| Over 100 years ago, Frederick Engels discovered the potential of revolutionary religion. The theorists of Liberation Theology refined his discovery and brought it up to date. Although a good deal of Marxist orthodoxy was lost in the transition to Liberation Theology, the new religion retained enough Christianity to pose a significant threat to orthodox Catholicism.; The Catholic Church, for its part, seeking to counter the claims and promises of Marxism, and perhaps anticipating the Liberationist challenge, developed a concise, coherent and principled social and economic doctrine.; The political movement that sought to bring the social thought of the Catholic Church to the political realm was the European Christian Democratic movement. But in the period just after World War II, when Christian Democrats were suddenly thrust into positions of power, they made debilitating compromises in the social thought of the Popes.; In Latin America, Christian Democracy failed to present a clear alternative to the centralizing and statist trends of 20th century Latin American politics. Like their European counterparts, Latin American Christian Democrats abandoned the defense of individual persons and autonomous society in a quest for electoral success and for the redirection, rather than the limiting of state power. In Venezuela, Christian Democrats came to be perceived as less courageous and less committed shadows of the more radically statist social democrats.; Meanwhile, Liberation Theologians took advantage of the dearth of imaginative and orthodox Catholic politics to gain strength and influence. Nowhere was their political strength more evident than in the struggle against Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza. Nicaraguan Christian Democrats sought to accommodate themselves to the radical religious movement, and are now nearly extinct.; Venezuela is an important exception to the growing dominance of Liberation Theology. In Venezeula, the Catholic Bishops have remained faithful to Catholic social thought and have forestalled a Liberationist challenge. In Nicaragua, the hierarchy tried to collaborate with a radical Marxist movement and now faces persecution. To combat this persecution, the Nicaraguan bishops have returned to the traditional teachings of the Church. |
