A Voice for the People of God

In a September gathering that Nobel Peace Laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel described as "the Pentecost of Latin America," 500 delegates celebrated the first Latin American and Caribbean meeting of the Assembly of the People of God (Asamblea del Pueblo de Dios, or APD). The delegates were elected by national assemblies in 20 countries in the region as part of an ongoing process of reflection and action on 500 years of Christian presence in the Americas.

The gathering took place outside of Quito, Ecuador, in a church camp that had surely never seen a revival quite like this one. The APD is directly tied to the prophetic tradition of giving voice to the voiceless, the forgotten, the marginalized. But in the ongoing APD process the region's poor majority is speaking for itself and making its own discoveries.

The message was one of courage and determination, but also of the pain of those for whom survival is a daily challenge. A woman from Costa Rica's Atlantic coast denounced that the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) strategy for the elimination of poverty is simple: Eliminate the poor, imposing austerity measures that undermine their very survival.

In one discussion after another, people talked about how the neoliberal economic policies now in vogue have rendered surplus millions of Latin America's poor. These people no longer have a constructive role to play in current development plans. Moreover, they are regarded as a burden, and they are indeed dying in increasing numbers as a result of IMF-mandated cuts in food subsidies, sanitation, health care, and other social spending.

The APD proclaims a different vision. It is rooted in a profound faith in the God of life and an insistence by the poor that they will be the subjects, the makers, of their own history. In this sense the APD continues the process of change that has swept through the base of Latin America's social pyramid over the last 30 years. But the gathering in Quito also marked historic strides in the continent's march toward liberation.

It was the first such region-wide, faith-based gathering called together by the people themselves through their diverse popular organizations rather than through the leadership of the churches. As an egalitarian, participatory movement, the APD was able to extend the frontiers of Latin American ecumenism to a degree that surprised even those who were present. Not only did it reflect the close collaboration of those of Catholic and evangelical denominations to a degree rarely achieved in Latin America, the APD also nurtured respect, acceptance, and dialogue among Christians and followers of indigenous and African-American religions. Again and again participants affirmed God's desire for unity--though not uniformity--among all God's people.

ON THE FIRST night of the assembly, when Indian representatives proudly extended greetings in 12 different indigenous languages, the 500 years of resistance took on a new depth of meaning for those present. In that moment the continued existence of indigenous culture and religion--alongside of and often mixed with Christianity--became a sign of God's saving grace and a testimony to the power of the human spirit to struggle, survive, and ultimately triumph.

The great diversity in the face of the New World Order's imposed uniformity was celebrated as a source of richness. The legacy of centuries of domination continued to be a source of tension and pain. Yet across the expanse of the diversity, the degree of unity achieved--always imperfect, always a struggle--was acclaimed a blessing.

When the APD was initiated in 1989, it was seen as an opportunity for the people of God to come together to reflect, prayerfully and penitentially, on 500 years of Christian presence in the Americas and to illuminate the present in the light of that past. Certainly it has been that.

But in the process of faithful reflection, it has become much more. Through the APD the poor are expressing themselves freely. They are creating their own experience of what it means to be the people of God, committed to the struggle for the realization of God's liberating promise. And while the APD continues to honor and celebrate its largely Christian identity, it is also respectful and eager to learn from the faith traditions of others. The result is both a broadening and a deepening of the experience of God's presence.

The APD has now taken on a life of its own, no longer tied to the commemorations of 1992 but full of the expectations created by this first continental assembly. Now the focus returns to the national reflection process in each country. A minimal international coordination will be maintained, and another continental assembly is anticipated for 1996. Attempts will be made to extend its reach. An interest in involving Latinos in the United States was specifically affirmed by the assembly.

Bishop Pedro Casaldaliga from Brazil was one of several bishops who attended, mostly as attentive listeners. At the close of the gathering, he shared his conviction that "The history of the people of God in Latin America will be divided into before and after the APD."

Carmen Corporan, a Christian base community leader from the Dominican Republic, expressed the deep sense of hope and commitment inspired by the gathering. "This meeting has been the breaking of the silence of 500 years for the Indians," Corporan said. "It is going to strengthen all of us and help us to recognize that it is we--the Indians, the blacks, and the Mestizos--who make up our Latin America.

"In dialogue--understanding what unites us and strengthened by our diversity--we will push forward a new social project, a project that promises life in full for all."

Philip McManus participated in the Quito gathering and was Latin America staffperson at the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz, California, when this article appeared. He was also co-editor of Relentless Persistence: Nonviolent Action in Latin America (New Society Publishers, 1991).