Italian
On the occasion of a panel dedicated to freedom, liberation, and populist movements in Latin America, organized by the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation, Rodrigo Guerra López, Co-Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, provided a clear analysis of the neo-populist phenomenon sweeping the continent, pointing to the Social Doctrine of the Church and synodality as the way to respond to these challenges.
VATICAN CITY. “Neo-populism is a disease that crosses both the right and the left”: with this direct statement, Rodrigo Guerra López summarized the common thread of a panel on freedom and liberation in Latin America, held as part of the 2026 International Conference of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation.
According to Guerra López, neo-populism is not the prerogative of a specific political area: “All ideologies, all options present in today’s Latin American political menu have a strong temptation to create neo-populist solutions that use the people instead of serving them”. A phenomenon that manifests itself through recurring strategies: the use of religious language, the proposal of messianic leaders, the emergence from the indignation and fatigue of societies.
In the face of this reality, the Social Doctrine of the Church does not offer only abstract principles, but a method: “The social doctrine of the Church offers us a method, namely to discover or rediscover that the changes that truly touch the deep structure of the world are cultivated within people.”
This translates into a precise perspective: personal conversion first of all, then community conversion, what is referred to within the Church as synodality.
“From the experience of synodality within the Church, we must relearn to propose fraternity amidst our wounded and often violated societies,” concluded Guerra López. An invitation to view the political crises of Latin America not only as institutional challenges but as an opportunity to renew the moral and spiritual fabric of communities from within.
