CATHOLICISM AND POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT OF LAYWOMEN AND LAYMEN IN THE SISAL REGION OF BAHIA DURING THE DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION

Abstract

This article analyzes the engagement of laywomen and laymen from the Sisal Region of Bahia, specifically from the Parish of Our Lady of the Conception of Coité, with Liberation Theology (TdL) and their involvement in the political sphere. This engagement was made possible when they founded one of the first municipal branches of the Workers’ Party (PT) in that region during the democratic transition. The study seeks to understand aspects of the trajectory of these lay groups, especially the religious experiences that enabled their contact with TdL spirituality and the conjuncture that influenced the engagement of these catholics in partisan politics under the legend PT. The memories of these laywomen and laymen themselves constitute the main sources of this study, collected in accordance with the theoretical and methodological assumptions of Oral History. The historical experience lived by these subjects fostered more democratic political practices, establishing a progressive locus in contrast to the political and economic groups consolidated during the civil-military dictatorship and which continued their hegemony during and after the democratic transition.