Pope Francis’ election has sent me scurrying to atlases and history books to learn a little more Argentine and Jesuit history.  I’ve learned that Latin America includes all of Central and South America, Mexico, and most of the Caribbean, home to about 590 million people in nineteen countries.  About 70% are Catholic and another 20% of other Christian denominations.  Spain and Portugal colonized the area, starting in the sixteenth century.  Catholic Christianity came with the colonists. 

The Church was quick to evangelize the indigenous peoples of the continent, with marked success.  Missionaries provided education, protection from greedy colonists, and financial security, along with the Catholic faith.  The Jesuit reductions flourished until 1767, when the Spanish government expelled the Jesuits.  The Jesuits had failed to teach the people to manage these missions on their own, so the reductions collapsed, but the Catholic faith remained!

Latin American countries gained independence, some becoming vibrant democracies and others dictatorships.  Catholic Church leaders had the delicate task of promoting the faith and social justice for all people, while dealing with political realities.  Pope Francis succeeded in helping Argentine Catholics grow in faith, and eventually freedom and prosperity, as the country lived through the dictatorship of the 1970’s to grow into the democracy it is today.  Our world is shrinking because of better communication, which, in turn, brings challenges to our way of thinking.  Our world is growing more secular.  

Many Latin American Catholics are joining other Christian denominations, or abandoning their faith.  Greed continues to tempt the powerful to become richer at the expense of the poor.  The over-use of natural resources brings short term gain at the expense of environmental destruction.  I look at the destruction of the Amazon Basin rain forest, or closer to home, the mining of Alberta’s tar sands, with disgust.      

I think the Latin American Catholic hierarchy continues to guide Catholics well.  Each region has its own challenges.  The Catholic Church continues to encourage people to respect human life from conception to natural death.  Twentieth century martyrs have paid with their lives to bring justice to the poor, and now the Church of the Poor grows stronger through good organizations which help foster economic justice.  I think that the glue which holds all this together is Jesus’ Law of Love.  Therefore I pray for the Church in Latin America, that at all levels people may love one another, that is want the best for one another.  Some may go to church more often than others, some may be Catholic or of other denominations, or may not be Christians.  Styles of government and economic systems might vary.  Starting in the fifteenth century, missionaries brought Jesus’ law to the continent.  I pray that the law is there to stay!

I pray that the Catholic mission to Latin America, now in its sixth century, will continue to bear fruit for the whole world.  Who will these missionaries be?  Hopefully some will be religious sisters, brothers, and priests, but also the lay people of Latin America.  We look at the Church in Argentina and Chile, where Catholics are outstanding in their defense of personal and public morality.  The Catholics of Brazil can share their ability to be strong in their faith while living in a pluralistic society.  The young Catholics of Mexico are becoming proactive and fearless evangelizers, through the intercession of St. Michael Augustine Pro, martyr of Christ the King.  I have known Latin American missionaries here in Nepal.  These dedicated people have sparked faith, hope and love in the lives of the Nepali people.     

I pray that the Catholics of Latin America continue to grow in their ability to mobilize themselves to influence politics and public policy in their own countries and continent, and to challenge the people of the world to do the same.  This will be possible insofar as we all live Jesus’ law – always the challenge for us all!