Christianity in Latin America- from the Beginning to Pope Francis

This is a comprehensive course on the study of Christianity in the context of Latin America. After exploring the history of religion in colonial Latin America. Specific issues and topics that will be covered during the semester will be: 1) colonial development of Latin American Catholicism; 2) Jesuit contributions to Latin American religion and issues of criollo/mestizo and indigenous inculturation; 3) rise of liberalism, political revolution, and national religious contexts; national church consolidations and the development of specific cultural Catholicism (Mexican, Cuban, Columbian, etc); 4) early Latin American Protestantism and its evolution; 5) Social Catholicism, Catholic Action, and the Christian Democracy movement; 6) Latin American contributions to Vatican II; 7) post-Vatican II Catholicism and Liberal Protestantism and rise of Liberation Theology and political reactions; 8) rise of Protestant Evangelicalism and indigenous religious movements and their effects on national and regional politics and public policies; and 9) new trends of Catholic lay movements, Mormonism, and Evangelicals; 10) Aparecida: where Francis' Pontificate Began. 11) The Ecclesiology of Pope Francis.