THURSDAY – 29 MAY
Travel and Arrival of Conference Participants to FIU
Faculty Club
5:00 PM Welcome and Dinner
6:30 – 8:00 PM: Updates; Reports and Business Meeting
Discussion: Update on Latino Christianity in the U.S. book Project.
Robert E. Wright, O.M.I. and Paul Barton
CEHILA Continental Report
Robert E. Wright O.M.I.
Business Meeting
8: 30 PM: MiLAMtIno Tour
FRIDAY 30 MAY
UPT 111
8:00 AM – Breakfast
GL 220
9:00 AM – 12 Noon: Session I
Guadalupe, Migration, Identity and Devotion
“From migrante to inmigrante to resident: la Virgen de San Juan in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas”
Robert E. Wright, O.M.I.
Oblate School of Theology
The merited attention given to the study of the devotion to Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe among those of Mexican descent has, along with the phenomenon of the Penitentes in northern New Mexico, unfortunately practically monopolized the study of Mexican-origin religiosity in the United States. The richness and variety of Mexican-origin devotional expressions ever since the colonial period needs to be brought into greater awareness. The history of the two-century-old devotion to Nuestra Señora de San Juan along the lower Texas-Mexico border is especially significant for studying the interrelations between migration, popular devotion, and official attitudes. The changing circumstances of migration, immigration, and acculturation in a specific regional context can be clearly discerned in both the local adherents to this devotion and it’s shifting cultural meaning for those adherents.
“Where is the Virgen de Guadalupe: Local, National, and Transnational Mexican Votive Devotion.”
Luis Murillo
Trinity University
This essay is an examination of Mexican votive devotion in central Mexico with an eye towards the U.S. In it I argue that given the predominance of recent migration/transnationalism of Mexicans from the central Mexican states of Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas that one should begin there in order to understand the grassroots Catholicism of Mexicans in the U.S. The conclusion I present will be as follows: Votive devotion in central Mexico is both Christ and Marian centered. In much of central Mexico it is highly localized with miraculous images often embedded in the particular landscape that generic images of Christ and Mary become particular and local dominating the parish calendar (19th and much of 20th century the Virgen de Guadalupe is a minor figure and may have a side altar in these parish and vice-parish churches. While popular in the colonial period, the prevalent votive devotion to the Virgen de Guadalupe is tied to intense efforts by archbishops in Mexico (Labastida in particular) to promote the Virgen de Guadalupe with the establishment of a national pilgrimage system in 1885, In the modern context in much of central Mexico the Virgen de Guadalupe remains minor but she is central in the US which is the result of migration and transnationalism which disrupts local identities and attachments to local saints.
“A Statue Gets a Fresh Coat of Paint: A Glimpse at the Role of Faith and the Church in the Chicano Movement in the Lower Rio Grande Valley”
Gilberto Hinojosa
Faculty Club
12:00- 1:15 – LUNCH
GL 220
1: 30 – 5:00 Session II
Religión Y Lo Latin@ en Miami
“Brazilians in South Florida: Social Capital, Pluralism and the Role of Religion”
Joseph Holbrook and Ana Maria Bidigan
Florida International University
This paper examines religious participation of Brazilian immigrants to South Florida. This study examines the influence of traditional Catholicism, immigration, and religious pluralism on political culture among Brazilians recently immigrated to South Florida. The study qualitatively compares political attitudes of Catholic and Evangelical Brazilians living in Brazil with Catholic and Evangelical Brazilians living in the United States. Using interviews, qualitative data, and primary and secondary documents, the study demonstrated the long-term formative influence of traditional Catholicism on political culture in Brazilian and Colombian society. The study’s hypothesis is that although authoritarian political values may be persistent among Brazilians migrants, pluralist values increase over time after immigrating.
“Where is my Home: Adjusting to living in the Margins":
Ana Maria Bidegain
Jeff Gonzalez
Florida International University
This is a review of some current research papers working on religious Latin@s diversity in the region of Miami.
6: 00 Dinner Y MiLAMtIno Part II
SATURDAY 31 MAY
UPT 111
8:00 AM: Breakfast
GL 220
9:00 – 12 Noon Session III
Colonization, Migration, and Transitory Workers
“From New Mexico to California: One Hundred Years of Migration Patterns - 1843 TO 1943.”
Juan Romero
Viña de Lestonnac Retreat Center
The focus of this paper is to examine and discuss what I am calling “The California that will trace New Mexico to California migration patterns from 1830; 1840-52, and 1940-45. My presentation will place special emphasis on the period of 1830, and then 1840-52.
“Transitory, Non-Organized, Non-White Mexican Farm Workers in California and their relationship with the Roman Catholic Church
Alberto López Pulido
University of San Diego
The vast agricultural landscape that characterized California by the twentieth century emerged out of a profit-centered capitalist corporate expansion that typified the eastern United States. Unlike a major part of the United States where farm practices were largely a family endeavor, California agriculture was transformed and marked by the large corporation structure of agribusiness specializing in seasonal crops distinguished by an industry that sought to keep production costs low and profits high. Such an economic equation framed an industry that sought out cheap labor molded as an unstable, migratory, non-white, non-organized, and foreign labor force. It first began with Native American migrant workers soon after the U.S. occupation to be followed by Asian (Chinese Japanese) immigrants then East Indian and Filipino workers in the early 20th century. Mexican/ Chicano farm workers began to dominate the agricultural sector by WWI and into the contemporary period. These “undesirable” unorganized transitory foreign workers ,shaped by the hegemonic forces of agribusiness in California during the late 19th and 20th century, were understood as possessing souls by religious communities who sought them out to provide guidance and direction via organized religion. Hence, this essay will examine the role of organized religion (specifically the Roman Catholic Church) in shaping the lives of Mexican/Mestizo farm workers in the 20th century.
Faculty Club
12:00 – 1:15 PM LUNCH
GL 220
1:30 – 5:00 PM
Session IV
Doctrina Social Cristiana, Theology, Christianity and Im/Migration
“Los Riesgos Migratorios Y La Doctrina Social Cristiana/The Risks of Migration and Catholic Social Teaching.”
Olivia Ruíz
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte
In recent times two discourses seem to dominate debates about immigration. One, focusing on issues of sovereignty, national security and citizenship, portrays migrants, especially if undocumented, as a risk to society and culture, if not civilization. The other, grounded in human rights and universal notions of human dignity, what Rorty calls "a sense of shared moral identity," sees migrants as people at risk, casualties of the nation-state and the predatory nature of modern capitalism. In this paper I examine how key elements of Catholic social teaching are playing a role in the evolution of the discourse of "migrants at risk." I examine how ideas of the "preferential option for the poor," the "dignity of work and worker's rights", "solidarity" and "human dignity" are critical to attempts, religious and secular, to undermine the notion of migrants as a risk to society. I argue that these elements of Catholic social teaching, in disputing key themes of modernity, lie at the heart of the defense of migrant rights.
“This Land is Your Land this land is My Land: A Theology of Immigration”.
Edley J. Moodley
Lee University
This paper initiates a study, discussion and dialogue on the issue of land, land rights and migration issues both historically across the continents, specifically the United States and is border countries and the present border crises in the 21st century. While the political rhetoric has generated much emotional charge in the current debate, the church for most part has either been a silent observer or at best it has articulated an anemic socio-cultural and political theology. I intend to briefly chart the historical course of border mapping, especially as it relates to colonial powers in the continent of Africa and Latin America, show the hegemonic intentionality of such border mapping and the consequent decimation and division of peoples, before addressing the current issue of undocumented workers in the US. The centerpiece of the paper is a proposed theology of immigration.
“Immigration and Christianity in the United States Today.”
Lindy Scott
Whitworth University
This paper looks at how North American churches are (or are not) addressing the issue of immigration in the current situation. Part of the paper looks at the specific situation in congregations in Spokane, Washington, based upon recent research. This is set against the backdrop of immigration positions adopted by denominations, either through their leadership or through decisions approved at their national assemblies. The heart of the paper really deals with Christian social ethics as we analyze how the Bible and other Christian documents are utilized to address the vital topic of immigration.
6:30 – CEHILA DINNER in MiLAMtIno
SUNDAY 1 JUNE
UPT 111
8:00 AM: Breakfast
Ecumenical Prayer Service – Reflection TBA
Departure
+Confirmed Participants not presenting Papers:
Hjamil A. Martinez Vazquez , Texas Christian University Department of Religion
Juan Martínez, Fuller Theology Seminary
