A CRY FROM RIOBAMBA

 In his Fedora hat, Quichua garb and with absolute confidence, the
indigenous Master of  Ceremonies intervened during the discourse of one of
many Latin American Bishops  present in Riobamba, Ecuador for a 
hemispheric meeting of the churches, "Thank you, Monsenor, your time is 
up." The bishop stopped talking.

 This incident is symbolic of  a rapidly expanding "leadership from the
base" in Latin  America. Equally interesting is the honesty of the Bishops
themselves, "There is  starvation, slavery, land theft and ecocide in my
diocese," said one Bishop from Brazil.  "When the Papal Nuncio came to
visit, his singular concern was that I shave off my  mustache." The Bishop
still has the mustache. Perhaps it would be better to keep all of  this a
secret. But this is the information age!

The Awakening.

  Yes, everyone knows about the Conquistadores, the Crown and the Cross,
the Inquisition, the Oligarchies and the Armies of oppression. What is not
yet known is the awakening of  hemispheric consciousness.

 It began in 1810 with the Grito de Dolores of Father Hidalgo, the Father
of the Mexican  Independence. It continued with ongoing revolutions from
Mexico and the Caribbean to  Tierra del Fuego. Generally these armed
struggles were put down with beastly  oppression.

 After Vatican Council II (1962-1965), the churches gathered at Medellin,
Colombia in  1968 to insist on a "preferential option for the poor" and the
pursuit of a non-violent  struggle.

 In August of 1976 in the wake of the Medellin Conference, the hemispheric
churches met  in Riobamba, Ecuador. The material of the conference was
considered "subversive" by  the Ecuadoran government. Seventeen Latin
America Bishops were arrested together  with other clergy and laity. They
were held prisoner and finally expelled from Ecuador.  The church was
beginning to accept its call as a servant of liberation. The word
liberation  replaced the word development. Latin American governments 
then replaced the objective  of  liberation with the concept national security
state (read dictatorship).

 In 1980, Bishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero personified the preferential option
for the poor.  He was shot through the heart by Salvadoran "authorities"
while celebrating Mass on  March 24th of that year.

Riobamba, Ecuador, August/September, 1998

 Hoping that the Ecuadoran government would not intervene as in 1976, the
churches of  Latin America convened in the Andes with a new component;
macro-ecumenism. With  the help of the Ecclesial Base Communities,
Protestants, Indigneous  religions and the  surrounding community, a
synthesis of consensus was expressed in THE CRY OF  RIOBAMBA.

 The document was read in the Colosseum of Riobamba, Ecuador by Bishop
Pedro  Casaldaliga of Brazil. Triumphal ads for Coca Cola, Sprite, Fanta
and again Coca Cola  surrounded the stadium. Some ten thousands people
chanted their approval to the  statement.  Here is a summary:

 From the heights of Chimborazo we join in a "Cry of the Excluded" and the
hopes of the  people of our continent. In an ecumenical spirit we call upon
the God of Exodus and of  the Passover who always hears the cry of the
people in the process of liberation and of life. We are celebrating the
30th anniversary of the Medellin Conference and the second  millenium, the
Jubilee of the coming of Jesus.

 During these days, we have visited the communities and participated in
dialogues with  the Indigenous people, African-Americans, the pastoral
workers and the base communities. We have seen the vitality of  a people
cultivated prophetically by their  pastors and becoming protagonists for
the poor. We direct our attention to:

 *  the option for the poor. Never has this been more important. More than
70% of the people of Latin America are excluded by the new economic order
(neo-liberalismo).

 *  the struggles and the contribution of an alternative by the Indigenous
people and the  African-American people, especially in the defense of the
land while living in accord  with their cultural identity and social
autonomy.

 * the community as an expression of "communion and participation".

 * Solidarity among the people and the churches of our country with the
churches and  people of other continents, especially those of the third
world.

 1. Regarding the option for the poor:

  * we denounce  absolutely the iniquity of the new economic order in its
totality. It is a system of exclusion, idolatry of profit, and out of
control ecocide. Related to this  onslaught is the expansion of arms sales
together with repressive militarism and   paramilitarism.

 * as one voice with people from all over the world, we denounce the new
and  perverse assault known as The Multilateral Agreement on Investment.

 * we remain in permanent struggle for the abolition of the external debt
and even more,   we demand the payment of the social debt which is owed to
our people at the cost of their  lives and their dignity.

 * we intend to pursue the reform of international institutions such as the
United Nations,  The International Monetary Fund and The World Bank 
which currently give privileged  status to affluent and exploitative countries.
We also intend to participate in the reform of  the political, judicial and
social institutions of our own countries.

 * we will support, with effective solidarity, the process of peace and
liberation while we  simultaneously oppose the impunity and
institutionalized violence which has marked our  continent, particularly in
Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia and Haiti.

 * we will promote the participation of the general public in politics and
in the promotion  of civil society.

  2. We will evolve from an ecumenism of intention, discourse and isolated
gestures to a mutual recognition of the churches while understanding the
complementary nature of the truths we hold and the sanctity of the unique
mystery of Christ:

 * overcoming ancient historical conflicts and arguments which are often
unrelated to the gospel message.

 *  serving prophetically in the community of justice and peace and for the
integrity  of  creation.

 * maintaining a macroecumenical dialogue with all religions, most
specifically the  Indigenous and African-American religions, to share of
the faith in one God and one  human family within one welcoming Spirit in
self-critical and critical conversion

 * overcoming the attitudes of centralization and authoritarianism of the
Catholic  Church as well as the atomization of the Evangelical Churches.

 * recognizing all women and men in equality through baptism and for the
service of the  kingdom. We foster the adult participation of the laity,
especially of women, in the  churches to exercise various ministries and to
hold decision making posts.

 * inculturating with the light of the gospel and the liberty of the
Spirit, the liturgy,  theology and all pastoral actions.

 * constructing, day by day, the church which we envision as the people of
God, with the  Bible a living reality in the ecclesial base communities and
through the social pastoral  ministry with a creativity faithful to the
gospel, our times and our America.

 We hope that this might be the life style and support system for life in
our respective  churches and countries; the true and permanent Jubilee
established by Jesus of Nazareth.  Going beyond occasional triumphalist
commemorations, we hope to concretize a Biblical  Jubilee in society and in
the churches. Therefore we are calling for a personal and  structural
conversion in our churches and societies which will be manifest by living
in  faith with coherence and inculturation.

 A fraternal community of peace with justice and dignity will lead to great
renewal of land  tenure, housing, education, communication and work.

 We want to recover the historic memory of our churches and our people as
we take the  responsibility for centuries of struggle and martyrdom. We
march with many  brothers and sisters from our America, from all of the
Third World and from solidarity  in the First World, to fight with hope
against  the fatalism of a system imposed on us. We  are confident in the
loving presence of the God of Jesus, liberator of the poor, Father- Mother
of the human family.

For the Catholic Church
Samuel Ruiz Garcia
For the theologians
Jose Comblin
For religious life
Magdalena Vandenheen
For the Protestant and Evangelical churches
Federico Pagura
For pastoral workers
Jose Oscar Beozzo
For laypeople
Adolfo Perez Esquivel

Riobamba, Ecuador, 30 de agosto de 1998

Translated by: Blase Bonpane, Ph.D., a participant in the Riobamba
Conference and the Southern California  Representative of Secretariado
Internacional Cristiano de  Solidaridad con los Pueblos de America Latina:
Oscar A. Romero (SICSAL). {The International Christian Secretariat in
Solidarity with the People of Latin America: Oscar A. Romero}.