The Catholic Church in the Nicaraguan Revolution: A Gramscian Analysis

Abstract

This essay employs a Gramscian framework to analyze the role of the Catholic Church in the Nicaraguan revolution. The differing positions of the hierarchy and base in the Church are explained in terms of the class conflict in Nicaraguan society and in terms of the Church's institutional necessities. The hierarchy's stance was both a reflection of the positions held by the Nicaraguan bourgeoisie and a result of the bishops' desire to preserve the Church's influence in society. As those at the base of the Church began to suffer increased oppression and poverty, they began to participate in the revolutionary struggle. Liberation theology encouraged and legitimated such action. While the base's support of the FSLN threatened the hierarchy's bourgeois political project and interest in self-preservation, its adoption of liberation theology threatened the reproduction of the Church's internal power structure. As such, conflict within the Church also developed