Synopses & Reviews
Catholic priest and radical social critic Ivan Illich is best known for books like
Deschooling Society and
Medical Nemesis that skewered the dominant institutions of the West in the 1970s. Although commissioned in 1961 by American bishops to run a missionary training center in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Illich emerged as one of the major critics of the missionary movement. As he became a more controversial figure, his center evolved into CIDOC (Centro Intercultural de Documentación), an informal university that attracted a diverse group of intellectuals and seekers from around the world. They came to Illich's center to learn Spanish, to attend seminars, and to sit at the feet of Illich, whose relentless criticism of the Catholic Church and modern Western culture resonated with the revolutionary spirit of the times. His 1967 article, "The Seamy Side of Charity," a harsh attack on the American missionary effort in Latin America, and other criticisms of the Church led to a trial at the Vatican in 1968, after which he left the priesthood. Illich's writings struck at the foundations of western society, and envisioned utopian transformations in the realms of education, transportation, medicine, and economics. He was an inspiration to a generation of liberation theologians and other left-wing intellectuals.
In The Prophet of Cuernavaca Todd Hartch traces the development of Illich's ideas from his work as a priest through his later secular period, offering one of the first book-length historical treatments of his thought in English.
Review
"Hartch captures Illich's rare intellect and passion -- as well as his Catholic faith -- without succumbing to the ideological commentary that mars so many analyses of one of Western culture's most incisive social critics. I strongly recommend this book to young readers who seek an introduction to Illich, as well as to those like me who thought they already knew him."
--Timothy Matovina, author of Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America's Largest Church
"Illich was an enigmatic Catholic figure, a polymath who saw himself as a prophet of revolution. He viewed missionaries as tools of cultural occupation, saw schooling as detrimental to real education, and the medical system as harmful to health. Along the way he denounced the Church hierarchy as a betrayal of Christ, was suitably tried for heresy only to turn the tables on his inquisitors. Yet he left a large footprint that Hartch has traced with diligence and care."
--Lamin Sanneh, author of Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity
"Todd Hartch, a prolific analyst of religious cultures and institutions of Latin America, provides a thoroughly original and engrossing interpretation of the life of Ivan Illich, one of the region's most provocative social thinkers of the second half of the twentieth century. By focusing on Illich's priestly calling, which endured long after he abandoned his public ministry, and by decoding the often-camouflaged theological underpinnings of Illich's thought and action, Hartch provides an illuminating portrait of one of the last century's most influential, yet misunderstood, critics of western modernity and the Catholic Church."
--Gilbert M. Joseph, Farnam Professor of History and International Studies, Yale University
About the Author
Todd Hartch is Professor of History, Eastern Kentucky University. He is the author of
The Rebirth of Latin American Christianity.
Table of Contents
Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Wrong Man for the Job
2. The Center for Intercultural Formation
3. Battle for Influence
4. Liberating Mission
5. Crisis
6. Decline of the Missionary Initiative
7. CIDOC
8. Breaking the Spell
9. Grammar of Silence
Conclusion
Bibliography