My eyes fell off and I said, what have I been doing all this time? Um, it was a come to Jesus moment. Yes. Literally, right? But like, see, I knew this conversation would go there, but can you talk, um, I want to go back a little, a wee bit though, because you may, and again, and again, sorry, you're gonna have to mute I'm hearing some feedback and I'm sure the audience is too.
Um, but, um, you, you talked about how, uh, what, what happened was how the, how Vatican II changed the Catholic church and the, uh, and, and, and those changes that went on around you, um, influenced your upbringing. So just, just so people who don't know who aren't Catholic, um, that, that sort of, set the stage for the Catholic church to become some version of what, of what you see today, where for instance, you've got Catholics who are, um, who are more for abortion or for, or for other, um, other liberal causes, whereas under Vatican I, they would not have been. Is that? Yeah, yeah.
Um, I think that this social doctrine of the church opened up too many doors and then with liberation theology, which was a type of theology that started in Latin America, there was a, there was a gathering of bishops in Columbia in I think 1976 or 77 around that time. And they decided to draft a document that the most important part is that they, they chose, um, a very committed option for the poor. So everything that they did was for the poor.
And even many of these priests became part of the guerrilla. They took arms, um, many of them in Brazil and in Peru and in Columbia. So there were, even in El Salvador, in the, the, the civil wars in El Salvador, many, I think that there are several movies, um, where priests are depicted, uh, as armed, armed in the guerrilla against the government.
That's interesting. Yeah. Interesting.
Um, it's, it's, it's quite fascinating, I'm sure. By the way, guys, um, if y'all want to come up and, uh, and engage with, uh, with, with Dr. Serene, it's Serene, right? Not Serene, Serena. Serena in Spanish, but here they call me Serene.
If you guys want to come up and engage with, uh, with, with, with the doctor, please, please just hit, uh, request a mic to get, to get up on stage and, uh, I'll get right to you. But, uh, include, include you guys in on this great conversation. But what was it though, that because all those things like liberation theology, it, it drove you away from the Catholic church.
