In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Monseñor Arrieta and CECOR Only the union of all Costa Ricans, without social, political or religious distinctions, can move us forward and free us from a social cataclysm. —Monseñor Arrieta, “United to Save Costa Rica” (a 1982 editorial) Where there is work there is bread, and where there is bread there is peace. —Frequent expression of Monseñor Arrieta A fter the 1952 death of Monseñor Sanabria, the outspoken Church leader and vigorous proponent of social reform, the Costa Rican bishops (collectively known as CECOR) fell into a so-called long period of silence regarding social and political issues. This era, which spanned the tenures of both Monseñors Odio (1952–59) and Rodríguez (1960–79), can be best characterized as one of extreme Church complacency with regard to social problems. Although the imagined threat of communism did occasionally rouse the bishops to heated commentary, in general the Costa Rican episcopate displayed little public concern for social justice during this period. Not even the currents of change in the worldwide Church in the 1960s had much effect on the Costa Rican episcopate : as some have remarked, all Vatican II meant in Costa Rica was that priests could now turn around and speak Spanish when saying Mass.1 The 1968 Medellín conference had even less of an impact, as was perhaps predictable with the arch-conservative Monseñor Rodríguez leaving the conference before the closing ceremony and refusing to sign the liberationist final document. All this appeared to change, however, with the 1979 appointment of Monseñor Román Arrieta Villalobos. Since that time, Monseñor Arrieta and CECOR have issued numerous noteworthy pastoral letters on social justice. The Costa Rican bishops have also taken some significant public stances in relation to workers’ associations and activism in Costa Rica. By examining the political, economic, ideological, and institutional variables affecting Monseñor Arrieta and the Costa Rican Church hierarchy, I demonstrate why the bishops chose to speak out when and how they did, and what functions their pronouncements performed in the context of Costa Rican society and of the Church itself. 5 Notes for chapter 5 start on page 215 81 05_sawchuk.qxd 2004/09/16 15:56 PM Page 81 The Man They Call Manzanita It came as no surprise that the Costa Rican Church found its voice again after Monseñor Arrieta’s appointment as archbishop. As bishop of Tilarán (1961–79), Monseñor Arrieta had been known as an exception, as one of the few Church leaders who would publicly involve himself in social justice issues during the long silence.2 Perhaps most notably, Arrieta achieved national attention in 1975 for his statements in support of the PLN government ’s controversial irrigation and agrarian reform proposal for the Guanacaste region.3 Because of the bishop’s tenacity in promoting the project ’s benefits for poor campesinos—even in the face of harsh criticism from the cattle-ranching latifundistas of the area —it appeared that the Costa Rican Church had finally found a worthy successor to Sanabria. Still, in spite of —or, more likely, because of—the leadership he had shown on the Guanacaste issue, Arrieta was not appointed archbishop when the time came. Although Monseñor Rodríguez’s failing health meant that the Church was effectively leaderless in 1978 and early 1979, and although Arrieta appeared to be well respected in Church circles as president of both CECOR and the Secretariado Episcopal de América Central y Panamá (SEDAC), Arrieta’s widely expected ascension to the archbishop’s position was delayed. The resistance to Arrieta came primarily from the newly elected Partido Unión Nacional (PUN) government of Rodrigo Carazo.4 Aware of Arrieta’s close ties to the PLN and witness to the effects of such ties in the irrigation and land reform debate, President Carazo succeeded in convincing the Vatican to postpone naming a new archbishop until he could visit Rome to discuss the issue in person. When Carazo could not find another suitable candidate for archbishop and then became otherwise occupied with the worsening economic crisis in Costa Rica, Monseñor Arrieta was finally named archbishop of San José in July of 1979. In the years after his appointment, Monseñor Arrieta took on even more responsibilities in the international Catholic Church.5 Once a longserving president of CELAM’s department of vocations and ministries, he was elevated to the role of second vice-president of the council...

Share