Abstract

The article reflects on some of the main events that have characterized the long-term adaptation processes of the Catholic social doctrine in contemporary Latin America. Leaving behind the long experience of colonial patronage, between pastoral projects and concrete proposals of Welfare, processes of secularization and transformation of national contexts and regional framework dictatorships and democratic transitions, protectionist and liberal economic policies, during the last two centuries the action of the Church has passed through all crucial stages of the social history of the subcontinent. From the Latin American Plenary Council of the late nineteenth century to the rise of the first Latin American pope, the article draws some reflections on a complex part of the world that many consider a vital and creative laboratory, both at social and ecclesial level.