For all the accusations of doctrinal confusion—and even hints of heresy—it’s important to remember that Pope Francis’s magisterium was firmly rooted in the Second Vatican Council, and more specifically in its distinctly Argentine reception, known as the theology of the People, writes Claudio Ivan Remeseira in Where Peter Is.
This theological current was developed by the theological experts or periti of the Episcopal Commission of Pastoral Ministry (COEPAL, by its Spanish acronym), a synodal task force of bishops, priests, and lay advisors convened by the Argentine bishops’ conference in the wake of Vatican II.
Its purpose was to implement the Council’s conclusions in the Argentine context. COEPAL’s most influential periti were two diocesan priests, Lucio Gera and Rafael Tello—arguably the most important Argentine theologians of the 20th century.
At the time, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was still completing his formation as a Jesuit and had little direct contact with COEPAL. But years later—especially after becoming auxiliary bishop and later archbishop of Buenos Aires in the 1990s—he fully embraced this theological tradition. More than any other influence, it shaped both his pastoral approach and theological worldview.
As pope, his closest theological advisors came from this school: Fr Carlos Galli, a disciple of Gera and a member of the International Theological Commission, and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Their collaboration with Francis dates back to 2007, when then-Archbishop Bergoglio led the commission drafting the final document of the Fifth Latin American Episcopal Conference in Aparecida, Brazil. Galli and Fernández authored the final draft and would go on to contribute to all major documents of Francis’s pontificate.
Interestingly, the architects of the theology of the People never used that name. They called it “popular pastoral theology.” Its core concepts were summarized in a 1974 book titled ¿Qué es la pastoral popular? (“What Is Popular Pastoral Theology?”), published one year after COEPAL was disbanded.
While attributed to Jesuit Fernando Boasso, the book is really a synthesis of years of conversations among COEPAL’s team of theologians and religious sociologists in Buenos Aires from 1968 to 1973. These discussions built upon their reading of Vatican II documents—especially Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes. The two central concepts of popular pastoral theology—“people” and “popular culture”—emerged directly from these two conciliar texts.
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Claudio Ivan Remeseira, Are Francis Critics to Become Leo Critics Too? (Where Peter Is)
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Lucio Gera (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)
Rafael Tello (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)
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Rafael Tello and Lucio Gera