Diego Meza

In this article, I analyze the conversion retreats of the John XXIII Movement in Ipiales, Colombia in order to understand the swift spread of new Catholic groups in Latin America. Based on a qualitative research, I examined through twenty semi-structured interviews the definitions, narratives and meanings that some members and leaders of this movement attribute to their confessions and public testimonies of conversion. Instead of distinguishing John XXIII spiritual retreats and conversion testimonies as forms of domination, I propose the concept of pedagogies of conversion, in other words, a set of practices that seek to morally educate believers and that create a double economy of freedom and constraint. Finally, I drawn on various stories to show how moral agency relates to the intensity of these practices and to the past religious experiences of believers.

A través de la aplicación del concepto de subjetivación política a una investigación cualitativa, en este artículo se analizan las modalidades de participación y de apatía política en el colectivo de migrantes de origen colombiano que residen en Roma. En ambas se involucran los contextos de origen y destino donde contribuyen diversas relaciones microsociales, además del vínculo clásico ciudadano-Estado. Además, se concluye que la apatía, más que una deformación del sistema político, es un modo-estrategia a través del cual las personas entienden su mundo y se ocupan de él.

This article delves into the significance and role of metaphors in shaping knowledge, perceptions, and decisions within the healthcare domain. Through a critical analysis of their impact, particularly in the dynamics between healthcare professionals and patients, three dimensions are proposed for unraveling their significance: the political dimension views metaphors as agents of power and tools for legitimizing inequalities; the cultural dimension sees them as cultural residues challenging prevailing biomedical knowledge; and the ethical dimension raises questions about the moral implications of the constructed narratives. This holistic approach aims to enhance our understanding of the intricate interplay between language, cognition, and disease, ultimately advocating for more comprehensive approaches in healthcare

Internal forced displacement is a current social problem in Colombia. Although this phenomenon has been studied extensively, the purpose of this article is to analyse the administration of this crisis under the grille interprétative of humanitarian government during the presidential term of Juan Manuel Santos (2010–18). My argument is that humanitarian government functions as a biopolitical assembly that amalgamates two elements: resilience – a fundamental element of psychosocial attention to the displaced – and the language of compassion used publicly by President Santos. Finally, I will try to underline that this logic operates as a condition of possibility to normalise this phenomenon and hide the functioning of the violence that unequally distributes the compassion between lives considered valuable and those whose lives and problems simply appear to be not valuable at all.

Pour comprendre la propagation rapide de certains nouveaux groupes catholiques en Amérique latine, je me propose ici d’étudier les retraites de conversion du Mouvement Jean XXIII à Ipiales, en Colombie. Sur la base d’une étude qualitative, j’ai examiné, à travers vingt entretiens semi-structurés les définitions, les récits et les significations que certains membres et dirigeants de ce groupe attribuent à leurs confessions et témoignages publics de conversion. Au lieu de considérer les retraites spirituelles du mouvement Jean XXIII et les témoignages de conversion comme des dispositifs de domination, je propose le concept de pédagogies de conversion, c’est-à-dire un ensemble de pratiques qui cherchent à éduquer moralement les croyants et qui permettent une double économie de liberté et de restriction. Enfin, je présente plusieurs histoires pour montrer comment l’agence morale est liée à l’intensité de ces pratiques et aux expériences religieuses antérieures des croyants.

Internal forced displacement is a current social problem in Colombia. Although this phenomenon has been studied extensively, the purpose of this article is to analyse the administration of this crisis under the grille interprétative of humanitarian government during the presidential term of Juan Manuel Santos (2010-18). My argument is that humanitarian government functions as a biopolitical assembly that amalgamates two elements: resiliencea fundamental element of psychosocial attention to the displacedand the language of compassion used publicly by President Santos. Finally, I will try to underline that this logic operates as a condition of possibility to normalise this phenomenon and hide the functioning of the violence that unequally distributes the compassion between lives considered valuable and those whose lives and problems simply appear to be not valuable at all.

The present study has a dual purpose: to explore the characteristic features of the John XXIII Movement present in the Diocese of Ipiales, Colombia and to identify the challenges that this group poses to the mission of the church. This chapter offers an overview of the structure and functioning of this movement in relation to the values, the beliefs and practices of its members. It also lays out the theoretical framework on which this movement is grounded and its opposition to secularization theory. The third part is the presentation of the data and the methodology used to collect and analyse them. In the last part, I propose some conclusions and a set of questions for future research.

La venta y consumo de alcohol han ocupado un papel importante en
toda la historia del pueblo indígena de los Pastos. El rol de la mujer ha
sido fundamental en estas actividades. Basado en una investigación
etnográfica en el Resguardo del Gran Cumbal, este artículo describe la
historia familiar de estos negocios en donde se vende alcohol. Luego trata de mostrar qué revelan su prevalencia y el control femenino
acerca de la naturaleza del sufrimiento social de un pueblo, en un
contexto donde la pobreza, el machismo y el alcohol son realidades
existenciales. Al vincular las biografías individuales con el sistema
económico y político en el que viven estas personas, este trabajo
subraya cómo opera la violencia y de qué forma se legitima

The relationship between times of crisis (natural disasters, pandemics) and religious behaviour has been the subject of long debate. Theoretical models of religious coping propose that adversity caused by adverse and unexpected events instigates people to use religion more intensively. This research explores this hypothesis, comparing the effects of religious practices among people who declare themselves Catholics in the Department of Nariño, Colombia, during the coronavirus pandemic. I found that gender, the type of religious practices and the frequency of pre-pandemic participation are significant predictors of religious intensification. These findings, as well as the description of the ideas and reactions that the people of Nariño have about COVID-19, contribute to a more nuanced understanding of religious behaviours and the significant implications for the future of Catholicism in this region.

Con base en un estudio etnográfico realizado en la página de Facebook de un santuario católico en Colombia, este artículo analiza la transmisión virtual de un ritual y la participación de los creyentes en él como una respuesta sociocultural a la pandemia del coronavirus. Desde la perspectiva de los estudios de religión digital, reflexiono sobre cómo estas plataformas pueden moldear las creencias y prácticas de los usuarios y cómo ellos las renegocian.

This paper is at same time a brief summary of Hervé Carrier’s thought on catholic tertiary education and an inquiry on its relevance for today. The entire paper focuses on five points which are present in his 1969 Gregorianum article: (1) the balance between research and teaching; (2) access to university education; (3) the organization of the university community; (4) the relationship between education and contemporary culture and (5) the role of universities within civil society. An inductive principle guides the qualitative research carried out in five pontifical universities in Rome (with 42 interviewees) to gather data on the relevance of Carrier’s thought. A dialogical strategy is adopted to compare Carrier’s thought with data from surveyed universities. In spite of the difference between the social context from which Carrier developed his thought and the current socio-ecclesial context of pontifical universities in Rome, most of the ideas he defended are, more or less, part of the core vision of the surveyed universities. Though slightly different from one university to another, the major findings of this research endeavour suggest the adoption of the following major goals: improvement of teaching through the use of modern technological and didactic means, increase of the means for research through funding and new research position, strengthening of participatory mechanisms to maximize students’ and faculty’s inclusion in university’s decisional schema, intensification of a discerning embrace of “new cultures” in all activities, and of training of students to affect social transformation.

This chapter analyzes the construction of the identity on Facebook of a group of priests from the diocese of Ipiales, Colombia, through the description of some aspects of their behavior on this social network. Specifically, I focus on the presentation of the self on this platform, the type of content they share with their friends, the degree of engagement their friends have with their publications and the changes experienced during the Coronavirus pandemic.