Abstract Decades of thought, study, and dialogue preceded the Puebla Conference of 1979, which marks the seminal work of the Latin American Bishops in affirming the centrality of popular piety to the evangelization of the Latin American pueblo. While many of the key-figures in the historical development of popular piety hailed from Argentina, the contribution of Chilean Schoenstatt priest, Padre Joaquín Alliende, added an integral dimension to the cultural study of popular piety. Alliende, in dialogue with other influential figures from the Río de la Plata Region, played pivotal roles in the genesis of thought surrounding popular piety by bearing witness to the immense force of popular piety as an instrument of evangelization.