40 years ago — March 19, 1979
The Third General Conference of Latin American Bishops (CELAM III) met in Puebla, Mexico, January 28 to February 13. Though the document is not as bold as the Medellin document drafted in Medellin, Columbia, in 1968, it still takes a stand for the poor. The bishops seemed to be aligned into three groups. There is a conservative group that seeks to avoid conflict between the church and the dictatorial governments and systems. There is a group of progressives that encourages a church that aligns with the people and seeks to be a liberating community of faith and hope. And then there is a third group, a dominating group, “which accepts and rejects in part both of the other two sector’s positions.” The document does stress that the church needs to understand the Latin American people in their historical context, which has been one of abject poverty. This poverty is the result of “economic, social and political situations and structures” and demands “a personal conversion and profound changes in the structures.”
From “Latin American Catholic Bishop’s Conference: A qualified ‘preferential option for the poor’ ” by J. Gary Campbell
