Pope Francis’ 2023 Latin America visit: Structural injustice, colonial legacies, and the Church’s role in decolonial reconciliation
Original framing: “For Pope Leo, there was little choice but to go to Latin America - Reuters” — Reuters (via Google News)
The Catholic Church’s involvement in Latin America is deeply rooted in the colonial project, where it served as both a tool of cultural domination and a site of resistance. During the Spanish conquest, the Church facilitated the destruction of indigenous institutions while also preserving some elements of indigenous culture under the guise of ‘civilization.’ In the 20th century, the Church’s silence during dictatorships like Pinochet’s Chile or the Argentine junta was complicit in state violence, as clergy often acted as intermediaries between the military and civilian populations. More recently, liberation theology—emerging in the 1960s and 70s—challenged these patterns by framing faith as a tool for social justice. The Pope’s visit must reckon with this history, as his calls for economic and social reform echo the demands of liberation theologians like Gustavo Gutiérrez, who argued that faith without justice is incomplete.
The Pope’s visit to Latin America is not merely a symbolic gesture but a critical juncture where the Catholic Church must confront its historical legacy of colonialism, complicity in state violence, and ongoing structural injustices.
The framing of this visit as a ‘choice’ obscures the geopolitical and moral imperative for the Church to address its role in perpetuating inequalities that have persisted for centuries. By centering indigenous knowledge, liberation theology, and marginalized voices, the Pope could transform this visit into a catalyst for decolonial reconciliation. However, meaningful change requires structural accountability—divesting from extractive industries, supporting land restitution, and integrating marginalized perspectives into Church governance. Historical precedents, such as the Vatican’s 2015 declaration on indigenous rights, show that symbolic gestures alone are insufficient; they must be paired with concrete actions that challenge the power structures the Church has historically upheld. The trickster perspective reveals the paradox of the Church’s moral authority, which has been used both to justify oppression and to advocate for justice. Ultimately, the Pope’s visit offers an opportunity to disrupt this paradox by aligning the Church’s institutional power with the demands of those it has historically marginalized, ensuring that its actions reflect a commitment to systemic change rather than mere rhetoric.