Fidei donum European priests in Latin America: a case of transnational Catholic Third-Worldism (early 1950s – mid-1980s) ?
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article first examine the sending structures that organised and managed the departure of frenc and belgian diocesan priests to Latin America between the 1950s and the 1990s: were these organisations inspired by Third-Worldism? Did their functioning and orientation evolve with the emergence of Latin America as a possible laboratory for left-wing ideology – both Christian and secular – from the 1960s onwards? After establishing a chronology of the establishment of such institutions, the article focus on the French and Belgian organisations, as they are the only ones for which research – either completed or in progress – is currently available. It will then be necessary to interrogate those who travelled to South America, either via archives (in the case of the Comité épiscopal France-Amérique latine / France-Latin America Episcopal Committee – CEFAL) or through oral histories (for the Collège pour l’Amérique latine / College for Latin-America – COPAL). Thus, it will be possible to understand, with the help of a few criteria, if their engagement on the other side of the Atlantic can, in consideration of the context, be regarded as progressive.
DOI: 10.4000/16cgu
Authors: Olivier Chatelan, Caroline Sappia
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7163682959
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