A Call to Action: Embracing Liberation Ecumenism in the Struggle Against Fundamentalism in Latin America

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the rise of fundamentalism in Latin America in recent decades and reflect on how reclaiming the roots of the region’s liberation ecumenism can serve as a crucial tool in combating this phenomenon. First, it examines how religious fundamentalism has been employed as a strategy of neocolonialism in the region. Next, the article explores how Liberation Ecumenism—an alliance between Christian churches and social movements—played a vital role in resisting dictatorships across Latin America. Through concrete examples, it demonstrates how this approach facilitated both the articulation and mobilization of social and political forces to fight authoritarian regimes, promote social justice, and defend human rights. The article then highlights recent initiatives by the Abya Yala Articulation, a movement that unites popular groups such as Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement with ecumenical centers like the Martin Luther King Center in Cuba and the Center for Education, Training, and Research for Peasants in Argentina. The Abya Yala Articulation seeks to propose concrete and collective actions to confront fundamentalisms, deepen the theoretical understanding of this phenomenon, and consolidate a group focused on international political and ecumenical coordination. Based on these reflections, the article aims to stimulate debate on the significance of Liberation Ecumenism in combating fundamentalism in Latin America and how this approach can contribute to the construction of a more just and equitable society in the region.