Catholicism and Religion in Santiago: Hope and Frustration, Seen through a Different Lens

By: Sarah Baran

April 4, 2013

Since I first stepped off the plane and took in the dry dusty soil of Santiago, a city encased by the burnt orange backdrop of the Andes Mountains, Chile has and continues to surprise me. Stray dogs wander the streets. Milk, eggs, and cooked meat are not refrigerated. Friends, families, and acquaintances are all greeted with a kiss on the cheek. It is a culture rich with music: performers dot the streets, sidewalks, buses, and metro. Every day, the diversity of this city brimming with roughly six million people—almost a third of the country’s total population—continues to impress me. Religion is no exception. I have met Chileans who are Mormon, Jewish, evangelical, Jehovah's Witnesses, and of course what I expected—Catholic.

More than just these observances, I have also had the opportunity to get to know Chile more personally through my relationship with my host family. Religion came up the very first day, and my family was surprised to hear that I was a practicing Catholic. I reciprocated the emotion as we began to explain our beliefs. My host mother identifies as Christian and has a very strong relationship with God, but does not attend a church. My host brother, who is 25, does not have a religion, and my host sister who is 21 is spiritual and has her own beliefs but also does not identify with a religion. When my mom explained this I made eye contact with my sister, who looked a little apprehensive as she waited for my response. Yet, her hesitation disappeared almost immediately as I offered an encouraging smile that I hoped would be sufficient in explaining what I could not in Spanish: I was excited to learn my family was very tolerant, open, and accepting of these different beliefs.

Since that first day, I have had several conversations about religion with my host mom, and I always walk away amazed by their depth despite the limitations of my Spanish. Yet, thankfully I have found that the things most important in life can be conveyed, discussed, and shared despite the wall of obstacles dividing two people who for their entire lives have lived 5,225 miles apart. Through these conversations I have found that my mother is one of the most spiritual people I know, as she has opened up to me about the difficulty of continuing a relationship with God after the death of her mother and later when she witnessed the death of her friends who were first tortured and detained during the dictatorship of Pinochet and the military golpe in 1973.

Her decision to not attend church is less based on the political power of the Catholic Church, which in Chile has strong ties with the elite right, a reason my host brother and many other Chileans in my generation have left the religion of their parents, and more with her frustration in how the institution operates. She explained to me that this frustration is rooted in what she refers to as the structural hypocrisy that separates priests and other church leaders from the poor and those in most need of help. The goal of the church is to work for the people, but she said the large cathedrals adorned with ornate art and lit by golden chandlers undermine the very principles of Christianity. I pointed out there are priests and Catholic churches that not only preach but also practice the values of service, citing Alberto Hurtado, a Jesuit social worker, strong advocate of the youth, and founder of the Chilean Trade Union Association. I also mentioned Father Andrés Jarlan, a priest loved and strongly remembered by his parishioners in the historic and disadvantaged neighborhood La Victoria of Santiago. He was tragically assassinated during Pinochet’s rule. Yet, she returned my rebuttal with a look that made it clear I was only pointing out a minority in comparison with the majority.

She does not like when priests live luxuriously and have their expenses paid by the congregation. Adamantly, she repeated that this is not how Jesus lived or what Jesus taught. She went on to explain that it is for this reason that she does not support the papacy. However, she has been following the buzz around Jorge Borgolio or Papa Francisco, the new pope, since she knows I was excited about his ordination. We are both very optimistic about his intentions of addressing the needs of the poor and his humble actions that provide merit for his words. Consequently, we are both excited for possible changes—not to mention he is the first Jesuit pope! Others though, like my brother, are less enthusiastic. He criticizes that Borgolio did not do enough in defending two priests who were kidnapped and tortured during the dictatorship in Argentina.

These concerns about the work, message, and visions of the church have been echoing in my thoughts as I grow more accustomed to Chilean culture. I have definitely found a lot of truth in the frustrations of my family. The dichotomy of inequality in Santiago, and Chile in general, is overwhelming. The student protests in the streets are clear indications of the people’s dissatisfaction with the Chilean education system. Furthermore, in one of my classes I recently learned surreal statistics about the economic disparity here: the largest businesses, owned by less than 1 percent of the population, control 90 percent of the wealth in the country and 99 percent of exports. Yet, despite the economic and political face the Catholic church has taken, as I attended the procession on Good Friday—an hour and a half march through the streets of Coquimbo La Serena, six hours north of Santiago—where almost the entire town filled the street, singing songs of praise and stopping every couple of blocks to read a passage from the Bible or offer a prayer as we went through the stations of the cross, I was overcome by the sense of community. Walking together, we were all united in faith and sharing more than just our beliefs. While the Catholic Church in Chile, like many of the institutions here, definitely needs to address some of these issues in the wake of newfound democracy; it can also be found offering support and fighting for change.

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