The IHM's response to educational, social and economic challenges of human rights in Peru and Chile: a viable option for the people of Latin America.

Social, economic and political conditions, as they appeared in Peru and Chile, challenged the apostolate of education of the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (1) They also defied the extension of this apostolate and hence demanded an appropriate response by the members of that congregation. As the first group of American religious to serve in South America, answering the call of the Catholic Church, they have encountered a variety of experiences since their arrival on the continent seventy-eight years ago.

Working in Peru and Chile they faced situations that were similar within the Latin American realities of profound contrasts and unequal development, but they also confronted the essential characteristics of each country which differed as they emanated from the historical, political and social actualities of each. In both countries these realities challenged the rights of the people, whether rich or poor, and the IHMs, within the broad context of education, responded to their needs.

Other similarities as well as differences in the response in each country must also be considered. The similarities will be a result of the charism and purpose of the congregation, which in spite of the diverse circumstances in which the sisters may labor, remains the same for the apostolate of the IHMs. The differences in many cases will result from the diversity in national characteristics and in those of the Church and Church-State relations and society in each of the two countries where they are missioned.

The work of the Sisters will be considered in three moments: pre-Vatican II, post-Vatican II and looking towards the third century. In the first segment of their missionary life in Peru and Chile, the congregation concentrated on teaching in private, upper and middle class schools, with one exception. The work with people of little economic means was mostly through catechetics and social work. Responding to the post-Vatican movement, and its Latin American adaptation at Medellin, the congregation assumed works directly related with the poor in both urban and rural areas. During the years of political unrest and social upheaval in Peru and Chile, they served as a stabilizing and moderating force in both countries. By non-involvement in political situations, they were able through the Gospel to safeguard the rights of people of all groups and provide for them spiritually, intellectually, materially and emotionally. Now as they face the circumstances of the new millennium they move forward in the work of the Church answering new challenges in their service to the people of Latin America. This is their option.

Circumstances of beginning their missions

The years between 1900 to 1920 marked a new growth for young Protestant churches in Latin America. These were years of mobility into the big cities and interior of the continent despite isolation, poor communications, bad roads and primitive living conditions. Three-fourths of the population of most countries in Latin America was illiterate in 1900. Various non-Catholic groups had gone to Latin America to establish mission institutions that proliferated as traditional Protestant Churches, and these missions sought through education to evangelize the upper classes.

These institutions, although they never educated more than a fraction of the population, became examples of the newest and finest methods of instruction and were often used as models for new public educational programs. Latin American leaders anxious to see education develop made their task easier. The vacuum in the field of education was such that it would have been impossible for the missionary enterprise not to help correct the fault that had existed under colonial and early republican rule for more than three hundred years. Education was the crying need. This became the call of God for the period.