New Evangelization, Conflicting Missiologies, and New Religious Developments
The Context of Reception of Redemptoris missio in Latin America
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/0103-314X.2025.1.48170Keywords:
Redemptoris missio, Santo domingo, New evangelization, Latin American church, Pentecostal movement, Liberation theologyAbstract
The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of the contentious period surrounding the publication of Redemptoris missio in Latin America. Since this study is driven by a theological rather than a historical interest, the focus will be on the divergent, conflicting missiological approaches at play at the time, as well as on the various actors involved. To this end, the analysis of the Santo Domingo Conference will be central. The paper addresses questions including, how Pope John Paul II’s New Evangelization project, as articulated in Redemptoris missio, was embraced in Latin America; who opposed it and on what grounds; why the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and conservative forces were particularly supported by some Catholic bishops in this context; and what role the New Religious Movements played in this setting. The main argument is that the most significant contribution amid those debates was a heightened sensitivity to the issue of culture.
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