The Call of God: Women Doing Theology in Peru

Chapter 2. The Context

C H A P T E R 2 The Context Peru today faces innumerable problems. Many of these are tied to the economy because the problem of poverty affects everything about life here. But we also have a beautiful country and loving, caring people who are not prepared to accept Peru as it is today. It is truly un pais de las maravillas (a country of marvels) and wonderful things can and will happen. God has given us many resources and perhaps we are just learning how to use all of them. Ofelia Montes López Director, Servicios Educativos El Agustino Historical Reflection as a Foundation El Agustino is built upon the traditions of the barrio, the city, the country, and the foreign cultures brought to, and assimilated into, Peruvian culture. We must understand this past and look for the theological and systemic links that have been carried forward. A historical perspective affords the opportunity to understand how a particular social, political, and theological environment has evolved and to grasp the many consequences. A test of validity of a particular theology is whether it becomes the sensus fidelium (sense of the faithful). A community of faith must discern the truth in the concrete living out of the faith. This necessarily involves both an attention and faithfulness to tradition and a challenge to the same, just as it has been throughout the history of the church. In the case of El Agustino, the shining moments exist when the people respond passionately to their context and are able to state what the church, as an institution, and the people, as communio fidei (community of faith), need to hear. 11 In El Agustino a blend of the past and the present exists resulting in an ongoing conversation between the two. While living in one of the largest cities in the world, the people of El Agustino also preserve abundant traditional lifestyles brought there from throughout the country. The examination and the tackling of real-life issues often mean the difference between life and death. These issues negate the possibility of a theology that merely rethinks the dogmatic concerns of the past or that blindly accepts contemporary orthodoxy. The creative process of a local or contextual theology requires immersion into contemporary questions while simultaneously searching the past for answers. Any theology must take seriously its obligation to struggle with the past and to come to an understanding of a complex present. The way in which a theology responds to the present is linked to what has been inherited . The traditions brought forth set a tone for all that will come. The women of El Agustino illustrate this in the movement toward the eradication of those traditions that are nonliberative, and in the undeviating emphasis on a faith that leads to human freedom. In their quest to build a liberating church, they also reaffirm liberating traditions that have been lost or underplayed through the centuries. The theological process for these women involves the recognition of their responsibility to examine both the past and the present. Here we find a source of their hope. With that in mind, we will now more closely examine the past and present context out of which their theology arises. No theology emerges devoid of a context. Political, church, and social history must be examined to understand the source of a theology and where that theology leads the faithful. Peru The Republic of Peru, with an estimated population of 27.5 million in 2002, borders Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the west, Bolivia to the southwest, and Chile to the south. The current borders contain a country slightly smaller than Alaska. When the Spanish arrived in 1531, the highly developed Inca civilization was centered here. With a nucleus at the city of Cuzco, the Incan empire covered a vast area from northern Ecuador to central Chile. Peru had been a center of artistic expression since pre-Columbian times, and the Inca people preserved these crafts and made remarkable accomplishments in architectural design. The Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro waged a ruinous war against the Inca people in his quest for gold. The conquerors captured Cuzco in 1533 and consolidated their control by 1542. Silver and gold from the Incas was the main source of wealth that paid for the Spanish invasion 12 The Call of God of the continent. Peru quickly became the focal point of power...