Religion in Latin America and Beyond Paraguay, Guatemala, Latin America and Asia Religious Orders in the Evangelization of Latin America: 1566-1767 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 XVI Century XVII Century Franciscans Jesuits Dominicans XVIII Century Capuchins Jesuit Missionaries: Province of Destination (1566-1767) 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Rio de la Plata Mexico Philippines New Granada Peru Chile Quito Other Jesuit Missions in South America: Frontier Institutions Catholic Missions in Mexico Religious Missions in India and China ProtestantDoctrinal Heterodoxy and Heterogeneity in Guatemala By Rachel McCleary ECON 392A Summary of the Chapter • Division of the Pentecostal church in the US. • The baptism of the Holy Spirit as a point of discord. • Pentecostal missionaries entered Guatemala in the mid XXth century, having to compete with each other + with all other Protestant denominations. • Prior to their entrance, Guatemala (like the rest of LAC) had a vast majority of Roman Catholic population. • large heterogeneity in the indoctrination of locals, resulting in a highly schismatic and heterodox religious landscape. • All of this, of course, besides the already large ethnic diversity! Conquest and colonization of Guatemala • Conlonized by the Spanish in the early 16th century. Led by Pedro de Alvarado. • Guatemala was always the “backwater” of the New Spain Viceroyalty. • Became a Captaincy in the early 1600’s. • Captaincy of Guatemala included Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. • Large pre-contact indigenous populations (Mayas). • Suitable for the establishment of Encomiendas and Haciendas. Independence and the Confederación Sudamericana • Rigid social system during the colony. • Peninsular Spaniards at the top, indigenous and slaves at the bottom. • Gained their independence in 1821. • Briefly joined the Mexican Empire. • Became part of the Federal Republic of Central America. • Free and independent country in 1838. Guatemala’s economy during the 19th and 20th centuries • Agriculture and Export crops: focus on crops such as bananas, coffe and sugar. • Large-scale agricultural states, owned by a very narrow political and economical elite. • Mainly indigenous and peasant labor force. • Encomienda-style labor institutions in some of the regions! • Land concentration and foreign intervention contributed to social tensions and conflicts throughout the 20th century. The end of Democracy • In 1954, a US-backed coup overthrew the leftist Jacobo Arbenz. • Arbenz had been democratically elected and had popular support due to his intention of reforming the country, specially the land-concentration issue. • This happened in the middle of the Cold War! • The coup was followed by a series of military authoritarian regimes, backed by the elites (and the US!). • Civil war erupted in 1960 between a leftist insurgency and the military. • Not only combatants were targeted, but perceived sympathizers of leftist movements were relentlessly persecuted. Political Violence and Repression • Scorched earth campaign: intentional destruction of entire villages and ethnic groups. • Maya tribes of the highlands were disproportionately targeted. • Methods included torture, massacres and sexual violence. • In 1999, the UN Commission for Truth determined that the state was responsible for constituting acts of genocide. • The Guatemalan economy largely depends on agriculture. • Tourism and remittances from the US make up a large share of the national GDP. And currently… • There is still a high degree of economic inequality • Braced by an outstandingly high level of corruption. • Just last month, there was a controversy between the elected president and the Attorney General because the latter (who faces serious accusations of corruption) wouldn’t allow the appointment of the former! • Despite efforts by the Truth Commission, there is still plenty work to be done to reconstruct the social tissue. Back to the chapter: the spread of Pentecostalism in Guatemala. The spread of Pentecostalism • Pentecostal missionaries undertook a global expansion during the 20th century, establishing missions in all 5 continets. • They emphasized evangelization through expressive and charismatic forms of worship • Even went as far as to promote “healings” to attract followers. • In Guatemala, they focused mainly on the departments of Totonicapán, El Quiché, Baja Verapaz and Zacapa. • Mainly indigenous regions explicit effort to avoid the main urban centers. • By 1950, it was the fastest growing religion in Guatemala. Why the Catholic church was not a competitor? • Western highlands were practically unaccessible. • This meant that priests were only able to visit each community once a week. • The great majority of the indigenous population had converted to Catholicism • Since the colonial period, this conversion was only supericial and ritualistic. • The absence of priests gave authority to local elders and cofradías • They became in charged of rituals, leading to a syncretization of beliefs. • Despite the efforts of the Vatican during the 20th century, the number of priests per-capita was never below 5000. Doctrinal Heterogeneity • There was controversy among Pentecostal believers over the nature of sanctification, the holy Trinity, baptism, etc. • There was a big controversy over marriage and divorce (forbidden in Catholicism). • The lack of agreement led to a surge in new Pentecostal denominations in the US during the 1920’s. • Missionaries wanted to be paid, and new Pentecostal denominations started placing them on salary. • This promoted the expansion of these “new” and “non-traditional” denominations. • This is what is known in literature as a schism. They occurr when a pastor seeks autonomy from her denomination, usually following a disagreement. • Usually, these pastors end up “founding” a new denomination within the same faith. The legacy of religious heterodoxy • The “free market” approach to evangelization of the Meso-American highlands defined the religious landscape of the second half of the 20th century. • When a pastor that already has followers leaves a denomination, the followers usually go behind. • In those places where the main authority is religious, this means that the complete network (commercial, clientelistic, etc.) follows. • More recently, Pentacostalism in Guatemala has spread through a surge in mega-churches. • Unlike the previous evangelization movement, this recent wave has concentrated on the urban centers.
