Migration, Pastoral Action, and Latin America

Abstract

Although the presence of great indigenous civilizations with significant nuclei of populations has left its trace on the history of Central and South America, the presence of a large number of Europeans, Africans, and Asians, who have similarly given shape to their demographic profile, cannot be ignored. The pastoral action of the Catholic Church and of the Protestants of European origin accompanied this process in the nineteenth century. And while in the twentieth century the European and Asian migration processes continued, the novelty was the great mobility among Latin American countries, a reality less well known than the migration of Mexicans and Central Americans to the United States. Interestingly, in parallel form, the increase of the pastoral action of the Catholic Church among migrants since the middle of the twentieth century has been relatively understudied. Since the decade of the 1980s the institutions of the Catholic Church have become intermediaries between the states and the migrants. They have been among the greatest spokespersons for the needs of the immigrants to the authorities of the states and at the same time have been collaborating in requiring the states to promulgate rights and to provide benefits for immigrants. Similarly, the Catholic Church has worked with organizations of the Latin American civil society and in many cases has joined their efforts as a promoter and major funder.