Abstract
Just as Latin America is stereotyped as a “Catholic” continent, popular Catholicism in the region is stereotyped as a simple, monolithic set of practices and ideas. These images hide the tremendous diversity and also the tensions that characterize popular Catholicism in Latin America. This essay examines some of the varieties of popular Catholicism through the study of a single parish on the outskirts of San Salvador, El Salvador. It focuses on political and religious conflicts among different groups of laypeople, as well as disagreements between laypeople and pastoral agents, from the early 1970s to the present. It contends that throughout this period, popular Catholicism—in its “traditional” and also “progressive” manifestations—has been the site of intense contestation regarding theological ideas, pastoral approaches, and ethical-political praxis.
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