One particular form of persecution is watering down Catholic teaching to the point of making it unrecognisable. The Soviets used this method, and the communists in China continue to do so. But in Latin America, left-wing authoritarian regimes are also seeking to wrest the “cultural hegemony” to themselves. This is what the Italian communist Antonio Gramsci called for a hundred years ago. In Nicaragua the regime is attempting to do this through a false, New Age ideology. It is the most rapidly growing ideology in Latin America at the present time. The personal relationship with God promoted by Christianity is set against an impersonal and pseudo –
scientific alternative universal religion. Beneath the camouflage of seemingly Christian ideals, it presents itself as close to the indigenous peoples and their traditions and is aggressively promoted by the state-run media
and social networks.
This year, in order to counter this false ideology, the diocese of Matagalpa has established a formation programme for 250 catechists, pastoral workers and lay helpers from the Catholic religious movements. Over the course of 12 weeks participants are taught to see through the nature of this false ideology with the help of teaching and doctrine from the Vatican. In his introduction, Bishop Rolando Alvarez quotes these words of warning from Pope Francis: “To whom am I praying? To the cosmic God?… This polytheistic way of thinking, that springs from a superficial culture.” Because, as Pope Benedict XVI states in his encyclical Deus caritas est, “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” Thus equipped with solid Christian arguments, the participants will then be able to return to their communities and defend the Catholic faith in all its purity. We are supporting this programme with €8,200.
In Cuba, where the Church is banned from disseminating any Christian teachings outside the walls of its churches, the bishops have found a simple way of gaining entrance nevertheless to the public spaces and the private
homes of the people. They have done so by combining the good with the useful – a simple wall calendar, which is allowed to be distributed even though it also contains Christian images and catechetical texts. This
year the emphasis is on the youth apostolate, and the calendar features youthful role models of faith, surrounded by excerpts from the papal exhortation Christus vivit. Demand for the calendar is considerable, even among non-Catholics. And it can even be found hanging on the walls of a number of public offices. Last year the focus was on the family, and before that on the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and even the role of the laity in the Church and in society. The vast majority of the 438,000 calendars are distributed free of charge. But the cost of paper, printing and distribution is too much for the impoverished local Church, so we are helping with €35,000. So in this way Cuban culture will not entirely lose its Christian inheritance, even in public spaces.
