«De modernismi vestigiis» in America Latina
Le risposte dei vescovi latinoamericani alla Pascendi e al Sacrorum Antistitum
abstract
By reading the answers of Latin American bishops to the dictates of Pascendi (and of Sacrorum Antistitum) one gathers the impression of a heterogenous clergy and of a complex relationship, at times uneasy, with Rome. Nonetheless, these documents bear testimony of a change in perspective since the pontificate of Gregory XVI, of the difficult renewal of the relationship between the Holy See and the Latin American Churches and of the ecclesiastical reform started by Pius IX and Leon XIII. Aside from the Colombian clergyman Enrique Uribe, Latin American bishops do not perceive a clear modernist threat, advising the Holy Father to turn His attention to other, more present dangers: Liberalism, freemasonry, secular schools, and protestants. In the end it is clear, even more so from the cautious Roman responses, that Latin America is not, nor it is considered, liable of Modernism, and yet it is still too far from the heart of the Catholic Church.
Keywords: Modernism • Roman Catholic Church • Latin America • Sacrorum Antistitum • Pius X • Pascendi