Fr Robert Prevost Was Shaped by the 'Spirit of Conocoto' - Including Selfmade 'Creed'
In September 1993, a meeting of Augustinians from Latin America was held in Conocoto. This gathering, later remembered as the origin of the 'Spirit of Conocoto', launched a new creed and a long-term process of assemblies, commissions and continental projects. It was coordinated by the 'Organisation of Augustinians in Latin America' (OALA). Fr Prevost was an active participant at those meetings.
The Founding Event: Conocoto (1993)
The first meeting took place from 9 to 17 September 1993 in Conocoto, Ecuador. Sixty-one Augustinians were present, including major superiors, the Prior General, bishops, and assistants.
The official purpose of the meeting was to begin the process of revitalising the Order in Latin America.
A key outcome of the meeting was the creation of a creed by younger participants, which became the theological manifesto of the so-called 'Spirit of Conocoto'. The Creed is published in Augustinian booklets until today (example from 2023 below).
The Conocoto event is later presented as a 'new Pentecost' within the Augustinian Order.
There is no evidence to suggest that Fr. Prevost was present in Conocoto, 1993.
The Conocoto Creed
The Creed confesses God as Mother of Life, believes that revelation happened “in our peoples” and that Jesus’ is incarnated in the liberation struggles. The text.
We believe in God, Father and Mother of Life, who reveals Himself in our peoples.
We believe in Jesus, our brother, who becomes incarnate in the hopes of liberation and resurrection of our peoples.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who animates and guides the search for a renewed and free humanity.
We believe in men and women who struggle to recover their dignity and survive in situations of hunger, misery, and death.
We believe in the Church, incarnate in the life and world of our poor and believing people.
We believe in the communal ideal of Augustine of Hippo, our inspiration.
We believe in the path our Order has followed throughout history, with its successes and errors, striving to be faithful to the will of God.
We believe in the effort to revitalize the Order in Latin America.
We believe in the active and transformative participation of our communities in society, in the image of a dialogical, reciprocal, fraternal, and solidary Trinity.
We believe in inculturated formation that rescues and values marginalized cultures and emphasizes the community spirit as a primary value of our spirituality.
We believe in the preferential option for the poor, which as an Order we have assumed in the Intermediate Chapter of Mexico.
We believe in the urgency of prioritizing human development according to the reality of our continent, over the maintenance of meritorious traditions.
We believe in a society where human rights prevail, where the dignity of persons is respected, and where the great weak and marginalized majorities are defended.
Fr Prevost Implements Conocoto in Peru
A commission met in Peru on 16-17 May 1994 to advance the implementation of the 'Conocoto priorities'.
Father Prevost, who was based in Chulucanas at the time, participated alongside three other priests: Father Diego Natal (Iquitos), Father Eugenio Alonso (Peru Province) and Father Arturo Purcaro (pictured below).
The four discussed how "the Spirit of Conocoto" could manifest itself within the circumscriptions of Peru. (OALA bulletin, 1994)
In 2025, Fr Purcaro told the SIR agency that Fr Prevost had received his pastoral 'imprinting' centred on 'inculturated evangelisation', an option for the poor, and a church model shaped by Latin America's sociopolitical categories and processes. He added: "Chulucanas was the place in Peru where the Augustinian presence was the most innovative and impactful at a pastoral level."
Another Likely Pachamama Ritual in Panama
After 1993, the Conocoto vision, complete with its own creed, was translated into action through OALA structures.
OALA speaks of a long 'itinerary' of projects, encounters, coordinated initiatives, and, in particular, implementation-level meetings.
The January 1995 meeting in Brazil, where the renowned Pachamama ritual with Fr Robert Prevost took place, was a continental gathering within the Conocoto framework.
The next meeting, in February 1995, was explicitly tied to the implementation of Conocoto and took place in Panama. Fr Robert Prevost took part in it.
The meeting in Panama also seemingly included a Pachamama ritual, with the Augustinians gathering for a service around a pot of earth (pictured below). There is no evidence that Prevost, present in Panama, took part in the pagan ritual itself.
Continuation of Conocoto
Even as Prior General of the Augustinian Order from 2001 to 2013, Fr Robert Prevost affirmed and promoted the process initiated at Conocoto in 1993.
In a letter from 2007 following the Buenos Aires assembly, he described the Conocoto process as having had a positive influence and endorsed a 1999 Lima document 'Espíritu Nuevo' ('New Spirit') as a guiding point of reference for Augustinian life in Latin America.
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