Liberation theology

Liberation theology is a school of theology that developed in the 1960s and focuses on liberation of the oppressed. It was initially expressed in the Medellín Document on Peace, issued by the Latin American Bishops in 1968. It expressed grass-roots activity of Catholic priests working with the poor in base communities using the pedagogical methods of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. Liberation theology was initially developed in the works of Rubem Alves, Leonardo Boff, Gustavo Gutierrez, Juan Luis Segundo, Jon Sobrino, and others. Liberation theology stressed "orthopraxis" over "orthodoxy," or action over belief. It was particularly controversial in the Vatican because it viewed the Catholic Church's alignment with the ruling class in Latin America as part of the problem of structural injustice. As the guardian of orthodoxy, the current Pope, Benedict XVI, then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger who headed the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was a fierce opponent of liberation theology.

Although many elements of liberation theology were rejected by the Vatican, and liberation theologians harshly admonished by Pope John Paul II (leading to the curtailing of its growth), it is recognized within liberal Protestant circles as an important school of thought, enjoying equal standing with neo-orthodoxy, feminist theology, and process theology. In the 1970s liberation theology was studied in seminaries around the world and spawned many other theologies of liberation, for example, James H. Cone's A Black Theology of Liberation or John B. Cobb, Jr.'s The Liberation of Life.

As the liberation theology debates developed and the issues were better understood, the initial confrontation developed into a dialogue. One concept contributed by Rosemary Radford Reuther was the idea that liberation of the oppressed is followed by liberation of the oppressor. This view emphasized that all people are God's children and only when the oppressed are no longer victims and the society's leaders are no longer alienated oppressors can there be a world of wholeness and peace.

History

CELAM and Jesus the Liberator

Created in 1955 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), the CELAM (Conselho Episcopal Latino Americano—Latin American Episcopal Conference) pushed the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) toward a more stance on social justice issues. During the next four years, CELAM prepared 1968 Medellín Conference, in Colombia. Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo who was a central figure in Medellín and is currently in the Vatican, says that the gathering of Roman Catholic Bishops officially supported a version of Liberation Theology similar to that of Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in 1984. The whole story began in the X Meeting of CELAM in Mar del Plata and the message Pope Paul VI issued to the Latin American Bishops, "Church and problems." Cardinal López Trujillo in his account of those historical events also says that the origin of liberation theology was simultaneously created by the CELAM's Reflection Task Force, of which he was president, and a Brazilian theologian from Princeton, Rubem Alves, who in 1968 wrote Towards a Theology of Liberation.

Among the several essays published on liberation theology in the 1970s, one of the most famous is by the Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez. In his 1972 essay A Theology of Liberation: Perspectives, a collection of essays Gutiérrez managed to present as a single essay, he theorized a combination of Marxism and the social-Catholic teachings contributing to a socialist current in the Church that was influenced by the Catholic Worker Movement and the French Christian youth worker organization, "Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne." It was also influenced by Paul Gauthier's The Poor, Jesus and the Church (1965).

CELAM itself never supported any aspects of liberation theology questioned by the Vatican, as Pope Paul VI tried to slow the progressivism initiated by the 1962-1965 Council. Cardinal Samore, in charge of relations between the Roman Curia and the CELAM as the leader of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, was ordered to put a stop to this orientation judged antithetical to the Catholic church's teachings.

With Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo's 1972 election as general secretary of the CELAM, another more orthodox view of liberation current began to take root in Latin America. This viewpoint was solidified after the General Meeting of Latin American Bishops in Puebla in 1979. At the 1979 Conference in Puebla, the more ecclesiastical reorientation was met by strong opposition from liberal parts of the clergy that assumed the concept of a "preferential option for the poor," that had been stamped by Bishop Ricard Durand, who acted as president of the Commission about Poverty in Medellín.

Sebastian Kappen, an Indian theologian, published Jesus and Freedom in 1977, with an introduction by the French activist François Houtart. In 1980, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith asked the General of the Society of Jesus (of which Kappen was a member) to disavow this book. Kappen responded with a pamphlet entitled "Censorship and the Future of Asian Theology". There was no further action taken by Vatican in this matter. Later Salvadorian Jon Sobrino, in Jesus in Latin America, argued that just as Jesus was crucified and rose again in glory, the oppressed masses of Latin America would arise. Such images did not always directly endorse violent revolution, but neither did they reject it. To some, Jesus was much like Che Gueverra. These images gave the poor hope and instilled fear in those in power, reflecting the great social tension that existed in Latin America at the time.

The Vatican's reaction

Due to the controversial nature of liberation theology within the traditional Church and the controversial way in which Church officials responded, liberation theology was widely discussed. According to official statements, liberation theology is only partially compatible with Catholic social teaching. It was been rejected by the Vatican because of the Marxist concepts that tend towards materialism, and can incite "hate and violence (and) the exaltation of class struggle" [1]. However the former Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, has praised that aspect of the movement which rejects violence and instead "stresses the responsibility which Christians necessarily bear for the poor and oppressed" [2]. Nevertheless in his essay on liberation published in 1983 he has strongly criticized the Marxist trend of liberation theology as presented by Father Gutiérrez.

Pope John Paul II tried to steer a conciliatory middle course during his opening speech at the January 1979 Puebla CELAM conference, saying, "this conception of Christ as a political figure, a revolutionary, as the subversive of Nazareth, does not tally with the Church's catechisms." However, he also expressed concern over, "the ever increasing wealth of the rich at the expense of the ever increasing poverty of the poor." He stated that the principle of private property "must lead to a more just and equitable distribution of goods,...and if the common good demands it, there is no need to hesitate at expropriation itself, done in the right way."

Despite the orthodox predominance in CELAM at Sucre from 1972, liberation theology retained a sympathy in some circles, especially among the South-American laity and individual priests. The Puebla conference was far from the end of discussion. Despite the more orthodox stance of the Church itself, a group of liberation theologians, operated out of a nearby seminary with the help of liberal bishops and managed to influence the outcome. Within four hours after the Pope's speech, Gutierrez and his colleagues produced a twenty-page refutation which was circulated on the floor of the conference. According to critics, 25 percent of the final Puebla documents were written by theologians that had not even been invited to the conference. Cardinal López Trujillo considers this to be "an incredible exaggeration." Nevertheless he conceded that there was a strong pressure from a group of some 80 Marxist liberationists from outside the Bishop's Conference. "Those who criticized Puebla, now say they wrote part of it", mocked the Colombian Cardinal. Despite the official disavowal of liberation theology by Catholic church authorities, the movement after Puebla managed to persist in some areas.

Former Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, strongly opposed liberation theology. Through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which he headed, the Vatican condemned liberation theology twice (in 1984 and 1986) accusing it of Marxist tendencies and incitement to hate and violence. Leonardo Boff was suspended, while others were reputedly asked to take vows of silence.

In 1980, San Salvador's prelate, Archbishop Óscar Romero, clashed with Pope John Paul II during his visit to Europe. Romero was later assassinated during Mass in San Salvador by unknown members of death squads that some critics associate with anti-communists in El Salvador. The U.S. Government was accused of conspiring with members of these death squads. Sympathetic to the plight of the poor and opposed to the death squads, Óscar Romero argued that El Salvador's government should not be supported because of it supported terror and human rights violations.

In March 1983, Cardinal Ratzinger published "ten observations" on Gutiérrez's theology, accusing Gutiérrez of politically interpreting the Bible and of supporting a temporal messianism. Ratzinger declared that the influence of Marxism was proven by the predominance accorded to orthopraxis over orthodoxy. Finally, he stated that these ideas would support similar class conflict inside the Church, and the rejection of its hierarchy. During the 1980-1990s, Ratzinger continued his condemnation of liberation theology, prohibiting some dissident priests to teach their doctrines in the name of the Catholic Church. Tissa Balasuriya in Sri Lanka was excommunicated for doing this.

During his travel to Managua, Nicaragua, Pope John Paul II harshly condemned what he dubbed the "popular Church." This condemnation by the church was partly fueled by the involvement of "ecclesial base communities" (CEBs) in class struggle, and the Nicaraguan clergy support the Sandinistas. The Pope further insisted on His authority over the Church as Universal Pastor, in conformity with canonical law and global Church teachings.

A new trend followed Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI)'s and Pope John Paul II's condemnations of the Marxist currents in liberation theology, by promoting Reconciliation Theology that would promote non-violent efforts to uplift the poor. This theology has had a great influence among clergy and laity in Latin America.

The Impact of Liberation Theology

Liberation theology had an impact much wider than an ecclesiastic dispute within the Catholic Church. It reflected the struggles of the poor and impoverished everywhere and the tendency of religious leaders to promote "peaceful" solutions, which inevitably translated into "delay" or "never" from the standpoint of the poor, who might be dead before gradual change ever helped their plight. Wherever there was oppression or poverty a form of liberation theology for that particular group might emerge.

Liberation theology was more than anything promoting awareness in impoverished communities that they did not have to continue to live in poverty. This was Freire's pedagogy. That awareness led to three general types of action, or "praxis," aimed at changing the situation. These were (1) social revolution, (2) peaceful social transformation, and (3) parallel societies. The Catholic Church and dominant political powers feared revolution and preached peaceful transformation, but many Latin Americans simply created parallel societies.

Many in base communities learned self-reliance, hygiene, and various skills from priests and social workers, and then from one another. Many of the poor simply developed their own communities. In The Other Path (as opposed to the Maoist movement "The Shining Path" in Peru), Hernando de Soto documented the growth of the informal economy around Lima, in which entire communities were built, roads were paved, and people prospered outside the formal economy. Officially squatters, some of Peru's impoverished had created middle-class and upper middle-class lives by "pulling up their own bootstraps." Parallels could be seen also with the teachings of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam in the United States. The idea was to overcome impoverishment through education and hard work apart from the structural oppression which existed.

Protestant theologians watching the internecine Catholic disputes tended to champion their brothers who were repeating some of Martin Luther's criticisms four centuries earlier. Indeed another response to the perceived Catholic complicity with the established order in Latin America were massive conversions to protestantism in the 1970s and 1980s. The protestantism being taught in Latin America emphasized an ethic of self-reliance and greater equality between men and women. Many women became protestant seeking a life in which the "machismo" mentality common in males was not endorsed. Protestantism was another path to possible social advancement.

In the United States, Black Theology became heavily influenced by liberation theology in the 1970s. James Cone promoted a more confrontational form of Black liberation theology with sympathy toward Malcolm X, while James DeOtis Roberts promoted a more conciliatory form of social transformation associated with Martin Luther King, Jr.

In Africa and Asia theologians John Mbiti (Uganda), Kosuke Koyama (Japan), and many others developed indigenous theologies which understood the Bible in relation to their own cultures, rather than through "European" lenses. Elements of shamanism, taoism, and naturalism can be found in many of these "third world" liberation theologies.

In the final analysis, liberation theology in is various forms has served to give a voice to the voiceless and has allowed the variety of human beings to come to understand one another better in an age of globalization.

Partial list of liberation theologians and authors supporting liberation theology

• Marcella Althaus-Reid, Argentina - Scotland
• Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti (b. 1953)
• Alan Boesak, South Africa (b. 1945)
• Paulo Evaristo Arns, Brazil (b. 1921)
• Hugo Assmann, Brazil (b. 1933)
• Tomás Balduíno, Brazil (b. 1923)
• Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Timor Leste (b. 1948)
• Jose Oscar Beozzo, Brazil
• Clodovis Boff, Brazil
• Curt Cadorette, Peru, Professor of Religion at University of Rochester
• Rafael Puente Calvo, S.J., Bolivia (b. 1940), present President of Bolivian police under Evo Morales
• Leonardo Boff, Brazil (b. 1938)
• Robert McAfee Brown, U.S. (1920-2001)
• Hélder Câmara, Brazil (1909-1999)
• Katie Geneva Cannon, U.S.
• Pedro Casaldáliga, Spain - Brazil (b. 1928)
• James Cone, U.S. (b. 1938)
• Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaragua (b. 1925)
• Fernando Cardenal, Nicaragua
• Diane Drufenbrock, U.S.
• Virgilio Elizondo, U.S.
• Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J., Spain - El Salvador (1930-1989)
• Larry W. Gaiters, Canada (b. 1963)
• Paul Gauthier, France (1914-2002)
• Gustavo Gutiérrez, Peru (b. 1928)
• François Houtart, Belgium (b. 1925)
• Gérard Jean-Juste, Haiti (b. 1947)
• Sebastian Kappen, India (1924 - 1993)
• Elmar Klinger, Germany (b. 1938)
• Erwin Kräutler, Austria - Brazil (b. 1939)
• Hans Küng, Switzerland - Germany (b. 1928)
• Martin Maier, S.J. Germany
• Ignacio Martín-Baró, S.J., Spain - El Salvador (1942-1989)
• Herbert McCabe, O.P., UK (1926-2001)
• Johann Baptist Metz, Germany (b. 1928)
• José Míguez Bonino, Argentina
• Jürgen Moltmann, Germany (b. 1926)
• Segundo Montes, S.J., Spain - El Salvador (1933-1989)
• Carlos Mugica, Argentina (1930-1974)
• Henri Nouwen, Netherlands (1932-1996)
• Óscar Romero, El Salvador (1917-1980)
• Samuel Ruiz, Mexico (b. 1924)
• Edward Schillebeeckx, Belgium - Netherlands (b. 1914)
• Juan Luis Segundo, S.J., Uruguay (1925-1996)
• Stefan Silber, Germany
• Stephen Sizer, England (b. 1953)
• Jon Sobrino, S.J., Spain - El Salvador (b. 1938)
• Dorothee Sölle, Germany (1929-2003)
• Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombia (1929-1966)

Bibliography

• Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal, "Liberation Theology" (preliminary notes to 1984 Instruction)
• Berryman, Phillip, Liberation Theology (1987).
• Sigmund, P.E., Liberation Theology at the Crossroads (1990).
• Hillar, Marian, "Liberation Theology: Religious Response to Social Problems. A Survey", published in Humanism and Social Issues. Anthology of Essays. M. Hillar and H.R. Leuchtag, eds., American Humanist Association, Houston, 1993, pp. 35-52 [3].
• Gutiérrez, Gustavo, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation, Orbis Books, 1988.
• Smith, Christian, The Emergence of Liberation Theology: Radical Religion and the Social Movement Theory, University of Chicago Press, 1991.
• Mahan, Brian and L. Dale Richesin, The Challenge of Liberation Theology: A First World Response, 1981, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY.

External links

• What is abiding in Liberation Theology
• A short history of Liberation theology
• Excerpts on and Chronology of liberation theology (alt link [4])
• "Christian Revolution in Latin America: The Changing Face of Liberation Theology", Ron Rhodes
• BBC Religion & Ethics theological obituary of Pope John Paul II: his views on liberation theology
• Centre for Liberation Theologies, Faculty of Theology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
• The Blessed Poor of Jesus of Nazareth
• Edward A. Lynch, "The Retreat of Liberation Theology", 1994
• Liberation Theology Resources Online — articles, organizations, biographies, book links
• Socialism and Faith Commission of the Socialist Party USA
• Black Liberation Theology: Information

Vatican

• Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, August 6, 1984, Instruction on Certain Aspects of "Theology of Liberation"
• Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, "Liberation Theology" (preliminary notes to 1984 Instruction)

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