Journal of Hispanic / Latino Theology

From the Editor

From the Editor:

At the 2008 Annual Colloquium and General Meeting of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States, ACHTUS honored two of its founding members by awarding them the Virgilio Elizondo Award for distinguished achievement in theology, in keeping with the mission of the Academy. The awardees were Roger Luna, SDB, and C. Gilbert Romero. Dr. C. Gilberto Romero was the only one of the founding members with an academic specialization in biblical studies. The words of the Award Citation honoring him make it clear how very significant his contribution has been: “In Matthew’s Gospel: “every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." (Matthew 13:52). C. Gilbert Romero, priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, teacher, pastor, biblical scholar, and founding members of ACHTUS, is just such a scribe. His pioneering book, Hispanic Devotional Piety: Tracing the Biblical Roots, marked a groundbreaking step forward in bringing the practices of Latino/a popular religion into productive conversation with foundational texts from the Bible. In so doing, he challenged pastoral ministers to recognize the ways in which these practices that express the living faith of our people as heirs of a wisdom ever ancient and ever new. He challenged a view of Latino/a popular religion that disparaged such practices, inviting pastoral ministers and theologians alike to recognize the dynamic ways in which these practices are in fact practices by which the traditions and the values of Christian faith are embraced, celebrated, and handed on to new generations.” We are pleased to present the readers of this journal with another contribution by Romero, entitled “Symbolic Interpretation: Latino Theology Confronts the Bible.”

Symbolic Interpretation: Latino Theology Confronts the Bible

C. Gilbert Romero

Introduction

The word “confrontation” usually means the facing of a direct challenge. That would mean that the idea of confrontation would normally involve some kind of polemic in which both individuals take differing sides. However, the deeper meaning of “confrontation” would be the direct attempt for the two entities to face each other and attempt to clarify a misunderstanding which would currently exist. This type of “confrontation” is what is of issue here between the Bible and Latino theology. The situation of misunderstanding is the interpretation of the Bible by Latino theology or, more specifically, by Religiosidad popular, which is addressed by Latino theology. The “confrontation” (clarification) is symbolic interpretation.

De-Construction of Latino Maleness: Postcolonizing Machismo

The De-Construction of Latino Maleness: Postcolonizing Machismo

Hjamil A. Martínez-Vázquez

Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX

Through autobiographical storytelling, memoirs and fiction, Mexican-American author Victor Villaseñor explores the essence of life, found in the leyendas de la familia. He uses his own stories and leyendas de la familia as the source for his writing. After reading Rain of Gold and Walking Stars, I realized that I was more interested in how storytelling works in the construction of identity than in how Villaseñor dealt with the issue of the construction of maleness. Suddenly, storytelling and its power, became the focus of my analysis. Being interested in postcolonizing analysis, I saw storytelling beyond its merely literary character: I saw it as a postcolonizing tool. So, in this sense, I have decided to focus here on the importance of storytelling in my pursuit of the decolonization of machismo, which I understood as a colonial discourse.

Human Beings at the Crossroads of Divine Self-Disclosure

Human Beings at the Crossroads of Divine Self-Disclosure:

Otherness in Black Catholic and Latino/a Catholic Theologies and the

Otherness of God[1]

Miguel H. Díaz

College of St. Benedict / St. John’s University, Collegeville MN

Introduction

Fear and rejection of others characterize the signs of our times. I am not thinking about the kind of justifiable fear that naturally arises when someone legitimately anticipates or has been the recipient of physical and psychological acts of violence. Rather, I mean the kind of irrational and unnatural fears associated with encountering distinct ways of being human. The experience of exclusion based on such things as race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, religious identity, and physical ability increasingly threatens the human family’s ability to realize authentic community.

Letter From the Editor

From the Editor

From June 1 to 3, 2008, the Annual Colloquium and General Meeting of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States gathered ACHTUS members and guests in South Beach, Florida to focus on the theme of Cultura en lo cotidiano: Intersections of Faith and Popular Culture. This journal is pleased to present revised versions of four of the papers that were discussed during the colloquium. As is the practice of ACHTUS, the papers were developed, presented, and discussed en conjunto, a discussion that began with the presenters themselves even before the colloquium, and that expanded to include the circle of participants around the table in Florida. With the publication of these revised papers in this venue, together with “Theologizing en Espanglish: The Imago Dei in the Vernacular,” the Presidential Address delivered by Carmen Nanko-Fernándezthe circle is widened still further to include the readers of this journal.

Reflections on God, Life and Gossip in Telenovelas

¡Dame chisme! dame chocolate!

Reflections on God, Life and Gossip in Telenovelas

Neomi DeAnda

Loyola University, Chicago IL

Introduction: ¿Que son las telenovelas?

Telenovelas have been a part of my life experience for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest bonding memories with my nina[1] center around a telenovela named Cristina. I remember both of my parents and my nina would rush through washing the dishes after dinner, so we could all sit and watch the daily episode. My dad always begins his conversations with both my nina and abuelita asking about the latest telenovela. My dad knows that the plots to most of these melodramatic series do not stray much from one another, so even when he was not current on the particular show, he could follow the trend.

Connecting Through a Medium of a Different Nature: The Orishas Go Online

Connecting Through a Medium of a Different Nature:

The Orishas Go Online

Miguel W. Ramos, Obá Oriaté

Florida International University, Miami FL

The discovery of iron by early human civilizations some 10,000 years ago permanently transformed humankind. Iron became fundamental in tool-making, but even more so in agriculture, with the invention of the plow. This new tool revolutionized agricultural production, and by extension human society, by exponentially multiplying the amount of food that people could produce. The technological advances that followed had a direct effect on human intellectual development by placing greater demands on the brain that allowed for the expansion of the existing knowledge base. Humanity crossed a major intersection.

La Salvadora Kenotica in U.S. Film and Television

“You don’t pay me enough:” La Salvadora Kenotica in U.S. Film and Television

Gilberto Cavazos-González, OFM

Catholic Theological Union, Chicago IL

As a young man, I did a pen and ink drawing of the Sagrado Rostro de Jesús. It was basically a doodle, but I liked it and kept it with some of my other drawings. Much to my chagrin, whenever anyone saw it, more often than not, they would think that it was a drawing of Juan Diego. Upon learning that it was supposed to be Jesucristo, they’d exclaim: “I never thought of a Mexican Jesus before.”

Scripting Latinidad: Re/Defining Textual Selves and Worlds in the Age of MySpace

Jacqueline Hidalgo

Claremont Graduate University

Introduction: The Organizational Power of “Friends”

In March of 2006, students throughout the Southwest attended rallies and protests in support of immigrant rights. The role of the online networking site MySpace (http://www.myspace.com) was one of the more remarkable aspects of this student mobilization.[i] MySpace bulletins were credited, in large part, with the protest organization across state borders and between students only loosely connected through networks of MySpace “friends.” Gustavo Jimenez, a high school student in Texas, organized a Sunday morning rally on March 26, 2006 after he saw the MySpace posting made by a student in California. On Monday, March 27, 2006, postings calling for a walkout led to fruition in Dallas where 4000 students, more than either Jimenez or the city had anticipated, walked out of area public and private schools.[ii]

Theologizing en Espanglish: The Imago Dei in the Vernacular

Theologizing en Espanglish: The Imago Dei in the Vernacular[1]

Carmen Nanko-Fernández

Catholic Theological Union, Chicago IL

Coming from a community that privileges teología y pastoral de conjunto, I would be remiss if I did not begin by acknowledging the collective influences en mi vida cotidiana. Present this evening are our theological padrinos y madrinas, those we honor this Colloquium, our founders, and many of the first generation of ACHTUS scholars. I am particularly indebted to mi padrino Orlando Espín, y mi madrina María Pilar Aquino and to Fernando Segovia, the president at my first ACHTUS meeting in 1994. Terrified by the erudite and exuberant conversation, flying furiously in two languages, I plotted my escape. Fernando’s words kept me in ACHTUS. “You will be joining us for the banquet?” Fernando queried. I hesitated and Segovia quickly added, “but of course you would be our dinner guest.” That was the last free meal ACHTUS would give away for the next fourteen years-since they elected me treasurer the following colloquium!

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