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 continental assemblies, commissions, and projects. It was coordinated by the ‘Organization of Augustinians in Latin America’ (OALA). Fr. Prevost actively participated in these meetings.

The founding event: Conocoto (1993)

The first meeting took place from September 9 to 17, 1993, in Conocoto, Ecuador. Sixty-one Augustinians were present, including major superiors, the prior general, bishops, and assistants.

The official objective of the meeting was to initiate the process of revitalizing the Order in Latin America.

A key outcome of the meeting was the creation of a creed by the younger participants, which became the theological manifesto of the so-called “Spirit of Conocoto.” The Creed is still published today in Augustinian pamphlets (example from 2023 below).

The Conocoto event was subsequently presented as a “new Pentecost” within the Augustinian Order.

There is no evidence to suggest that Fr. Prevost was present in Conocoto in 1993.

The Creed of Conocoto

The Creed confesses God as the Mother of Life, believes that revelation occurred "in our people," and that Jesus is incarnate in the struggles for liberation. The text:

We believe in God, Father and Mother of Life, who reveals himself in our people.

We believe in Jesus, our brother, who is incarnate in the hopes for liberation and resurrection of our people.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who animates and guides the search for a renewed and free humanity.

We believe in the 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 faithful 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 failures, 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 supportive Trinity.

We believe in an inculturated formation that rescues and values ​​marginalized cultures and emphasizes the community spirit as the primary value of our spirituality.

We believe in the preferential option for the poor, which we as an Order embraced at the Intermediate Chapter in Mexico.

We believe in the urgent need to prioritize human development in accordance with the reality of our continent, over the maintenance of meritorious traditions.

We believe in a society where human rights prevail, the dignity of all people is respected, and the vast, vulnerable, and marginalized majorities are defended.

Father Prevost establishes Conocoto in Peru

A commission met in Peru on May 16 and 17, 1994, to advance the implementation of the "Conocoto priorities."

Father Prevost, who was then stationed in Chulucanas, participated along with three other priests: Father Diego Natal (Iquitos), Father Eugenio Alonso (Province of Peru), and Father Arturo Purcaro (pictured below).

The four discussed how "the Spirit of Conocoto" could be manifested within the dioceses of Peru. (Boletín de la OALA, 1994)

In 2025, Father Purcaro told the SIR news agency that Father Prevost had influenced his pastoral approach, which focused on "inculturated evangelization," a preferential option for the poor, and a model of the Church shaped by the sociopolitical categories and processes of Latin America. He added: "Chulucanas was the place in Peru where the Augustinian presence was most innovative and impactful at the pastoral level."

Other likely Pachamama ritual in Panama

After 1993, Conocoto's vision, complete with its own creed, was translated into action through the structures of OALA.

OALA speaks of a long "itinerary" of projects, meetings, coordinated initiatives, and, in particular, implementation-level meetings.

The January 1995 meeting in Brazil, where the famous Pachamama ritual with Father Robert Prevost took place, was a continental gathering within the framework of Conocoto.

The following meeting, in February 1995, was explicitly linked to the implementation of Conocoto and took place in Panama. Father Robert Prevost participated in it.

Apparently, the Panama meeting also included a Pachamama ritual, in which the Augustinians gathered for a service around an earthen vessel (image below). There is no evidence that Prevost, present in Panama, participated in the pagan ritual itself.

Continuation of Conocoto

Even as Prior General of the Augustinian Order from 2001 to 2013, Father Robert Prevost affirmed and promoted the process initiated in Conocoto in 1993.

In a 2007 letter following the Buenos Aires assembly, he described the Conocoto process as having had a positive influence and endorsed the 1999 Lima document, "New Spirit," as a point of reference for Augustinian life in Latin America.

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2026.

ESNEWS.