Religion and Democracy: The Church of the Poor in Central America

An analysis of the transformation of the Catholic Church within the revolutionary process taking place in Central America, specifically, the crisis of the old model of the Church, Christendom, & the emergence of a new model, the popular Church. The new model implies a new social & political articulation of the Church, in which Church-state & Church-SC relations have changed, & the Church is located within the popular movement. The political responsibility of the popular Church is defined: its preferential option for the poor, the educative role it plays in popular religious consciousness, &, in particular, the creative participation of traditionally marginated groups (eg, peasants, the indigenous population, & women). Nicaragua is taken as a case study, examined on the basis of ten years of participant observation. Modified AA