"(WHOSE CHURCH IS IT?" IS A QUES- V tion increasingly raised, particularly by lib- eration theologians and members of Latin America's Christian Base Communities. That their voices have gained a hearing at all is a tribute to the reform set in motion two decades ago. The Second Vatican Council, concluded 20 years ago, fundamentally altered the lives of the more than 700 million Roman Catholics worldwide. Breaking with the past, the Council affirmed the individual's right to interpret Church teachings. Decision-making power was decentralized and believers were encour- aged to pursue human rights and social justice. Pope John XXIII, the convenor of the Council, envisioned the Church setting off on a journey into the 20th cen- tury and beyond, with no known destination. Now, some of the Council's decisions are to be re- considered. Last January, Pope John Paul II made the dramatic announcement that a special council, or synod, would be convened to "deepen the understand- ing of [Vatican II's] teachings in the light of new needs." The pope called the synod at a time of generalized frustration within the Catholic community. Backed by most of the Vatican bureaucracy, Pope John Paul has made his rallying cry "obedience," not "ex- ploration." Presidents from the world's 97 national bishops con- ferences will meet in Rome from November 24 to De- cember 8. At issue are political, not theological, con- cepts: the distribution of power within the Church. Catholic and non-Catholic observers view the con- servative agenda as attempting to alter the pro- cess of decision-making formalized at the Council, and to quiet some of the most bothersome chal- lengers. But liberal bishops approached the meet- ing with the belief that the chances of a conserva- tive victory are minimal, and stress that a synod is the ideal place to explore how "we have failed the Coun- cil" on issues of communication and understanding, rather than how the Council has failed the Church. HE STAKES ARE HIGH; THE CONFLICT, acute. It will not be resolved at the November synod. All sides agree that if the conservatives are able to advance their agenda, the key role the Church has played in developing grassroots power structures in Latin America will be reversed. This would signify a political victory for regional forces bolstered by the Reagan Administration, and weaken movements pro- moting social change in Latin America. This issue of Report on the Americas is part of our ongoing work on religion and politics in Latin Ameri- ca. Deborah Huntington examines two intersecting di- mensions of political conflict within the Catholic Church. First, the clash over competing interpretations of who constitutes the members in good standing with- in the Roman Catholic community and the definition of the mandate they seek to fulfill. Second, the unfolding debate among different Church communities as they in- teract with ruling elites. In the first two articles, she examines the history of overt and tacit political al- liances between representatives of the traditional Church and those in power; the emergence of a Latin American theology which challenges the exercise of faith; and the shuffle at the apex of power, both in Rome and in Latin American hierarchies, in response to the new currents of faith. The third article considers how conservative religi- ous and political objectives coincide in Central Ameri- ca, specifically in El Salvador. By the late 1970s, the Salvadorean Christian Base Communities, nurtured by Archbishop Oscar Romero and his predecessor, Luis ChAvez y Gonzalez , were the region's largest. Con- trary to charges, most of the leaders of El Salvador's base community movement were Salvadorean priests and nuns, not foreigners. Today the Salvadorean Church is under attack not only from the country's bishops, but also from its government. As such, it rep- resents the struggle of most Latin American Christians. These articles look at maneuvers in a holy war. Which forces will be strengthened at the synod; how will power be realligned? Just how the conflict gets played out will make a statement to the world as well as the Church.
