Theory and Practice

In the publication entitled “Cross Currents,” Catholic priest Felipe Berryman comments on the vast difference there is between the theory of Catholicism in Latin America and what is actually practiced there by the masses of the people. In his article “Popular Catholicism in Latin America,” he points out:

“In Latin America, however, the masses of the people never accepted official (Tridentine [Council of Trent]) Catholicism. They have never accepted the Church as mediator of salvation in the sense intended by Tridentine theology and pastoral practice. . . . The priests think they are doing one thing; the people think they are doing something else. For centuries there has been concern about the ‘ignorance’ of the people and attempts to ‘convert’ them to marry in the Church, attend Mass, go to communion. By and large, however, there has been little success among the popular masses.”