The Church and Revolutionary Struggle in Central America

Abstract

The class conflict that rages in Central American societies touches every institution in those societies. The Church increasingly speaks not with one voice but several, a reflection of the debate that goes on in the larger society over whose class interests will prevail and over who will do what to help them prevail. The contemporary conditions of most Central American societies are hostile to a social democratic alternative and the choices of Christians are increasingly reduced to two: defend the ruling class or join the revolutionary movement. The following perspective on the historical relationship between Church and imperialism and the Church and Central American revolutionary movements is particularly significant because it is the position of a key participant in the Cursillos de Capacitaci6n movement that he describes. [The Editors]