Roman Catholics: The Pope in Latin America

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Privileged Powers. The question was whether, despite the enthusiasm that his visit evoked, Paul would be able to narrow the tremendous differences that exist between Latin America's two principal blocks of Catholics—the peasants living in subhuman conditions and the ruling elite. These two forces have been in conflict ever since the continent was colonized, and their struggles have usually been resolved either by the aristocracy's maintaining power through the military or by the peasants' destroying the landed oligarchy through bloody revolution, as occurred in Mexico early this century and later in Bolivia.

What Latin America needs in today's age of aspiration is a means of resolving the differences between the two factions in a way that would favor social progress while circumventing the old extremes of reaction and revolu tion. As spiritual mentor of both sides, the church could play a major role in achieving a reconciliation within its flock. But the truth is that the Latin American Catholic church has almost always been identified with the privileged powers, from the days when its priests went ashore with the conquistadors. As a result, there is widespread doubt that it can ever attain the status of a reunifying social force.

Structural Reform? As the Pope jetted back to .Rome, his prescription for progress in Latin America probably satisfied neither the church's radicals nor its reactionaries. Conservative Latin Americans were pleased by the Pontiff's condemnation of violence. Gua temala's right-wing newspaper, El Im-parcial, praised Paul's words on the subject as "particularly opportune" and expressed the hope that they would "contribute to the Latin American people's growing resistance to ideological struggle." The attitude of the upper class to drastic social reform was best reflected in Bogota's leading "liberal" daily, El Tiempo. "What is this 'reform of structure' that the church's reform ers speak so much about?" the newspaper asked. "Is it modifying society so that we shall all be poor?"

Paul's words were constructive as far as they went. Yet they did not sound strong enough on an impatient continent that more than ever demands change and forceful leadership. The Pope's presence and pronouncements alone were not likely to bend the conscience of Latin America's wealthy Catholics sufficiently to spur them on to creative social revolution.