Thanking God for Conflict: Lessons from Oscar Romero on Faithfulness in a Polarized Society

KELLY JOHNSON, 2021

In 2013, I was one of a group of scholars from the US who visited Brazil to learn about efforts to end contemporary slavery there. Some of us, under the guidance of Br. Xavier Plassat, spent a few days in the state of Piaui visiting with activists. Over lunch the first day, the local leader, Lucia, introduced us to their work: the struggle to raise consciousness among landless workers about their rights, to educate them about tricks that could be used to trap them in slavery, and to support those who had been enslaved as they struggled for recognition and just compensation. One of us asked if they got much support from the church locally, and Lucia answered, “Not that much.” Why not? She hesitated, thinking, and then said, “They don’t like conflict.” Download to read more.