexico
2012 Abril México
Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Mexico at the end of March can be divided into three phases: the preparatory stage, the visit itself and the post-visit...
The Jesuit case is an issue of justice, not of honor
2011 Octubre El Salvador
On May 30, Judge Eloy Velasco of Spain’s National High Court indicted* 20 members of El Salvador’s Armed Forces for the massacre of six Jesuit priests...
The case of the murdered Jesuits: An un-extraditable crime
2011 Septiembre El Salvador
Dictators use selective repressionas an instrument not so so much to eliminate someone deemed particularly dangerous, but rather for the psychological...
Is Ortega’s Project Christian? And What is the Church’s Project?
2011 Abril Nicaragua
On Sunday, March 20th, the great Belgian Catholic theologian José Comblin died in Brazil. He had worked for many years in Chile and Brazil and had visited...
Vatican vs. Maciel: The Legionaries Won
2011 Enero México
After poring through newspapers from March 2010 to early January 2011, consulting the official Vatican and Legion web pages, following up the writings...
The New Religious Identities
2010 Julio Internacional
Religion, in its free and creative flight, has evolved and taken on new forms that present authentic challenges to some, especially politicians and religious...
Portrait of Pentecostal Evangelicals
2010 Mayo Centroamérica
Evangelical Christianity is spreading all over Central America with surprising speed. In the past 40 years the number of Evangelicals increased exponentially...
Monsignor Romero’s Murder: Thirty Years of Impunity
2010 Abril El Salvador
In his homily of October 27, 1978, Monsignor Romero stated that “only justice can be the root of peace.” Nine months later, in June 1979, in light...
Pederast Marcel Maciel and His Partners in Crime
2010 Abril México
The Mexican Marcial Maciel was born in the Michoacan town of Cotija, in 1920. Twenty-one years later he founded the Legion of Christ. Its members call...
The Codes of Latin American Culture
2009 Noviembre América Latina
Like any other dimension of reality, the values that make up a society’s collective self-image need to be categorized to be analyzed. It is thus possible...
The Legion of Christ: A Rotten Fruit
2009 Junio México
During the whole of the Catholic Church’s bi-millennial history, organizations have emerged whose intention is to live more profoundly and spread the...
A Portrait in Grays of Nicaragua’s Catholic Church
2009 Mayo Nicaragua
I want to start with the Caribbean Coast, Nicaragua’s most extensive territory yet the one least known in the rest of the country, because it is there...
The Crisis of Religion In Christianity
2009 Marzo Internacional
Within Christianity the crisis of religion is reaching a climax in Europe, and has already reached a very high level in the Americas. And it’s a crisis...
Reforming the Vatican: What the Church Can Learn from Others
2008 Septiembre Internacional
Too often when someone proposes the reform of church structures, the reformer is attacked for borrowing from the secular political field, as if this...
Initial Statements by President-Elect Fernando Lugo
2008 Mayo América Latina
I’m Paraguayan. I’m not from the Left or the Right; I’m from Paraguay.
My ideology. Ideologically, I don’t identify with any leftist...
Youth Gangs and Religion: Links and Differences
2008 Mayo Nicaragua
Is there a relationship between youth gangs and religion? Between violence and religious experience? Between youth transgression of the established...
Interview with President-Elect Lugo A Change in Paraguay’s “Cathedral”
2008 Mayo América Latina
He’s 55 years old, and has the olive-colored complexion of Paraguay’s Guaraní people. He was born in San Solano, a tiny Paraguayan village in the San...
Who’s Defending Monsignor Romero?
2008 Enero El Salvador
In March 1983, Brazilian bishop Pedro Casaldaliga wrote in his diary, “There is no way I can understand it, or rather I understand it too well: the photograph...
Marxism, Post-Marxism, Liberation Theology (Part 1) Reflections for a Re-encounter
2008 Enero América Latina
Liberation Theology’s reinterpretation of Jesus’ message is a landmark in Latin American historical development. It destabilized the providentialist...
No Salvation Apart from the Poor
2007 Abril América Latina
Paul exclaimed: “Poor me! Who will save me from this mortal body?” Current times don’t lend them selves to this kind of question. We’re part of a civilization...
A Dramatic Change and A Cultural Tragedy
2006 Noviembre Nicaragua
On October l6, Nicaragua’s Catholic bishops, accompanied by the leaders of some evangelical denominations, held a march against abortion in the streets...
Interrupting Pregnancy: Deciding between Life and Life
2006 Junio Nicaragua
Abortion is a vital and controversial topic. It’s always important to include the religious perspective when we think, speak, debate and make proposals...
From John Paul II to Benedict XVI: Memories, Analyses, Fears and Hopes
2005 Mayo Internacional
Four days after John Paul II’s death, with the streets of Rome and St. Peter’s Square still teeming with people, I found myself in a meeting of Jesuits,...
Monsignor Romero’s Portrait In My Memory And in History
2005 Marzo Centroamérica
I went to El Salvador for the first time in 1981, barely a year after Monsignor Romero was assassinated. Almost everyone I spoke with had an interesting,...
The US god, Bush's God, Nicaragua's God: How Do They Differ?
2005 Enero Internacional
George W. Bush’s reelection revealed some of the pro-found political and cultural tensions that have marked the history of the United States and, more...
Poor or Impoverished? And How Do They Get That Way?
2004 Septiembre Internacional
The cultures we live in tend to make us believe that people are poor and impoverished for one of two reasons. Either it’s their own fault (they’re lazy...
Transforming the Idea of God Is an Urgent Task in Nicaragua
2004 Agosto Nicaragua
A Canadian sociologist has said that when he’s faced with a question that’s weighing him down and for which he can find no satisfactory answers, he...
Monsignor Virgilio: A Bishop Who Walked with the People
2004 Julio Honduras
In an event packed with humble people who had come from the surrounding hills and valleys, Monsignor Virgilio López Irías, of the Franciscan order, was...
The Corruption of Words
2004 Julio Nicaragua
The mood in the run-up to the celebrations of the 111th anniversary of the Liberal revolution (July 11) and the 25th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution...
From Conqueror State to Nation State Is from Resignation to Citizenship
2004 Mayo América Latina
In Nicaragua, our historic present could be characterized as a long, almost retarded present relative to our era’srhythm, since it covers at least...
“We Urgently Need a Secular State For the Sake of Women’s Health”
2003 Septiembre Nicaragua
What has happened to Nicaragua’s public policy related to quality of life, health and education, particularly for women, in recent years? To answer...
The Challenges of Bioethics: What the Different Religions Have to Say
2003 Agosto Nicaragua
We are increasingly accustomed to ethical questions related to issues such as in-vitro fertilization, clon ing or euthanasia, which can trigger passionate...
War Is a Defeat for Humanity
2003 Marzo Internacional
1. The world is currently experiencing the most serious situation since the end of the Cold War. The reason is President Bush’s threat to attack Iraq,...
The Religious Question and the Myth of the Army
2002 Diciembre Guatemala
On July 20, 1954, Archbishop Rosell believed he could still proudly say to those who had overthrown Jacobo Arbenz and put an end to the 1944 revolution...
Brazil: A Model Response to AIDS
2002 Septiembre Internacional
Since 1849, when a cholera epidemic decimated London’s population and Dr. John Snow discovered that most victims had drunk water from a source on Broad...
500 Years after the First Mass: A Demobilizing Celebration
2002 Septiembre Honduras
On August 14, Honduras commemorated the 500th anniversary of the first mass celebrated by Spanish conquistadors on the mainland of the Americas, at a...
Reflections on the Canonization of Central America’s First Saint
2002 Septiembre Guatemala
Pope John Paul II’s third visit to Guatemala was the antithesis of his first, in 1983, at least on one very polemical issue.
The death penalty,...
Gerardi Case: Justice for a Just Man
2001 Junio Guatemala
Justice for a just man was the motto at the commemoration of the third anniversary of the murder of 75-year-old Bishop Juan Gerardi, held on April 26-28....
A Portrait in Pastels of Honduras’ New Cardinal
2001 Enero Honduras
The news, previously only an unbelievable rumored possibility, reached Honduras on Sunday, January 21: at noon, the hour of the Angelus, the Pope had...
The Option of Abortion: Urgent Reflections
2000 Agosto Centroamérica
Dear brother: I have often heard you addressing pastoral letters, exhortations and homilies to women, calling us "dear sisters." This provides me with...
Monsignor Romero: Impunity in a Still-Open Case
2000 Marzo El Salvador
The events recounted here are based largely on the conclusions of the investigation the United Nations carried out through the Truth Commission for El...
The Subversive Memory Of a Country’s Martyrs
1999 Diciembre El Salvador
A decade ago, in the early hours of November 16, officers and troops of a special Salvadoran army squad entered the Jesuit Central American University...
A Year after Gerardi: Memory and Disillusion
1999 Mayo Guatemala
"100,000 acclaim him" was the headline in Prensa Libre, Guatemala's leading newspaper, on Monday April 26, describing the huge crowd that gathered...
The Circle Closes Around the Gerardi Case
1998 Septiembre Guatemala
The relationship between Guatemala's top military brass and the murdered auxiliary bishop of the Archdioceses of Guatemala, Juan José Gerardi Conedera,...
A Political Crime That's Threatening The Peace Process
1998 Agosto Guatemala
The Public Ministry's first suspect in the killing of Bishop Juan Gerardi the night of April 26 led down a blind alley, as many had feared from the beginning....
The Killing Stone, Bedrock of Peace?
1998 Mayo Guatemala
When we awoke on Monday, April 27, to phones ringing with the terrible news of Bishop Juan Gerardi's assassination, we knew that what we had intermittently...
Some Voices of the 55,000 Victims
1998 Mayo Guatemala
Exactly three years ago, on April 25, 1995, we publicly presented the REMHI Project; an interdiocesan pastoral work whose objective was to open consoling...
Church-State: Reviewing the History
1998 Enero México
It is no coincidence that the most authoritarian Vatican representative in Mexico's history, Girolamo Prigione, collaborated so closely with one of Mexico's...
Some Clues to Possible Scenarios
1997 Diciembre Cuba
John Paul II has made over 80 trips to other countries since becoming pope in 1978. The upcoming visit to Cuba (January) 21-25, 1998) could end up...
CUBA BRIEFS
1997 Diciembre Cuba
PART ONE:
1. African slavery in Cuba lasted almost four centuries. Between 1517, when the first group was unloaded, and 1873, when the last known...
1979: The Frontier
1997 Diciembre Cuba
The compass that oriented us to the history of Cuban religiosity in the first 20 years of the revolution pointed permanently to conflict, tension,...
The Religious Agenda For the Time of Crisis
1997 Diciembre Cuba
All economic crises turn into crises of values, and of conduct. A material crisis always makes the leap into a spiritual crisis. If in 1993 the Inter-American...
A Still-Present Past
1997 Diciembre Cuba
It is said that after Pope John Paul II visits Cuba, he will only have one great project left on his agenda, the greatest of all; cross the threshold...
Archbishop Rivera y Damas: Wit the Light of Bishop Romero
1995 Enero El Salvador
On November 26, 71 year old Archbishop Arturo Rivera y Damas died unexpectedly in San Salvador. A massive heart attack early that Saturday morning left...
The Goverment Turns on the Church of the Poor
1994 Junio México
On April 8, the Mexico City daily newspaper Summa declared with much fanfare that Subcomandante Marcos, of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation...
The Walagallo: Heart of the Garifuna World
1993 Agosto Nicaragua
Religious ceremonies are one of Latin America's most visible and dramatic forms of grassroots expression. In many of these ceremonies, the various ethnic...
Liberation Theology: Theology of the South
1993 Junio Internacional
Liberation theology is a theology of life and hope that seeks to reestablish a sense of God and the Gospel in society and in the Church itself. It does...
Bishop Romero's Baptism by the People
1993 Abril El Salvador
SAN SALVADOR, February 10, 1977. The media officially confirmed today that the Vatican named Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdámez to preside...
The Growth of Protestantism: From Religion to Politics?
1992 Diciembre Nicaragua
In Nicaragua, Protestantism, particularly in its Pentecostal forms, is a growing phenomenon. Its growth rate in the last decade means that it now encompasses...
Liberation Theology Today: Crisis or Challenge?
1992 Agosto América Latina
It is commonly believed that with the fall of Eastern Europe's socialist governments, the crisis in Marxist thought and the installation of the new world...
César Jérez: “The Hope of the Poor Will Never Perish”
1992 Enero Nicaragua
My term as rector of the UCA ends on December 1st. I've always been opposed to reelections and if I've done my "patriotic military service" for six...
The Jesuit Case: Still Plagued by Questions
1991 Diciembre El Salvador
November 16 marked two years since the massacre at the Central American University (UCA) in San Salvador. The legal phase, including a three-day public...
The Murder of Six Jesuits One Year After: Interview with Father José Tojeira
1990 Diciembre El Salvador
A full year has passed since the assassination of six Jesuit priests at San Salvador's Central American University (UCA). Twelve months of investigations,...
Closer to the US... and to God?
1990 Julio Nicaragua
More than once, the name of the “Blessed Virgin” has been invoked in the service of God” was founded in the mid-1970’s, and has its origins in the charismatic...
Between Religión and Revolution...
1989 Septiembre Nicaragua
As Nicaraguans from all sectors of society celebrated ten years of revolution this July, the religious community was no exception. Christians added...
Poll of Youth in Managua: Strong Believers, Diverging Directions
1989 Marzo Nicaragua
How religious are Managua’s young people? Have revolutionary changes, tensions within the Catholic Church or conflict between sectors of the Catholic...
Church-State Relations A Chronology – Part II
1987 Diciembre Nicaragua
This month we conclude the chronology of Church-State relations begun in the November issue. We will focus here on the main events that took place between...
Church-State Relations A Chronology – Part I
1987 Noviembre Nicaragua
Over two years have passed since envío published its last chronology on the Church in Nicaragua (No. 50, August 1985). Since that time, there...
The Church of the Poor in Nicaragua
1986 Abril Nicaragua
IntroductionThis article offers information and shares an analysis about the Church of the Poor in Nicaragua. The reflections presented here...
The Catholic Church in Nicaragua: Break-off or Break-through?
1984 Agosto Nicaragua
In December 1983, envío published a chronology of the most important events to have transpired within the Nicaraguan Catholic Church since the...
The Purísima in Nicaragua
1981 Diciembre Nicaragua
Managua in the first week of December – In a one-room wooden house, rows of seats are lined up before the statue of the Virgin Mary. A banner hangs...
Religious News In Nicaragua
1981 Octubre Nicaragua
In the religious news in Nicaragua this month, there has been a great deal of discussion regarding the “Iglesia Popular”, the Popular Church, and regarding...
Problems Within The Church In Nicaragua
1981 Septiembre Nicaragua
“I don’t know what the bishops are thinking. First they ask the priests who work with the Government and for the people to resign, and now they want...
Bishops grant exception Priests will continue in the government
1981 Agosto Nicaragua
THE PRINCIPLES:The constant doctrine of the Church, confirmed by historical experience, is that “like the Bishop, the priest evangelizes and...
The Ideological Struggle within the Catholic Church In Nicaragua
1981 Agosto Nicaragua
In fact, many believe that at this time the ideological struggle is being waged most strenuously in the religious camp. With the measures enacted under...
Theological Analysis Of The Crisis
1981 Agosto Nicaragua
The ecclesiastical development that the crisis of priests in public office has had offers various dimensions and levels for analysis. We will limit...
Christian Communities In The Revolution
1981 Junio Nicaragua
As Christian revolutionaries, we have been dismayed by the episcopal decision expressed in the communiqué of June 1 ordering the priests who participate...
Commentary On The Document Of The Bishops
1981 Junio Nicaragua
The communiqué of the bishops demanding the resignation of the demanding the resignation of the priests who hold government or party offices has caused...
Priests Respond To Bishops' Communiqué
1981 Junio Nicaragua
As an initial response to the communiqué of the Nicaraguan Bishops' Conference, we wish to say the Bishops of Nicaragua, to our brother priests and our...
Excerpts From The Nicaraguan Bishops Communiqué Of June 1, 1981
1981 Junio Nicaragua
...Dear faithful, we do not wish to prolong this pastoral communiqué further. Therefore we conclude by saying that, after having made known to the Holy...
Events Preceding The Declaration Of The Bishops Of Managua
1981 Junio Nicaragua
May 13, 1980. Communiqué by the Bishops.
"We consider that since that since exceptional circumstances have passed, Christian laity can occupy...
Circumstances Surrounding The Bishop’s Communiqué
1981 Junio Nicaragua
The grave national and international implications of the situation caused by the bishops’ letter demanding the resignation of the priests who hold government...