Thread by @mariliacout

1/ The far-right attack on the Vatican: why does it matter to everyone
As the Amazon Synod was being prepared and took place, a dark movement within and around the Catholic Church started to stick its ugly head out: the Catholic far-right

2/ Cardinal Schönborn emphasized a position adopted by Pope Francis as he was elected: to listen to the people.
vaticannews.va/en/vatican-cit…

3/ As I will try to show, this movement towards the people, the disenfranchised began in the 60-70s and has been slowly moving. The Catholic Church moves slowly.

4/ What is the Synod of Bishops in the Catholic Church: A Synod of Bishops is an advisory body to the Pope. Not that unlike an “Episcopal Council” or “Conference” (more later on the connection of this and the CELAM theology of liberation movement)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synod_of_…

5/ The Amazonia Synod clearly sided with the Indigenous communities, activists and scientists and sent a not-too-subtle message to Bolsonaro and Trump’s mob concerning the environment and human rights.
synod.va/content/synod/…

6/ This is not new. In 2017, in preparation for the Amazon Synode, Pope Francis declared: “"the day after tomorrow will be the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty".”
web.archive.org/web/2019061814…

7/ “Vatican II’s forgotten apostle of the poor stages comeback at Amazon synod”
cruxnow.com/news-analysis/…

8/ As the article below explains, the Catholic Church has a “small but vociferous hardline conservative wing”.
reuters.com/article/us-pop…

9/ Their leaders inside the Church, in high rank, have names in Germany and the USA. Wait another 2 tweets to learn where the real fascist power comes from.

10/ “Leading the pack is Cardinal Raymond Burke and Kazakhstan Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider. They have called for a 40-day crusade of prayer and fasting to prevent what they term ‘serious theological errors and heresies’”
ncronline.org/news/opinion/d…

11/ Here is where the read danger is: the silent but ever-present super-uber-ultra-right in Brazil. “Righter” than the righest right:
religionnews.com/2019/10/03/opp…

12/ the Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Institute, or IPCO. It is connected to the para-military far-right organization “Tradition, Family and Property”

pliniocorreadeoliveira.info/UKF_0204_PCO.h…

13/ If anybody wants a scale, "Tradition, Family and Property" makes Opus Dei look like Ghandi.

14/ Like so many dangerous terrorists, they look just freaks and nutjobs, but they mean business. Claiming the Vatican is promoting heresy and “demonic” actions just sounds crazy. Be weary of RW crazy: it never ends well.
cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/1…

15/ Now it is time to put all this in the context of how Theology of Liberation, as a Catholic school of thought and movement, emerged. Its history dates back to the 50s and is deeply connected to human rights movements in Latin America:
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1116383…

16/ It took me a while to understand the American Catholic Church, so authoritarian and not that different from right-wing evangelicals.

17/ Indeed, the rise of Liberation Theology marked a permanent estrangement between the Latin American and USA Church, almost as if they were two different churches.

18/ Because I still remember when protest in Brazil were held at the Sé Cathedral in downtown São Paulo, under the protective wings of D. Paulo Evaristo Arns.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Eva…

19/ And I still remember the terror we felt when we saw the TFP righter-than-the-far-right people on the streets. I can't find pictures. There's just my teenager terrified memory of those men in suits and their gigantic flags.

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