THE CHURCH AND REVOLUTION: FROM THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION TO … LATIN AMERICA. By Francois
Houtart and Andre lbusseau. Translated by
Violet Nevile. 371 pages. Orbis Books,
Maryknoll, New York. 1971. $3.95. Paperback.
The seeker of a Marxist-Christian-
bourgeois-social-science interpretation of the
church in the various world-wide revolutionary
movements should feel comforted. His book
has arrived! However, the purist of any of
these traditions will find this book inadequate.
Houtart and Rousseau have billed this book
as an attempt to explain why the church has so
often identified with the forces of oppression.
(This is seen over against the churches’ goal
of total human liberation.) Judged on this
basis, the book is only a beginning in applying
“power structure” research to this question.
There are, however, numerous insights that
come to light in the authors’ treatment of seven
revolutionary settings: The French Revolution,
The French Worker Movement in the Nineteenth
Century, The Cuban Revolution, the War in Viet-
nam, The Revolutionary Movement in Latin America,
The Revolutionary Movements in Southern Africa
and the Events of May, 1968 in France. In the
treatment of these revolutions the authors’
analysis too often falls prey to a general his-
torical overview or a litany on what every church 1
group has said in regards to these events.
Interesting facts do come out, but the focus of
the book is often obscured because of this in-
adequacy.
The bulk of the analysis is presented in
the first and last chapters that sandwich these
other seven chapters. The first chapter is per-
haps the most unique one. Here Houtart and
Rousseau attempt a “sociology of revolution.”
Their frame of reference is largely guided by
Marxist categories. This chapter is the basis
of a framework to understand the general political
analysis that underlies the whole book. Relying
on the “humanist” 2 tradition in Marxian analysis,
the authors put forth a general notion of revolu-
tion that allows for a -“total” or “social” revolu-
tion, not just a “political” revolution. This
total revolution takes on different forms in
different countries. The agents (“protagonists”)
of the revolution are different and the basic con-
tradictions will take different forms. With
this said, they still understand that “a radical
transformation of the ownership of the means of
production is still an urgent task: It is the
key to the transformation of society.”
In the revolutionary settings they have chosen,
they illustrate this point of view. Although the
essential task of transforming the means of pro-
duction is incomplete they trace it from the es-
sentially bourgeois revolution in France, through
the anti-colonial revolutions in Cuba, Vietnam
and Latin America to the “new working class” or
student revolutions in France of 1968.
Given this framework, Houtart and Rousseau
superimpose the issue which really concerns them:
how can religion, specifically Christianity, func-
tion as a resource for social change — revolution?
They feel that only by first understanding how
religion has functioned to support the power
structure, and status quo, can this question be
answered. The final chapter deals with this issue.
Their conclusions just begin to scratch the sur-
face: 1) The bourgeois-elite class nature of the
church hierarchy. .. 2) The rear guard battle
of a church that was once the primary power in a
sacral world now moving into a desacralized
world. . . 3) The inability to combine a socio-
political analysis with a vague Christian ethic
on human liberation. .. 4) And the overriding
interest to “survive” as an institution.
The section on Cuba and other Latin American
countries comprises the largest portion of the
book. Unfortunately, the treatment of the Cuban
revolution is little more than a general history.
The analysis of the other Latin American rev-
olutionary movements is more thorough. The
analysis takes place in a framework of U.S.
imperialism. This section suffers from two
failings. First, there is never any mention about
Chile. Other countries — and particularly
Colombia and the Golconda Priests — are treated
in some depth. Obviously the authors should be
spared some judgement, for the book went to press
months too early to be able to deal with the
election of Allende. A more serious analytical
mistake, however, is made. Even though the authors
rightly state that underdevelopment in Latin
America is the result of economic forces, and
particularly the exploitation of U.S. capital
they fail to develop this insight. They have
failed to have a sufficient sociopolitical32
analysis–a criticism they make of other church
people.3 When dealing with the role of U.S.
military and police influence in anti-guerrilla
warfare in Latin America they are at their best.
But in terms of economic exploitation they resort
to vague statements–often slogan like and often
showing lack of information. One illustration
will suffice. They state:
… the management of the Populorum Pro-
gressio Fund, with proceeds from the sale
of Vatican property in Paris amounting to
$1 million, had been entrusted to the
Inter-American Development Bank, as a
fifty-year loan without interest; the bank
is controlled by the Latin American
governments, with the exception of the
Cuban government.”
This statement has potential, beyond its sheer
interest, to significantly document U.S. ec-
onomic imperialism. However, the only attempt to
understand the real exploitative nature of the
katican’s arrangement with IDB is to state that
it is “controlled by Latin American Governments.”
More could be added. “In the IDB, the United
States contributes 75 percent of the resources and
controls 42 percent of the votes; since all soft
(long-term, low interest) loans require two-thirds
majority, the U.S. has effective veto power.” 4
Other criticisms can be made in terms of clar-
ity–most of which are the result of their attempt
to be Marxist, Christian and bourgeois social
scientists. Still other criticisms can be made
in terms of the relatively dated nature of the
book: the authors did not have the benefit of
the Chilean developments nor the Nixon visit to
China. But, in general, this is a useful book.
Useful as an introduction to some very broad
issues of church and revolution. However, the
book has less relevance for anyone knowledgeable
on either subject: the CHURCH or REVOLUTIONARY
MOVEMENTS.
Harlan Stelmach
1. They generally confine themselves to Catholic
groups. The U.S. churches’ response to the
Vietnam War is the only exception.
2, They use particularly the implications of
Marx’ Fundamental Traits of the Critique
of Political Economy which is still to be
translated into English.
3. Houtart is a Catholic Priest.
4. Cf, Yanqui Dollar: The Contribution of U.S.
Private Investment to Underdevelopment in
Latin America, a NACLA pamphlet. p. 54.
The following people contributed to this issue:
Susan Draper, Marta Sanchez, Jane Schroeder and
Julio Velazquez.
Menu
