Christians for Socialism ( es, Cristianos por el socialismo; CPS) is a worldwide political and cultural movement focused on

social inequality Social inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. It posses and creates gender c ...

and economic injustice, inspired by

liberation theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". I ...

. It was founded in 1971.

Founding

Having begun in April 1971, Christians for Socialism first gained notoriety when a collection of eighty

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an priests, known as the "Group of 80", publicly declared their support of the construction of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

along the lines being followed by then-President

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

. The Secretariat of Christians for Socialism was formally established in September 1973. The group was predominantly composed of

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

members of the

Christian left The Christian left is a range of left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel. Given the inherent diversity in international political thoug ...

who were inspired and spurred on by the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

Project

CPS was founded to counteract a presumption that Christian institutions were inherently opposed to

. While its founders found aspects of socialist programs that they wished to critique, they wanted to do so as insiders within the socialist movement, rather than as adversaries. From their beginnings as supporters of Allende, CPS has been associated with firm support for socialist leaders. Accordingly, CPS leaders cultivated strong ties with Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. It was intended as a movement of active political involvement and participation, and involved discussions bringing together current political events and church documents in light of each other. CPS inspired a series of social programs in the public sector. Priests in CPS led union units and organized peasant federations.

Antecedents

In Chile the immediate antecedent to CPS was the ' movement. In Italy, many of the young people who had been involved in the Italian student and worker protests of 1968 joined the movement, and the

Christian Associations of Italian Workers The Christian Associations of Italian Workers (''Associazioni Cristiane dei Lavoratori Italiani'', ACLI; alternatively translated as Italian Christian Workers' Association) are a widespread lay Catholic association in Italy. Its work is based on th ...

(ACLI) was very supportive.

Leaders

López Trujillo considers a major leader of CPS. Another prominent leader was the

Salesian , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turin ...

priest Lidia Menapace, who was also a significant figure in the Italian Catholic resistance during World War II. In Spain, Alfonso Carlos Comín was a key leader in establishing the movement. The theologian

Gustavo Gutiérrez Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino (born 8 June 1928) is a Peruvian philosopher, Catholic theologian, and Dominican priest, regarded as one of the founders of Latin American liberation theology. He currently holds the John Cardinal O'Hara Professo ...

was also a member and led sessions at all the major conferences.

Suppression

CPS faced opposition from the start.

Left-leaning Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

priests from Brazil and Bolivia were supportive but unable to participate in gatherings due to severe police control. CPS was short-lived in Chile, due to strong resistance from the Episcopal Conference of Chile under the direction of its secretary general, bishop

Carlos Oviedo Cavada Carlos Oviedo Cavada, O. de M. (19 January 1927 – 7 December 1998) was a Chilean Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Santiago de Chile from 1990 to 1998, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1994. Biography Cavad ...

. In their letter condemning the movement, the bishops there argued that while the church speaks to "politics insofar as it underlies every social reality", it should not be involved in "partisan activity". Chilean clergy involved in the movement were banned from political participation altogether in April 1973. The movement was suppressed by the Chilean military dictatorship after the coup of 1973. Father , one of the most active members of CPS, left Chile at this time.

Gatherings

A number of important gatherings have been held under the auspices of Christians for Socialism. In 1972, 400 members met for a week at a textile union hall, urging "class struggle sthe only valid course to necessary social change in Latin America." CPS brought together similar Latin American movements in the Latin American Meeting of Christians for Socialism 1974 in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, Chile. In 1975, the Christians for Socialism conference in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, formally introduced

to the United States. This event was a significant convergence where

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

, feminist, and third-world

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...

movements joined together and recognized each other as peers in the same process of liberation, while also strongly critiquing one another. A detailed account of the meeting was published. Christians for Socialism groups sprung up in France, Italy, and West Germany. In Germany, CPS was a radical rival to Enlightenment liberalism and "

German idealism German idealism was a philosophical movement that emerged in Germany in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It developed out of the work of Immanuel Kant in the 1780s and 1790s, and was closely linked both with Romanticism and the revolutionary ...

's aspirations to freedom".

Critiques

López Trujillo has critiqued CPS for holding an understanding of liberation too strongly influenced by Marxist political theory rather than the integral Christian liberation stance espoused by the

Latin American Episcopal Conference Based in Bogotá ( Colombia), the Latin American Episcopal Council ( es, Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano; pt, Conselho Episcopal Latino-Americano), better known as CELAM, is a council of the Roman Catholic bishops of Latin America, created i ...

. It has been said that for some members of Christians for Socialism, there is "no salvation incarnate outside of class struggle."

References

Notes

Bibliography

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