Benedict XVI, in his speech to his nuncios in Latin America:
Some environments, we know it, ascertain a contrast between the wealth and depth of the pre-Columbian cultures and the Christian faith, presented as a foreign imposition or an alienation for the peoples of Latin America. In truth, the encounter of these cultures and the faith in Christ was an answer internally expected by such cultures. This encounter thus must not be disowned, but should be deepened, and it has created the true identity of the peoples of Latin America. In fact, the Catholic Church is the institution which enjoys greater approval by the Latin-American populations. ... Such a consolidated presence must today take into consideration, among others, the proselitism of the sects and the growing influence of the Post-modern hedonist secularism. We must seriously reflect on the causes for the attractiveness of the sects to find the right answers.
The causes can be easily identified... Medellín (1968), for instance, the Latin American "incarnation" of "the Spirit of the Council", is one of the most relevant steps in the forsaking, by the Catholic hierarchs of Latin America, of their duty of evangelisation.
