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The Wiley Blackwell Companion
to Latinoax Theology
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The Wiley Blackwell
Companion to Latinoax
Theology
Second Edition
Edited by
Orlando O. Espín
This edition first published 2023
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We cannot live in a world that is not our own,
in a world that is interpreted for us by others.
Part of the dare is to take back our own listening,
to use our own voice, to see our own light.
Hildegard of Bingen
No va para ningún lado quien no sabe dónde está.
Gilberto Santa Rosa
Contents
List of Contributors x
Introductionxv
Orlando O. Espín
PART I CONTEXTS1
1 Lo cotidiano as Locus Theologicus3
Carmen M. Nanko‐Fernández
2 History and Latinx Identity: Mapping a Past That Leads to Our Future 25
Daisy L. Machado
3 Sources and Methodologies in Latinoax Theologies 44
Rubén Rosario-Rodríguez
4 Ecumenism in Latinx Theologizing 63
José R. Irizarry
5 A Critical Feminist Reflection on the Social Scientific Study of Latinx Religion 79
Melissa Guzmán-García
Index522
List of Contributors
intercultural relations, justice theory, critical pedagogy, aesthetics of space, and religious
teratology. Dr. Irizarry now serves as the 10th President of Austin Presbyterian Theological
Seminary.
Melissa Guzmán-García is an Associate professor of Latina/o Studies at San Francisco
State University, where she teaches courses on racism, juvenile justice, and the experiences
of communities of color who are impacted by carceral violence. Her research broadly
examines how racialized carceral control operates through local religious organizations
across Central and Northern California, and specifically how state power becomes
entrenched in the institutional missions and embodied religious practices of local religious
organizations. Her research has appeared across various journals including: International
Migration Review, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, and Punishment and Society.
Currently, she is working on her first book manuscript under contract with New York
University Press, tentatively titled The Spirit of Carcerality: Latinx Evangelicals and Carceral
Control in the 21st Century.
Efrain Agosto, Ph.D., is Visiting Professor of Latinx Studies and Religion at Williams
College, Williamstown, Massachusetts. Formerly, he was Professor of New Testament
Studies at New York Theological Seminary, New York City (2011–2021) and Professor of
New Testament and Director of the Programa de Ministerios Hispanos at Hartford
Seminary (now Hartford International University for Religion and Peace) in Hartford,
Connecticut (1995–2011). He is the author of Servant Leadership: Jesus and Paul (Chalice
Press, 2005); Corintios, a Spanish-language commentary on 1–2 Corinthians (Fortress
Press, 2008); Preaching in the Interim: Transitional Leadership in the Latino/a Church (Judson
Press, 2018); and coeditor with Jacqueline Hidalgo of Latinxs, the Bible and Migration
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).
Jean-Pierre Ruiz is on the faculty of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at
St. John’s University, New York, where he is also a senior research fellow of the Vincentian
Center for Church and Society. He earned his doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian
University, and his 2011 book, Readings from the Edges: The Bible and People on the Move,
received a Catholic Press Association award. His 2021 book, Revelation in the Vernacular,
received an excellence in publishing (first place) award in theology from the Association of
Catholic Publishers. A diasporic Puerto Rican, his research interests include the prophets
and the Apocalypse of John, as well as the Bible and colonialism.
Sixto J. García earned his doctorate in systematic and philosophical theology at the
University of Notre Dame (1986). A layman, he taught theology for many years at St.
Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, in Florida. He recently retired, and is completing a
monograph on “faith and grace in Francisco de Vitoria’s theology.”
Neomi De Anda is a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Dayton Department
of Religious Studies. She teaches courses in religion, languages and cultures, Latinx and
Latin American studies, race and ethnic studies, and women and gender studies. She is a
Human Rights Center Research Associate. Dr. De Anda has scholarly presentations, publi-
cations and exhibitions on her research interests of LatinoXa Christology; theology and
breast milk; chisme; the intersection of race and migrations; and a border theology at the
intersections of the environment, migrations, labor, and women. She is the recipient of the
2021 University of Dayton Award for Faculty Teaching; the 2021 University of Dayton
xii
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Service Award for faculty; and the First Book
Prize for Minority Scholars from the Louisville Institute. She is a past president of the
Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS).
Néstor Medina is a Latino-Canadian theologian. He is Assistant Professor of Religious
Ethics and Culture at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto. He engages the field of
ethics from contextual, liberationist, intercultural, and Post- and Decolonial perspectives.
He studies the intersections between people’s cultures, histories, ethnoracial relations, and
forms of knowledge in religious and theoethical tradition. In addition to published articles
and three coedited volumes, he is also the author of Mestizaje: (Re)Mapping “Race,” Culture,
and Faith in Latina/o/x Catholicism (Orbis 2008) and Christianity, Empire and the Spirit (Brill
2018).
Yara González-Justiniano is professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture at Vanderbilt
Divinity School. She is the author of Centering Hope as a Sustainable Decolonial Practice:
Esperanza en Práctica. Her educational journey of interdisciplinarity informs the ways in
which she approaches theological studies’ scholarship and teaching.
Roberto S. Goizueta is the Margaret O’Brien Flatley Professor Emeritus of Catholic
Theology at Boston College. Dr. Goizueta is a former President of both the Catholic
Theological Society of America and the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the
United States. The National Catholic Reporter named him one of the ten most influential US
Latino/a educators, pastors, and theologians. He has published six books and over a hun-
dred scholarly articles. His book Caminemos con Jesús: Toward a Hispanic/Latino Theology of
Accompaniment (Orbis, 1995) was named one of the “Fifty Foundational Books in Race,
Ethnicity, and Religion” by the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion.
Luis G. Pedraja is the sixth president of Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester,
Massachusetts. He is a theologian, philosopher, author, scholar, and educator, who is an
influential contributor to the development of Latinoax theology. He is also noted for his
work in process philosophy and postmodernism, as well as his work in higher education,
where he has held multiple leadership and faculty positions. He has published several
books and multiple articles exploring how understanding language and culture can pro-
vide unique theological insights, as well as promote intercultural dialogue and tolerance.
Among his contributions are Teología: An Introduction to Hispanic Theology and Jesus is My
Uncle: Christology from a Hispanic Perspective.
María Teresa Dávila, associate professor and chair of Religious and Theological Studies
at Merrimack College (Massachusetts), is a Roman Catholic laywoman. Her areas of study
include racial and migrant justice, public and political theology, liberation ethics, the
option for the poor, and Catholic social teaching.
Antonio (Tony) Eduardo Alonso is Assistant Professor of Theology and Culture at
Candler School of Theology at Emory University where he also serves as the inaugural
Director of Catholic Studies. He is a recipient of the Catherine Mowry LaCugna Award
for new scholars for the best academic essay in the field of theology from the Catholic
Theological Society of America as well as the Hispanic Theological Initiative Book
Prize. In addition to his scholarly work, he is a Latin Grammy-nominated composer of
sacred music.
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS xiii
The Rev. Altagracia Pérez-Bullard, Ph.D., is the Director of Contextual Ministries and
Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary. She previously
served as Canon for Congregational Vitality for the Episcopal Diocese of New York and
served the church for over 30 years as a priest and community leader in urban centers.
Eliezer Valentín is the founder and president of the Institute for Latino Politics and Policy.
He has served as lecturer at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and Iona
University. Eli is a contributing columnist for Gotham Gazette, largely focusing on Latinoax
politics in New York, and is a frequent guest political analyst at Univision NY and New York
1 News. He has served as a political advisor to numerous elected officials across the country
and is the editor of Sermons from the Latino/a Pulpit, and author of the forthcoming,
Reinhold Niebuhr and Politics (Wipf and Stock).
Dr. Nichole M. Flores is associate professor of religious studies at the University of
Virginia. She researches the constructive contributions of Catholic and Latine theologies
to notions of justice and aesthetics as applied in public life. Dr. Flores is the author of The
Aesthetics of Solidarity: Our Lady of Guadalupe and American Democracy (Georgetown
University Press, 2021). She has also published essays in the Journal of Religious Ethics, the
Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, and Modern Theology among other academic jour-
nals and edited book volumes. She is a contributing author on the masthead at America:
The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture. In 2015, Dr. Flores was honored with the Catherine
Mowry LaCugna Award for best essay in academic theology by a junior scholar from the
Catholic Theological Society of America.
Victor Carmona is an Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the
University of San Diego. Carmona’s research advances theological-ethical analyses of
migration with a global perspective grounded in Latine points of view. His dual aim is to
draw from the wisdom the Catholic tradition offers to create more just immigration sys-
tems and to nurture its ability to do so in increasingly pluralistic and interdependent soci-
eties. His recent projects do so by exploring insights the discipline of spirituality offers to
migration ethics.
Roberto Che Espinoza, Ph.D., is a storyteller, professor, and politicized theologian and
public ethicist. He is on faculty at Duke Divinity School and founded the Activist Theology
Project, a collaborative project dedicated to meaning making the public theology. He lives
in Nashville, TN with his spouse.
Xochitl Alvizo teaches Women and Religion and the Philosophy of Sex, Gender, and
Sexuality at California State University, Northridge. Her research areas include feminist
and queer theologies, congregational studies, ecclesiology, and the emerging church. She
is a cofounder of Feminism and Religion (www.feminismandreligion.com)—an online
project bringing together feminist voices from around the world to dialogue about femi-
nism in religion. She is a coeditor of Women Religion Revolution (FSR Books, 2017) with
Gina Messina and The Emerging Church, Millennials, and Religion: Volume 2 (Cascade Books,
2022) with Terry Shoemaker and Rachel C. Schneider. She lives in Los Angeles, CA, where
she was also born and raised.
Jennifer Owens-Jofré is currently a Manresa Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for
Ignatian Service at Saint Louis University. She studied practical theology and systematic
xiv
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
theology at the Graduate Theological Union and has served in academic and pastoral roles
throughout the United States. She coedited her first book, From the Pews in the Back: Young
Women and Catholicism (Liturgical Press, 2009) with Kate Dugan and continues to present
and write for academic and ecclesial audiences. Her current research focuses on lay Latina
women in ministry, popular religion, qualitive research methods and practical theology,
service learning and Ignatian pedagogy, and theologies of accompaniment.
Lis Valle-Ruiz is Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Worship and Director of Community
Worship Life of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. She is a coeditor of
and a contributor to Unmasking White Preaching: Racial Hegemony, Resistance, and
Possibilities in Homiletics (Lexington Books, 2022). She has published several articles in US
academic journals and professional magazines. Her theological research has been on
worship and preaching using methodologies from practical theology, women and gender
studies, and the anthropological school of thought within performance studies. She was
born and raised in Puerto Rico until she became part of the Boricua diaspora as an adult
in 2008.
Dr. Rebecca Berrú Davis is Assistant Professor of Theology at St. Catherine University in
St. Paul, MN. She graduated from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, and is
interested in the intersection of art, faith, and justice to better understand the spiritual and
religious expressions of those located on the margins of society. In addition to writing, she
continues to advance her activist research and curatorial project launched in 2006, related
to Picturing Paradise, an exhibit featuring the fabric art of Peruvian women artists living
in the shantytowns of Pamplona Alta outside of Lima, Peru.
Edwin David Aponte is Dean of the Theological School and Professor of Religion and
Culture at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. As a cultural historian, Aponte inves-
tigates faith, spirituality, and culture, especially the intersections of race, ethnicity, and
religion, congregational studies, religion, and politics. Aponte also explores issues of diver-
sity, inclusion, and multicultural and intercultural realities. His writings include ¡Santo!
Varieties of Latino/a Spirituality (Orbis Books, 2012), and he is coauthor of Introducing
Latinx Theologies (Orbis Books, 2020) with Miguel A. De La Torre.
Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi is the Frederick E. Roach Professor of World Christianity in
the Religion Department at Baylor University. His teaching and research interest focus on
the interpretations of the movement of the Christian religion, sociocultural interplay bet-
ween Christians and people of other faiths, and grassroots theological contributions in art
and music illustrating the exchanges between Christianity, cultures, and religions.
Introduction
Orlando O. Espín
Over the last four to five decades there has developed among Latinoax scholars of religion
a manner of theologizing that first became known as Hispanic, then as Latino, later as
Latino/a or Latin@, and more recently as Latinx or Latinoax theology. The chapters in this
volume will offer the reader a panoramic view of this diverse and intensely ecumenical
theological approach.
This volume is the second edition of the Companion to Latinoax Theology, first published
in 2015. As the reader will notice, the title has been changed to recognize the changing
demonym. Chapters from the first edition have been revised and updated, and new ones
have been added to represent new directions and interests.
The present Introduction will attempt to generally describe Latinoax theology, as well as
clarify some terms and methodological approaches.
I Latinoax are the US communities and persons whose cultural and historical roots
are to be found in Latin America.
I prefer to refer to the persons and communities by the term “Latinoax” because it reflects
an acceptable pronunciation and usage, but by no means do I claim that this is the more
“correct” or only possible spelling or pronunciation. Each author in this volume has been
free to use the identity term they choose, as long as it reflects actual usage. Furthermore,
each author has been free to use different spellings of certain terms, as well as to choose
italicization or not of Spanish words or expressions or of “Espanglish” terms. This editor
has not attempted a standardization of spellings and usage, in some cases because none
exists and in some cases because some of the authors have chosen to make theoretical
points by their defiance of rules.
As we begin this volume, a few very important clarifications on the term or expression
“Latinoax” are in order as we start this Companion, in order to help the reader understand
its usage, and to begin to delving into the contexts that begat Latinoax theologies.
1 The reader must remember that what today we call “Latin America” is a smaller geo-
graphic version of what for several centuries were the Spanish and Portuguese
xvi
Orlando O. Espín
empires. At least half of today’s US territory was part of the Spanish colonial world.
With military actions that led to the seizure of large territories not originally its own,
the US geographically grew to most of its current size.1 The territories forcibly incor-
porated, however, were not empty or without history—their populations were also
forced to join the US, but as conquered peoples.2
2 There are now (2022) approximately 62 million Latinoax in the US, most of whom
were born in the US, and of those who were born elsewhere, the majority are natu-
ralized US citizens or permanent residents. Latinoax, consequently, are not identical
to “Latin Americans”: not any more than Irish-Americans or German-Americans
can be thought of as identical to today’s Irish or Germans. Most Latinoax today are
not immigrants. They constitute the largest “minority,” and the fastest growing
group of ethnic/cultural communities in the country.3
3 Today in the US there is no one Latinoax culture or community. There are at least
twenty Latinoax cultural communities, all internally diverse, and all historically and
ethnically very distinct. Some of the diversity results from the differences in ances-
tral origins of each of the communities, but the diversity must also be explained as
due to the US locations where these communities developed (e.g., a Latinoax person
of Dominican roots is not a Latinoax person of Guatemalan roots, nor is a Mexican
American from East Los Angeles the same as a Mexican American from Homestead,
Florida). Depending on the US geographic location, one or another of these Latinoax
communities will be the local or regional majority, but never to the exclusion of
others. For example, in the states of Florida, Rhode Island, and New York, Latinoax
of Antillean origins (i.e., Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans) are the demographic
majorities, but not to the exclusion of Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Colombians, etc. In
the District of Columbia to be Latinoax is likely to be of Salvadoran origin, while in
New Orleans it’s to be of Honduran roots.
4 Denominational demographics have also been significantly impacted by the growing
Latinoax presence. For example, the majority of the members of the largest US
denomination (the Roman Catholic Church) are now Latinoax; and in some Roman
Catholic dioceses the Latinoax presence is overwhelming (e.g., Miami, Los Angeles,
and New York, but also Anchorage, St. Cloud, and Atlanta). The growth of the
Episcopal Church in the US since the year 2000 has been mostly due to Latinoax,
and the same can be said—mutatis mutandi—in many other denominations (e.g.,
United Methodist Church, American Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God).
5 Although it is evident that the majority of Latinoax identify themselves as Christian
(regardless of denominational affiliation), one cannot ignore that there are Latinoax
Jews, Muslims, Lukumí, Buddhists, etc., as proud of their ethnicity as any other
Latinoax, making latinidad a more diverse reality than is popularly assumed. Of
growing importance, furthermore, is the increasing number of Latinoax who do not
identify with any religious tradition or denomination—not “secularized” in the
North Atlantic sense of the term, but unaffiliated or uninterested in the ways of
silent protests against denominational orthodoxies, or as among the “Nones.”
6 Despite the evident diversity, Latinoax communities still share much in common.
The extended family and a popular religious cosmovision4 are the two most ground-
ing pillars of Latinoax cultures across all differences, serving as the interpretive,
organizing “grids” for most of the people’s daily reality and understanding. Also
Introduction xvii
shared by Latinoax communities, is the defining role(s) of older women in the fam-
ilies—especially (but not exclusively) in matters ethical and/or religious. Bilingualism
remains the norm, helping shape much of the inclusive understanding of Latinoax
cultures, as well as the preservation of cultural elements molded during the Spanish
colonial centuries. Depending on the communities, or groups thereof, contributions
of Africans remain strong,5 or the still-living legacy of the First Peoples of the
Americas.6
As mentioned above, religion has been and remains a hugely important component of all
Latinoax cultures, and so any attempt at understanding the latter requires an equally
serious understanding of the former. The same is true about Christian theological tradi-
tions in the US.7
The reader should beware, however, of identifying “religion” with its institutional
expressions only or mainly, or with its orthodoxies. Among Latinoax, “religion” is familial
before it is institutional, and inclusive more than orthodox.8 The language and categories of
North Atlantic social scientific, philosophical, and theological thought tends to be blind to,
or marginalize, what does not “fit” its self-proclaimed normativity and universal validity
(i.e., its culturally constructed “orthodoxies”).
Consequently, the study of Latinoax religion, if methodologically done latinamente,
must not fall prey to approaches that would force foreign or colonializing analytical cate-
gories onto Latinoax realities. This does not obstruct dialogue, but it prevents it from
becoming a subtle way of continued colonization. It is one thing to dialogue with and
engage someone else’s categories, and another to not see that the categories are someone
else’s, reflecting the interests and perspectives of their creators.
Latinoax theology was born as a methodological approach to the study of Latinoax reli-
gious reality, as much as a contributor to the overall study of Latinoax communities and
realities that also interpret themselves through inescapably religious lenses. Latinoax the-
ology was born in a Christian context and till this day remains a (Catholic/Protestant/
Evangelical) ecumenical enterprise, although sooner than later it will have to engage other
Latinoax religious dialogue partners who—because they are Latinoax—will need to enter
the conversation on the most grounding of Latinoax cultural elements.
I am not aware of any one definition of Latinoax theology (Catholic, Protestant, or
Evangelical) that might have become broadly standard among those of us who work in the
field. A few authors or commentators have proposed one or another descriptive defini-
tion—and other commentators (also Latinoax ones) have invariably offered improvements
to the attempted definitions or descriptions.9
Latinoax theology now has a long enough history, a “critical mass” of qualified practi-
tioners, and a large body of published literature. The chapters in this volume will acquaint
the reader with much that Latinoax theologians have already offered the academy.
Latinoax theology was born at the intersection of European and European American
theologies, on the one hand, and of Latin American liberation theologies, on the other—
an intersection that did not occur in either Europe or Latin America, but in the US, and
here within the extraordinarily diverse contexts and realities of the Latinoax communities.
Lo cotidiano was and remains the birthing place of our theology.
xviii
Orlando O. Espín
From its inception, Latinoax theology has always understood itself as being neither a
copy, a translation, nor an adaptation of other intellectual traditions. Latinoax theologians
began their work critiquing the universalizing and colonizing pretensions of European and
European American theologies, as well as recognizing that we were not in Latin America
(thereby questioning as well the temptation to simply translate or adapt Latin American
theologies to our US context, although at first we borrowed much from Latin American
liberation theology).
Four or five decades ago we hadn’t read post-colonial theory, but post-modern thought
was beginning to cause some of us to question. In any case, when the Latinoax theological
critique of dominant theologies began, with the tools we had then (mostly borrowed from
the Latin American critique of ideologies), it began by insisting that, theologically, “we are
we” and therefore “we are not they.” This led to a number of publications on the signifi-
cance of culture, particularity, and ethnicity for theology—and this is the first characteristic
of Latinoax theology: our emphatic rejection of universalizing and marginalizing European
and European American thought, coupled with the equally adamant affirmation of
Latinoax cultural and religious identity.
We needed to open “our” space, speak with “our” voice, discuss “our” issues, and very
insistently announce that we were not someone else’s “pastoral problem” or “bibliographic
footnote.” We insisted on being included as equals in the theological conversation—conse-
quently, particularity and culture, the critique of dominance and white privilege, and their
implications for theology and for the defense of our people in a social and ecclesial reality
adverse to them, became and remain the grounding characteristics of our theologizing.
In a quest for the sources of a distinctly Latinoax theology, we turned to Latinoax them-
selves—to their faith, their Christian experience, their cultural expressions, and to the
broader Latinoax intellectual tradition. And it is in this quest that many of us began to work
through such issues as popular religion, epistemology, praxis, spirituality, lo cotidiano, and
so on. Many Latinoax theologians can readily confess that work in these and other areas
has been far from sufficient—new answers raise many more questions, which in turn lead
to newer areas and further questions and answers.
There is no question in my mind that Latinoax theology has always tried to be sensitive
and responsive to the social, economic, and political realities of Latinoax communities.
Our theology has also been just as sensitive to popular expressions of the Christian faith.
We have frequently included data and analyses on Latinoax made available to us by the
social sciences, and attempted to theologize from the human reality described by the data
and analyzed by colleagues in the social disciplines. We have tried to step behind the
external expressions of faith (some of which might not coincide with dominant under-
standings or expressions of Christianity) and there listen to the faith of everyday Latinoax,
not by pretending that Christianity could somehow exist without expression, but by not
equating the former with the latter, or the dominant with the orthodox norm.
“Why and how do Latinoax believe?” are not idle questions in and for theology. Indeed,
to understand how Latinoax “construct” what they hold to be real and good and impor-
tant is crucial to the Latinoax theological movement. The last five decades began the pro-
cess of theological study of popular (Catholic and Protestant) Christianities, and the
incorporation of social scientific interlocutors into our theological dialogue—both in a
clear and conscious attempt at listening to our people, and recognizing in our commu-
nities’ life and faith a source for our theology. How could one conceivably do theology (any
Introduction xix
theology) today while disregarding the social reality or the faith expressions of the very
Christian communities one claims to be serving and understanding through theology—
indeed, of the very People of God whom we doctrinally claim to be “the Church”? How can
anyone do theology today (any theology) and not consider the believing people’s real, daily
faith and life as a preeminent theological source—thereby critiquing the contemporary
theological fixation of (in practice) regarding biblical, ecclesiastical, or theological written
texts as more important sources for theology than the living faith of the real People of God?
Latinoax theology was born within various Christian denominations. Although
Latinoax Catholic theologians as a group, perhaps, had an earlier impact, it is transpar-
ently clear that Latinoax theology and theologians have been insistently ecumenical. Four
names very frequently appear at the origins of the movement: Virgilio Elizondo and Edgard
Beltrán (Catholics) and Justo González and Orlando Costas (Protestants)—they are jointly
regarded as “founders” of a way of theologizing (beginning in the 1970s and early 1980s)
that soon thereafter became identified as Latinoax (or US “Hispanic”) theology. Others fol-
lowed, taking up the challenge of developing the methodologies, identifying the sources,
etc., and all else that we now assume as part of this theological movement.
From the start, and I don’t think I exaggerate, Latinoax theologians have been sensitive
to the ecumenical needs of our communities, as well as respectful of intra-Latinoax denom-
inational differences. The truly sororal and fraternal spirit evident among most Latinoax
theologians (which, unfortunately, is not always paralleled at the congregational level)
opened within our movement not only the opportunity for excellent trans-denominational
friendships, but also for such trans-denominational programs as the Hispanic Summer
Program, the Hispanic Theological Initiative, and our two theological journals (Perspectivas
and the Journal of Hispanic/Latinx Theology). This in turn has contributed to the birth and
development of a theology ecumenically respectful and sensitive. This shared respect and
this shared interest in each other’s traditions have impacted Latinoax theology over the
last several decades, and increasingly more so.
Latinoax Catholic and Protestant theologies, consequently, have been ecumenically
sensitive and ecumenically cooperative—Catholics did not discover Protestants, or vice
versa, after we began to theologize: we have always theologized together, even when
writing from within our respective ecclesial traditions, and we can’t understand our
respective theologies without each other. This is a gain that our denominations and local
congregations will do well to emulate.
But just as I have emphasized the ecumenical spirit among most Latinoax Catholic and
Protestant theologians, I want to also underline that most of our published works bear the
mark of our denominational affiliations: we write from within our traditions, and this (at
least in my mind) is both a “plus” and a “minus.” We are familiar with the work of the
European, European American, and Latin American theologians of our denominations.
Catholics know their Catholic theologies. Protestants know their Protestant theologies.
And no one is embarrassed to engage their own theological traditions in dialogue and
mutual critique. We do not hide who we are. Yet we clearly assume all of our denomina-
tional traditions to be limited, always contextual human efforts at understanding what is
often beyond all understanding, just as we also assume our distinct theological traditions
to be bearers of much wisdom and insight.
The same honesty that led us to demand our voice and our space as Latinoax in society
and academy, has also made us appreciate the denominational traditions that nourished
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