ABSTRACT
This chapter is an inventory and analysis of the social action and community development programs directed by the Diocese of San Carlos. Qualitative and quantitative data on a number of programs is presented. Programs include herbal medicine production and distribution, communal livestock production, a food and farm goods cooperative, feeding the poorest families, clean water production, building schools, and political engagement with government and multinational corporations. The strengths and weaknesses of each program are discussed, and what is revealed is a complex machine of social action with which the diocese is able to spur its own vision of community empowerment under the banner of Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs). The data produced suggests divergence from the original dream of BECs, whereby small groups of families find their own meaningful development. Instead, the diocese level is shown to be the real scale of development, with a managerial role in all social action happening within its borders.
