Latin America, defined as Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, was introduced to Christianity through violent methods. This “violent evangelicalism” was politically motivated, as colonizers sought to bring the New World under Christian political rule (74). The colonizers, primarily from Spain and Portugal, received permission for Pope Nicholas V to seize the land of Latin America and introduce Catholicism. The patronage system gave the Spanish and Portuguese settlers unlimited authority over the Catholic Church in their land, meaning that the pope was not considered the head of this sect of the institution. As Jacobsen points out, this system represented a total reversal of what medieval popes so intensely fought for: “independence of the Church from political control” (75). The colonizers obsession with control was racially motivated, as the Europeans believed themselves to be morally and intellectually superior to the Latin Americans.

For many years after gaining independence, religious ideology in Latin America almost exclusively was associated with whichever political party was in power. Following the tumultuous 1960s, liberation theology, a new method of viewing religion, was taken up by many Latin American Catholics. This approach “combined social analysis (often from a Marxist perspective) and social action with traditional Catholic teachings” (86). This manner of thinking emerged due to the political oppression in many Latin American countries, and people began to see the church as a vessel for expressing economic and social justice. Service to the poor is a cornerstone of Christian ethics, and the long oppressed masses began to see the hypocrisy of a supposedly religious driven government allowing such a large gap between rich and poor. The liberation movement reached its peak around 1980, when Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was assassinated on the altar, just as he was about to consecrate the bread and wine for the Eucharist. Romero had long been a vocal advocate for social and economic justice, and often criticized the church for their lack of caring for the poor. Romero saw Christian ethics as inseparably connected with activism, and he gained many followers as a result. Following his assassination, his legacy continued, as many began to pressure the church to act true to their values. Liberation theology subsided in the 1980s, after democratic governments were installed in many Latin American countries.

By seeing Latin American Christianity, the West could learn that followers of different denominations of Christianity can work together to achieve social change. Though Latin America is primarily Catholic, Jacobsen asserts that the liberation theology movement was one that required the participation of all Christians, not just Catholics. In my experience, Catholics are often times very closed off, and are unwilling to engage in interfaith dialogue, even with practitioners of other forms of Christianity. It would be wise for Western Christians and Catholics to be more open to working together to bring about social change, just as the Latin Americans were able to do in the 1980s.