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The Official Church in Limón We are in solidarity with those who suffer, not with those who take advantage of this pain. —Monseñor Coto and Limón priests (on behalf of protesters occupying the Limón cathedral) T he case of the official Church in Limón can be considered the opposite of that presented in the previous chapter. Where the pastoral obrera of the ESJ23 is conservative, that of the Limón Church is liberationist . In this chapter, I explore the forms that this official workers’ pastorate takes in Limón and seek to uncover the reasons for their progressivism . Of particular significance here is the discussion of the pastoral letter issued in 1989 by the Limón Church under the leadership of Monse ñor Coto. This important document, the effects of which were felt well into the episcopate of Coto’s successor, Monseñor Ulloa, constitutes the Limón Church’s unique contribution to the corpus of Costa Rican Catholic social teaching. Yet as we shall see, the carta pastoral is also one of the key texts that can serve to reveal the fascinating manner in which the worldwide body of Catholic social teaching, that emanating chiefly from the Vatican, can be employed to advance particularly Limonense local needs. The Limón Church under Monseñor Coto Monseñor Alfonso Coto Monge was made a bishop and named apostolic vicar of Limón on March 7, 1980. This appointment was unique and noteworthy for several reasons. To begin with, Coto had the honour of being the first Costa Rican priest elevated to the role, as the four bishops in Limón prior to him were all German. Second, although the standard practice in the Catholic Church is to entrust the leadership of an apostolic vicariate to a member of a religious order (in Limón, the tradition had been to appoint a Vincentian priest to the role), Monseñor Coto was a diocesan priest.1 Even more important than Coto’s nationality or clerical designation , however, was his personality. Tellingly, one of Coto’s first acts as bishop was to donate his episcopal ring to the community of Corales so 9 Notes for chapter 9 start on page 230 163 09_sawchuk.qxd 2004/09/16 15:57 PM Page 163 that they could use the funds generated from its sale to construct a communal chapel.2 At the time, this was seen as a sign of poverty and of solidarity with the poor; in the following years, it became clear that this gesture was not merely for show but was in fact a sincere symbol of the bishop’s commitment to the people of Limón. Indeed, Monseñor Coto was to go on to become one of the foremost liberationists within the Costa Rican Catholic Church—a true advocate for the poor in Limón. After he was named bishop, Coto spent the first few months of his appointment travelling and visiting the parishes and CEBs in the vicariate ; in this way, he witnessed the problems and concerns faced by members of the Church throughout Limón province. Later in 1980 he issued his first pastoral letter, the bulk of which was devoted to routine administrative matters (e.g., the appropriate amounts to charge for baptisms and marriages).3 In this exhortation, Monseñor Coto also commented that on his tour he had become aware of the scarcity of priests in the area and had “encountered communities that are like ‘sheep without a pastor ’ exposed to the danger of losing their faith in the face of the constant, insidious and bold propaganda of certain Protestant sects or social agitators .”4 It is significant to note that, in light of such threats, Coto proposed the strengthening of the CEBs in the vicariate. He treated them much as the bishops at Puebla had done in the previous year —as groups focused primarily on spiritual enrichment and not necessarily on social action.5 In fact, Monseñor Coto made no direct mention of social justice issues in this document. Nonetheless, the new bishop was given the chance to demonstrate his practical concern for the poor in the same month that this statement was released. While the members of Costa Rica’s legislative assembly were meeting in Limón, a group of campesinos occupied the Limón cathedral to try to pressure the government to listen to their concerns regarding land distribution. On hearing this news, Monseñor Coto...

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