Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Among the current profound t ra nsformations in Western Christia nit y, t wo emerging phenomena stand out that involve the relationship between science and religion and that anticipate a trend towards radical changes in the religious-spiritual sphere. Both phenomena originated two sociological investigations carried out between 2013 and 2019: “Self-secularization of Christian thought: a sociological observation of the structural and semantic transformations of the religious sphere in contemporary society” and “Neurosciences and self-secularization of Christianity: a scientific foundation for religiosity?”. ftis article presents an overview of the results of these investigations, highlighting the concept of self- secularization as a process of de- construction of dogmatic-doctrinal language in order to preserve the core of the Christian message for new generations. It also highlights how neuroscientific studies on religious phenomena endorse and deepen this process of self-secularization within Christianity. The article tries to contribute to the understanding of the current sociocultural scenarios for the necessary updating of Religious Education.

Since the creation of the Lay Formation Plan for the Archdiocese of Santiago (2001), several formative processes have been implemented under the guidelines of its document. ftese guidelines have required to be reviewed and renewed considering the cultural, social and ecclesial changes that new formative conditions demand. ftis article presents the main findings of the consultation and reflection processes led by INPAS, taking on the challenges of seeking a new proposal of formation for the laity. The procedure was carried out through surveys that characterize sociologically the laity and show the impacts of Christian formation on their lives, together with focus groups and group interviews that provide key ideas for the foundations of a new proposal. From this basis, we highlight the importance of delivering processes that consider the integrity of the person, contribute to the development of Christian discernment and collaborate in the synthesis of faith and life.

The study of migration as a social phenomenon in Latin America is currently of great importance, not only from the economic and legal theory but also from a humanistic dimension. The interrelationship between migration, culture and religion and the pedagogical challenges that affect the praxis of religious education as an expression of Catholic identity, constitutes the problem studied here. fte problem was addressed using a descriptive type methodological design, based on qualitatively based records. fte results show the importance of the study of migration, culture and religion as challenges for religious education and its impact on Catholic identity. It is concluded that the migratory flows that have originated towards Chile, have had a great implication in the culture and in the promotion of religious practices, which constitute challenges for the education that guides the subject and his sense of transcendence.

The Latin American Bishops meeting in Puebla (Mexico, 1979), within the framework of the preferential option for the poor who take in continuity with Medellin (Colombia, 1968), affirm that this option has helped the Church to discover the evangelizing potential of the Poor. A few years ago pope Francis in the Encyclical Joy of the Gospel (2013) resumed the idea of the potential evangelizing potential of the poor. This text wants to provide a brief reflection on how the choice for the poor radically impacts Christian pedagogy, the one in which the disciple is formed, but also the one in which the Church enters into dialogue with the world, in a spatial way the scope formal school. It does not provide practical indications on how the choice for the poor is present in training plans, pedagogical projects or in the area curriculum. But if it is expected that, from them, it is the educational agents involved in these areas who make practical and ground decisions in this regard.

The path of beauty or via pulchritudinis, at the service of education in the faith, seems to be a new theme. Silence on this issue is quite evident in the two Catechetical directories (1971 and 1997). However, when we look through Sacred Scripture and the bimillennial journey of the Church, we understand why the Christian community was in need of beauty in order to proclaim the saving truth, which is not only truthful and good, but also beautiful. The European cultural dominance is evident in the subsidies for education in the faith. It is urgent to look for new signs and symbols; in words of Pope Francis, “a new flesh for the transmission of the Word”, from a Latin American perspective. A survey of catechetical aids denounces the oblivion of the category of beauty together with the little appreciation of Latin American artistic expressions. The via pulchritudinis is not a slogan, but it will rather be a pedagogical way to assume.

In response to the cultural and normative changes that affect education, catholic schools know they are challenged to rethink, confirm and position their educational project as a current proposal for this new time. A distinctive and key process is pastoral ministry, which, paradoxically, being valued in institutional discourse, is poorly understood in practice, both because of the complexity of the religious phenomenon and because of its poor articulation with the academic environment. This essay develops the contribution that ministry can make today so that student learning is a reflection of a believing synthesis of the knowledge and experiences that flow in school. Fundamental process of integral formation that every catholic school has as its horizon.

Through the encyclical “Laudato Si”, Pope Francis assumes the current times as the culture of discard, concerned with consumerism, where everything has value if acquired at a monetary cost. This article is the result of the intervention project carried out within the framework of the Diploma in Ecoteology for Pedagogical Practice. It is intended to provide reflections on the development of the didactic transposition in religion classes, as an instance for students to recognize the importance of caring for creation within the plan of God. The methodological strategy of participatory research and action was used to address the problem, which facilitated the participation of the community and responded to the ecological problem in the school, which allowed recognizing the importance of caring for nature, as a pedagogical strategy of returning to the origin of the human being and reflect on the need to strengthen the link with God, creator.