Everyman
Guatemala - An Exercise in Faith
1983 • E8 Jul 17, 1983
General Efrain Rios Montt , President of Guatemala, is a man in trouble. Last year he swept to power in a military coup, and in this traditionally Roman Catholic country energetically promoted his brand of charismatic evangelism.
This year Pope John Paul II was officially received with ill-disguised hostility: days before his arrival, six guerrillas were executed despite a papal plea for clemency. Now the Army's highest-ranking General has been sacked for claiming that religious sectarianism at the highest levels of government is causing ' unnecessary offence ' to the Catholic population.
As the battle for the soul of Guatemala develops, David Jessel examines the nature of the evangelical movement and the Catholic opposition, and asks ' whose God is winning? '
This year Pope John Paul II was officially received with ill-disguised hostility: days before his arrival, six guerrillas were executed despite a papal plea for clemency. Now the Army's highest-ranking General has been sacked for claiming that religious sectarianism at the highest levels of government is causing ' unnecessary offence ' to the Catholic population.
As the battle for the soul of Guatemala develops, David Jessel examines the nature of the evangelical movement and the Catholic opposition, and asks ' whose God is winning? '