Vatican Council II produced a radical change in Latin American Catholicism. A new ecumenical spirit appeared, bishops encouraged Bible reading, priests said the mass in the language of the people, and a social conscience awakened. These innovations created divisions among Catholics. A large number of the clergy remained conservative and attempted to preserve the past. Among the progressives some chose to emphasize the social message of Christianity and cast their lot with a form of Marxism. Other progressives took a spiritual line by stressing a return to the Bible and Christian living.
