The Catholic Church and Democracy in Chile and Peru (Title from the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies)

Rating:
Summary: Thumbs up for Smith and Fleet!
Review: The authors of the book reviews the role of Catholic Church in two prominent Latin American countries: Brian Smith wrote about the church in Chile and Michael Fleet wrote about the church in Peru. They outlined the roles that the Church have played in these countries in their history and argued that over the past 30 years the Catholic church have shifted its focus from siding with the country's power elite to the poor and the disadvantaged inside the country, although this shifts came with strong opposition both from Rome and often from the leaders of the church inside the country. Smith and Fleet also reviewed future challenges for the church in these contries, ranging from future relationship of the local church with Rome, challenges from the political elite and the growing Protestant movements inside the two countries, and conflicts on social issues such as birth control, abortion, and ordination of women as priests. I think the authors have done excellent jobs in arguing their case in this book. The issues they discussed in this book is relevant not only in Chile and Peru, but also anywhere in the world in which the Catholic Church has to deal with many difficult factors such as proper relations with the state and with Rome, and challenges to its authority from other faiths. My praise go especially to Dr. Smith, Ripon College's professor of religion and one of the best professor I ever had in Ripon College. He does not afraid to speak his mind and his thoughts in the book are always provocative but interesting, just like what he always does in his lectures. Dr Smith really does his own way in interpreting the Church's teachings, although he remains totally committed to the basic ideas of Catholic faith.