This paper reports on research in the Colombian municipalities of Alpujarra Tolima, Neira Caldas, Marulanda Caldas, Geneva Valle, Zarzal Valle, Quebrada Nueva and Aranzazu Caldas that explored the characteristics of pastoral care in communities in rural areas. Two key research findings are presented. The first is that some specific features that characterize contemporary society, such as globalization and globalism, run counter to the rural identity, and specifically to the exercise of the community activities of accompaniment, education and evangelizing as they are guided by the pastoral care of the Roman Catholic Church. The second finding comes from a study of how the social thought of the Church, which in principle underpins its pastoral activity, has led to the development of arguments that establish a critique of the most visible elements of contemporary society, resulting to some extent in the promotion of the identity of rural people.In other words, this paper seeks to support the hypothesis that, in the context of the cases studied, contemporary society represents a set of complex challenges that extends even to the structural disarticulation of rural cultural identity as well as the very character of the social thought of the Church.