Transnationalism at the Grassroots: Progressive Catholicism in Spain and the Protest Cultures of the Long 1960s

This paper examines how the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) fueled transnational
connections between Spain and Latin America, linking parish communities across the Atlantic as
Liberation Theology was forged. Focusing specifically on the mediating role of parish priests in
the industrial belt of Barcelona, the paper first analyses the missionary activities that established
a foundation for transnational relations, both real and imagined, at the level of the grassroots. It
then traces how these relations evolved over a twenty year period through an examination of
parish records, local media coverage and institutional arrangements, including the sister city
agreement between the Spanish city of Santa Coloma de Gramenet and the Peruvian city of Villa
el Salvador. Finally, the paper concludes by reflecting on how progressive grassroots Catholicism
in Spain contributed to the formation of the “Third Worldism” that animated the European
protest cultures of the long-1960s.