El movimiento estudiantil católico en Uruguay y sus redes regionales (1959-1966)

Abstract

In the early 1960s, connections between sectors of the Uruguayan Catholic student movement and other Latin American lay groups, identified with liberationist Catholicism, intensified. Through these regional networks, exchanges and learning were fostered, such as the deepening of Latin Americanism, which were not exempt from religious and ideological tensions and conflicts. Partly because of these processes, in the mid-1960s the joint Latin American Secretariat was established in Montevideo. This organization brought together Catholic students from two global organizations: the International Movement of Catholic Students of Pax Romana and the International Young Catholic Students. This research focuses, above all, on the relations between groups belonging to the specialized Catholic Action, which were distinguished by the use of the theological-pastoral method known as Revision of Life, promoted by the Belgian priest Joseph Cardijn. They focused on uniting experience, in particular the social reality in which people moved and their religious life. This article seeks to contribute to the study and understanding of the gestation and development of the networks generated among the Uruguayan Catholic student movement and other similar groups in the region linked to liberationist Catholicism.