They decided to take off their cassocks and put on overalls to work in the factories and renounce the State’s pay. They are the worker priests, priests who without charging for the sacraments to impart them decided to leave the traditional parishes to live in the industrial areas, finding there a space to demonstrate that there are other ways of practicing and understanding the faith. In this context, this article proposes, through an interdisciplinary approach, to examine the presence of worker priests in the second half of the twentieth century and their influence on the adoption and reinterpretation of Catholicism from the popular sectors. To achieve this objective, a thorough analysis of the historical context in which they operated, their pastoral formation and their role in the public space has been carried out. To this end, various sources have been collated, including interviews, written testimonies, audiovisual material, press clippings and analysis of bibliographical sources. In this way, together with understanding and recognizing an emblematic figure linked to the religious scenario of the popular world, we explore his relationship with the historical conflicts of the time and his contribution to the understanding of the dynamics between the Church, the State and society.
Keywords:
Worker priests, public space, popular sectors, Catholicism, religious resignification
Alcántara Rojas, D. (2023). The Gospel of the working-class priest: Social justice, resignification and Catholicism in Chile (1960-1990). Cuadernos Judaicos, (41), pp. 145–169. https://doi.org/10.5354/0718-8749.2023.73263
