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

Based on a detailed study of the available historical documents, the authorshows how Bourbon regalism had a notable effect on the development of theindependence movements, especially with Creole clergy and their connectionwith the Spanish Crown. An analysis is made of the underlining ideologicalsuppositions and factors arising from the low esteem of ecclesiastical life, thecriticisms of royal patronage, the effects of the May Revolution and the clergy’sactive participation in it. Following that line, consideration is given to theestablishment of regalism in the strict sense, as well as the essential features ofthe new juridical formulations and the connected regal rights. The basic characteristics of the reform program brought about by Charles III is also considered, with the effects on pastoral and ecclesiastic life which such reformsbrought about, including the teaching of both Christian doctrine and of philosophyand theology, in the context of the anti-Jesuit climate at that time.Following that it presents the confrontation of the Crown with Rome; thecontradictions in government of Charles IV and its intervention in the frustratedimplementation of the Caroline reforms, together with characteristicsand consequences of the policies of Charles III’s sucessor. Finally a considerationis made of the consequences, in the pastoral field, of such policies withregard to ecclesiastic appointments and the relationship between the Indianhierarchy and local authorities.

The publication of the Letter Iuvenescit Ecclesia by the Congregation for the Doctrineof the Faith allows an analysis of the relationship between institution and charismin the heart of the church community. A new charismatic wave, born in the 20th century,recalls the need of a serious consideration to assure a positive bond between bothpermanent, steady elements (ministry/hierarchical gifts) and the novel elements fromthe Holly Spirit (charisms) in the Church. The arising and growth of new charisms, some of them now facing critical situations, demands an analysis of the interrelationship between charism and institution within the organizations.

In this text, the author selects some statements on practical theology made by three contemporary authors: Henri-Jerôme Gagey, David Tracy and I. Baumgarter. She will try to show how these statements throw light on spiritual direction as practiced in the church. Lastly, she presents a short reflexion in order to give continuity in studying this theme.

The second part of this study develops the question of the unity of knowledge,under two aspects: the unity of order, which arises from the natural hierarchyof the sciences due to their distinct formal objects, and the unity of integration,which establishes the interaction between the disciplines in reference to the onematerial object. As to the unity of order the classical theory of subalternationis developed, with the distinctions called for by the actual diversification bothin the natural and human sciences. With regard to the unity of integration, the fundamental terms of the dialogue between philosophy, theology and science are presented. Finally, the original contribution of Maritain, which he called existential epistemology, is introduced, in which an attempt is made to overcome the rigidity of the formal objects towards an outlook directed to the concrete. As examples, the theme of knowledge as connatural, science as a virtue and the question of christian philosophy are introduced.

The authors reconstruct in these pages the Sitz im Lebem of the Second GeneralConference of the Latin American Episcopate, offering some clues of interpretationand study according to the thematic axis "situation / sign of the times-reformprophecy".In order to approach these objectives, they deepen, in turn, thetestimonies of Cardinal Eduardo Pironio, a direct source of such event.

Facing the 2012 Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelizationfor the Transmission of the Christian Faith, the present article invites to thinkon various meanings of the new evangelization and contributions of the LatinamericanChurch in dialogue with the Instrumentum laboris. It presents thenew evangelization as: the enacting of the first pastoral Council; a hermeneuticaldiscernment from the People of God settled in the World Continents; therenovation of the evangelizing action in the light of Evangelii nuntiandi fromPope Paul VI; the proclamation of the Newness of Christ facing new signs ofthe times; a process of acculturated and liberating evangelization initiated inLatin America; a new season in the Church history and a missionary pastoralwork facing the faith crisis according to Pope John Paul II; the transmission ofthe fullness of life through the joy of the faith according to Pope Benedict XVI;the revitalization of the apostolic vocation by means of a permanent missionarymovement according to Aparecida. The text makes proposals for the LatinamericanChurch to make appear her heart and hear her voice in the cominginterchange of the Synod. She can share the newness of her regional figure andsome typical aspects of her pastoral life, like the piety of the popular CatholicChristianity, the evangelizing co-responsibility between the baptized, the preferentiallove for the poor, the face of a half-caste, urban and unequal Continent,located in the West and the South. She can encourage the recognizing of thepresence of the God – Love in the secular culture, the conversion to a pastoralspirituality in hope, the gift of the encounter with Christ through overwhelminggratitude and joy. The text gives witness, showing signs to hope for theChurch in the Third Millennium that new winds blew from the South.