ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an ecclesial agendas and their impact on the nature and behavior of religious institutions, as well as individuals and society in general. The capacity of churches and church people to be effective agents for societal change and promoters of human rights will be examined using the Catholic church as the prime example. In fact, the Catholic church has, particularly since the late 1960s, demonstrated multiple tendencies with respect to evaluating contemporary societal structures and the need to change them. The consequences for the Catholic church of its support for greater democracy in Latin America included a heavier focus on public welfare and the means to promote it, which involved more specific positions on temporal issues. Ideological and political divisions within Latin American society make such reconciliation difficult. Since they are reflected within the church, they have given rise to considerable ideological and political tension and have made the maintenance of the church's commitment to universality problematic.
