Vatican II, Liberation Theology, and Vernacular Masses for the Family of God in Central America

Authors

Bernard J. Gordillo, University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC MEXUS)Follow

Abstract

The Second Vatican Council (1962–65) instituted reforms in the Catholic Church that included changes in language and music employed in the liturgy, inspiring a proliferation of sung vernacular masses throughout Latin America. Drawing on archival and ethnographic research undertaken in Nicaragua and the United States, this article examines three Central American vernacular masses—Misa típica panameña de San Miguelito (1967), Misa popular nicaragüense (1969), and Misa campesina nicaragüense (1975). Each mass emanated from communities founded as part of the transnational Familia de Dios (Family of God) movement, which established programs of religious education, leadership training, and community building among impoverished populations. This study seeks to situate music and the arts within the liberation practices and transmission of Familia de Dios, and their role in the origins of a theology of liberation in Latin America.

Author Biography

Bernard Gordillo Brockmann is a Postdoctoral Associate in Christian Music Studies at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. His research interests focus on music, culture, and politics in Latin America and its historical relations with the United States.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Gordillo, Bernard J. (2021) "Vatican II, Liberation Theology, and Vernacular Masses for the Family of God in Central America," Yale Journal of Music & Religion: Vol. 7: No. 1, Article 3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17132/2377-231X.1153