ABSTRACT
Latin America looms large in contemporary discussions of the relationship between politics and religion. Changes within the Church of that region have provoked or contributed to debates that have had a significant impact on the global Christian community. Shifts in the perceptions and alliances of many Latin American Churchmen have opened up political and theological controversies whose effects have been experienced in many other parts of the world. A Church once relatively united in defence of conservative doctrinal and social positions has become an important centre and source of international ecclesiastical division. Equally, a Church inclined to follow in the wake of European ecclesiological or theological trends has become one of the universal Church’s pacesetters in such matters.
