Acton Institute PowerBlog - Entries tagged as latin america

'Liberty Theology' -- WSJ article by Rev. Sirico

Monday, December 31, 2007

In the Wall Street Journal’s Americas column, Rev. Robert A. Sirico examines the shift in thinking about liberation theology among Catholic Church leaders in Latin America. Excerpt:

Catholic Church bishops, priests and other Church leaders in Latin America were once a reliable ally of the left, owing to the influence of “liberation theology,” which tries to link the Gospel to the socialist cause. Today the Church is coming to recognize the link between socialism and the loss of freedom, and a shift in thinking is taking place.

In a region that is more than 90% Catholic, this change might have enormous implications. A Church that emphasizes liberty could play a role in Latin America similar to that which it played in Eastern Europe in the 1980s, as a counterweight in defense of freedom during a time of rising despotism.

For proof of the change I refer to, consider a recent statement from the Catholic Bishops of Venezuela: It blasted the political agenda of President Hugo Chávez for its assault on liberty under the guise of helping the poor. It is morally unacceptable, the statement said, and will drive the country backward in terms of respect for human rights.

The Bishops’ statement from Caracas was not the first challenge the Church issued to Mr. Chávez. The late Cardinal Rosalio Castillo once laid out the Church’s view of Bolivarian socialism. The government, he explained, though elected democratically was morphing into dictatorship. He worried about the results of this process. “All powers are in the hands of one person who exercises them in an arbitrary and despotic way, not for the purposes of bringing about the greater common good of the nation, but rather for a twisted and archaic political project: that of implanting in Venezuela a disastrous regime like the one Fidel Castro has imposed on Cuba . . .”

Continue reading Rev. Sirico’s article “Liberty Theology” (registration required for the Journal’s online version).

Posted by John Couretas in News and Events at 11:44 | Comment (1) | Trackback

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catholic church, fidel castro, hugo chavez, latin america, liberation theology, rev. robert a. sirico, wall street journal

Together in Missions in the 21st Century

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The Friday morning plenary address at last week’s Assembly of World-Wide Partners was given by Ruth Padilla deBorst, a 15-year veteran of work with Christian Reformed World Missions. Padilla deBorst’s talk focused on relations between the global north and global south, “Together in Missions in the 21st Century.” In the following I’ll summarize her talk and intersperse the summary with some of my own reflections. One general comment, with Acton University beginning today: the valuable uniqueness of a conference like Acton U comes into sharp relief given the economic, political, and ideological attitudes on display at an event like the Assembly of World-Wide Partners.

Continue reading "Together in Missions in the 21st Century"

Posted by Jordan J. Ballor in News and Events at 08:55 | Leave a comment | Trackback

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assembly of world-wide partners, clement of alexandria, latin america, liberation theology, missions, poverty, richard baxter, stewardship, wealth

Banking: Latin America’s Achilles Heel

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Despite strong overall growth, a number of internal problems, including excessive regulation, continue to limit wealth creation throughout Latin America, reports Samuel Gregg. The regulations Dr. Gregg examines include those on starting a business and on banking.

Dr. Gregg explains that while it takes as few as 5 days to file the appropriate paper work to start a business in the United States, it takes an average of 152 days in Brazil. Dr. Gregg states that there are fewer loopholes to starting a business in Iran, than in most of Latin America.

Dr. Gregg also examines, in detail, some of the legacy economic laws that exist in much of Latin America, which regulate banking. These laws, intended to protect people from unjust interest rates, often hurt the people best in the position to increase the economic prosperity of Latin America - namely first-time entrepreneurs who are will to take risks to gain the capital needed into order to create wealth. Dr. Gregg argues that removing some of the regulations mandating interest-rate ceilings would benefit Latin American much more than it helps to protect it.

Read Dr. Gregg’s commentary here.

Posted by Jonathan Spalink in Business and Society at 16:11 | Leave a comment | Trackback

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banking, cielings, economics, latin america

Better than JFK

Friday, March 9, 2007

Joe Knippenberg reflects on President Bush’s speech earlier this week about advancing social justice in the Western Hemisphere:

Bush has lots to say about encouraging what he calls “capitalism for the campesinos.” He ties this to “social justice,” by which he means, above all, “meeting basic needs” to education, health care, and housing so that people can “realize their full potential, their God-given potential.” But social justice, thus conceived, doesn’t require massively redistributive government action; rather, it requires unleashing the potential of individual initiative, sowing some seeds, and leveraging the efforts of non-governmental organizations, especially faith-based ones.

In comparison to a speech from President Kennedy in 1961, Knippenberg concludes, “If you compare GWB to JFK, you’ll see that the goals aren’t all that different, but the thought put into the methods is.”

See also today’s WSJ editorial, “Capitalism for Campesinos.” More on Bush’s visit in the context of socialism in the NYT today.

Posted by Jordan J. Ballor in Effective Compassion at 07:13 | Leave a comment | Trackback

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education, george w. bush, health care, housing, john f. kennedy, latin america, social justice

NYT Editorial on Chávez: Necessary Not-So-Evil

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

The NYT editorializes today that Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez is, at worst perhaps, a necessary evil given the current political climate: “if it takes Mr. Chávez’s demagogy to spur Washington toward more enlightened policies in the Americas, so be it.”

Oh yeah, and more US foreign aid to Latin America equals “social justice.”

“Mr. Bush deserves praise for doubling the assistance to Latin America, to $1.6 billion a year. But much of this has been for security programs in Colombia. A lot more will be needed if promoting social justice is to be more than a sound bite.”

In any case, I think it may in fact be true that President Bush’s “reputation in the hemisphere [is] nearing its modern nadir” if in a comparison of Bush and Chávez the latter comes off looking favorably. Or maybe it says more about the discernment of those making such judgments than it does about Chávez’s objective quality.

Posted by Jordan J. Ballor in International Trade at 09:33 | Comment (1) | Trackback

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foreign aid, Hugo Chávez, Latin America, President Bush, social justice, Venezuela

Catholic Latin America: A Turning Point?

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Latin America’s Catholic bishops are preparing for a major conference in Brazil next spring and the agenda will include, aside from issues relating directly to the faith, discussions about politics, populism, corruption and economic globalization. Samuel Gregg says the meeting holds great promise: “Few realize it, but May 2007 could be a decisive moment for Catholic Latin America.”

Read the commentary here.

Posted by Jonathan Spalink in News and Events at 16:31 | Comments (3) | Trackback

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bishops, catholic, latin america