Being a Church in a Time of Violence: Peruvian Church during the Armed Internal Conflict 1980 to 2000

Cecilia Tovar Samanez

doi:10.3390/rel11110564

Abstract

During the war with Shining Path (1980–2000) violence in Peru was brutal and extensive. Massive violations of human rights were common, with victims from all regions and social classes, but were particularly intense in rural areas like Ayacucho where the insurgency began. The churches supported and defended rights by providing organizational space, legal defense, publicity (through their radio networks) and by remaining among populations in danger, working with them and often sharing their fate. Important elements in the churches including leaders, priests, members of religious orders, sisters catechists, and ordinary people working through church organizations, were prominent among the victims. They were attacked both by Shining Path (who saw them as competitors) and by army and police forces, who saw their commitment to social justice and collective action as subversive. The choice to defend human rights in theory and action is rooted in a long term process of transformation in the church which drew strength and inspiration from the “option for the poor” articulated at the Catholic bishops meetings in Medellin (1968) and Puebla (1979), and in numerous statements and organizational efforts since then. The process of violence in Peru and the role of the churches is documented in the reports of the Peruvian Commission for Truth and Reconciliation and others from the Peruvian church as well from as regional and local groups.

Highlights

In 2001 the government of President Valentin Paniagua created the Truth Commission and charged it with elaborating a full report on the twenty years of violence that had bloodied the country starting in 19801
The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes it clear that the positions and actions taken by the Church in in the face of Peru’s violence find their origins and explanation in the trajectory of changes within the church, in the extent to which leaders, organizations and members accepted and incorporated the conciliar renovation articulated at the Bishops’ Conferences at Medellin Colombia (1968) and Puebla Mexico
As noted at the the outset, the Peruvian case differs from many others in Latin America

Summary

Introduction

In 2001 the government of President Valentin Paniagua created the Truth Commission and charged it with elaborating a full report on the twenty years of violence that had bloodied the country starting in 19801. In effect, this deep commitment by the religious community to the defense of life and of human rights, above all among the poorest of the poor, during the worst years of the armed conflict in Peru, is the fruit of an intense process of renovation within the Church of Peru that began in the middle of the twentieth century. This deep commitment by the religious community to the defense of life and of human rights, above all among the poorest of the poor, during the worst years of the armed conflict in Peru, is the fruit of an intense process of renovation within the Church of Peru that began in the middle of the twentieth century This is no sudden improvisation, but rather forms part of a broad process of intense change in the Catholic church at all levels: global, Latin American, and in Peru;. “The Core Theme: Option for the Poor and the Defense of Life”, discusses how the Church responded to this situation through its pastoral work in the defense of life., through organizing actions along with moments and spaces for Christian reflection on the meaning of events and how to respond

The Church in the Times of Armed Internal Conflict

Core Theme

Findings

Conclusions