Vol. 79/No. 27      August 3, 2015

He called for a social movement to shatter a “new colonialism” and to “say no to an economy of exclusion and inequality, where money rules.” This was a recurring theme during the pope’s highly publicized eight-day visit to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay, three of the smallest and poorest countries in Latin America, all with a substantial indigenous population.

Latin America is home to 425 million Catholics, nearly 40 percent of the world’s Catholic population. But even in this heartland the church has lost ground over recent decades. According to a survey from the Pew Research Center last year, 69 percent of adults across the region identified themselves as Catholics, down from 92 percent in 1970.

Since becoming pope, Francis has taken steps to bring the church in step with changing social attitudes and daily lives of ordinary Catholics. He is seeking to regain credibility and restore the institution’s moral authority, in a world marked by a deep capitalist crisis that has devastating effects on millions of toilers. In making this shift, he opens the door to broader political discussion among toilers, Catholic and others, about how to advance their interests.

“The new colonialism takes on different faces,” the pope said in Santa Cruz. “At times it appears as the anonymous influence of mammon: corporations, loan agencies, certain ‘free trade’ treaties and the imposition of ‘austerity,’ which always tighten the belt of workers and the poor. … Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation. For Christians the responsibility is even greater: it is a commandment.”

Francis met with the presidents of all three countries. Rafael Correa in Ecuador and Evo Morales in Bolivia both represent left-wing populist parties that have had strained relations with the Catholic hierarchy in their countries. During the visit in Bolivia, Morales said, “For the first time I feel like I have a pope.”

In Ecuador, Francis spoke on the themes of his encyclical “On Care for Our Common Home” (Laudato Si’), a papal letter to bishops issued in May that focuses on the environment and climate change. “The tapping of natural resources, which are so abundant in Ecuador, must not be concerned with short-term benefits,” he said to a group that included indigenous people from the Equatorial Amazon July 7. He said he hopes to influence the United Nations climate change summit in Paris in December.

The church’s opposition to homosexuality and divorce is also out of step with working people’s sentiments. In 2004 Chile became the last country in Latin America to legalize divorce, and since 2010 same-sex marriage has been legalized in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. While not changing the church’s position on these questions, Francis has made clear he doesn’t think the clergy should campaign around them.

At the end of June, Francis said that in some instances it would be correct to dissolve a marriage, such as “when it comes to saving the weaker spouse, or young children, from more serious injuries caused by intimidation and violence, by humiliation and exploitation, by lack of involvement and indifference.”

On Sept. 19 Francis will arrive in Cuba for a three-day visit and then continue to the United States where he will stay through Sept. 25.

“We’re already preparing to welcome Pope Francis in September with affection, respect and hospitality, as he deserves,” Cuban President Raúl Castro said at the closing of the National Assembly July 15. “His message — promoting peace and justice, the eradication of poverty, protection of the environment — and his analysis of the causes of the problems facing humanity, which we all have followed carefully, especially during his memorable tour of Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay, inspire admiration worldwide.”  
 
 
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