Liberation theology

Liberation theology is a Christian 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.

Roots of Liberation Theology

Liberation theology in Latin America is rooted in both the far and the recent past. Many liberation theologians (especially Gustavo Gutiérrez) have referred back to Bartolomé de Las Casas, a sixteenth-century Spanish priest in South America, who defended the Native South Americans from the cruel Spanish Conquistadors. Liberation theology is also rooted in three more things that were more recent: 1) the development of "political theology" by German theologians such as Jürgen Moltmann, Johann Metz, and Dorothee Sölle in the 1960s with political praxis as the starting point of its theologiccal reflecion; 2) the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which opened the doors to Catholic involvement in social issues; and 3) the continuous poverty in Latin America, which was perceived by many to have been caused by two elements: economic dependence imposed by European and North American capitalism; and suppression by oligarchies and harsh military regimes that cooperated with that capitalism. To address this problematic situation of Latin America, Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educationist, suggested the program of "conscientization" (conscientização in Portuguese) or "consciousness raising" in his 1968 work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, teaching that the oppressed and the oppressor must liberate themselves from their "dominated-conditioned" and "dominating-conditioned" mentalities, respectively.

Development of Liberation Theology

CELAM II

Liberation theology is usually considered to have begun with CELAM II or the Medellín Conferece in 1968. The CELAM (Conselho Episcopal Latino Americano—Latin American Episcopal Council), a council of the Roman Catholic bishops of Latin America, was originally created in 1955 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1968, the CELAM had its second conference in Medellín, Columbia for the purpose of applying Vatican II's program of pastoral reform and renewal specifically to the Latin American situation. The program was based on Vatican II's "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World." CELAM II condemned extreme inequality among the social classes, unjust use of power, what it called "institutionalized violence," exploitive trade policies, and the Church's alliance with the ruling class. It aso decided that the call to "liberation" is integral to the mission of the Church. Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Peruvian Dominican priest and theology professor, served as a member of the theological advisory team at CELAM II to play a key role in drafting its most radical documents, one entitled "Peace," another "Justice."

Gustavo Gutiérrez' Teología de la liberacíon

In 1971, Gutiérrez published Teología de la liberacíon (A Theology of Liberation), which is regarded by many as the Magna Carta of Latin American liberation theology. In this book, he observed that the "development" approach failed to solve the root causes of exploitation because it left the structures of exploitation intact. So, he demanded "liberation," calling for radical structural and social change. This undoubtedly reflected a use of Marxism not only as tool of social analysis but also as a program for changing society. Accoding to Gutiérrez, sin as social injustice is "a social, historical fact, the absence of fellowship and love in relationships among persons, the breach of friendship with God and with other persons, and, therefore, an interior, personal fracture." Salvation, therefore, means social change based on the communion of human beings with God and among themselves in the earthly kingdom of God where the exploitation that prevents the poor from being fully human is eliminated. The ministry of Jesus as the liberator of the oppressed was not only religious but also political, therefore. The mission of the Church is to liberate humaity and history in this sense. Christian praxis as commitment to this liberation should precede any theoretical reflection in theology. Also, if the oppressed use violence at all for the purpose of liberation, it should not be equated with the unjust violence of the oppressor. Here, we see Gutiérrez' reluctant admission of the use of violence. But, it is important to note that his liberation theology is not entirely socio-political, given his statement that it entails a profound sense of spirituality where you experience such a "conversion" to the oppressed that you are willing to give unconditional love to them. He refers to it as the source of Christian joy.

While this book by Gutiérrez was very influential, other liberation theologians also wrote books in the late 1960s and the 1970s, including the Brazilian Presbyterian Rubem Alves' A Theology of Human Hope (originally titled A Theology of Liberation as his 1968 Ph.D. disertation at Princeton Theological Seminary) and the Brazilian Franciscan Leonardo Boff's Jesus Christ Liberator (1972) and Liberating Grace (1976).

CELAM III

With Alfonso López Trujillo's 1972 election as general secretary of the CELAM, opposition to liberation theology started to increased. In 1979, under his leadership, the CELAM had its third conference in Puebla, Mexico for the purpose of repudiating the position of CELAM II. So, Pope John Paul II opened the conference, and Gutiérrez was excluded from the conference. The pope actually tried to steer a conciliatory middle course during his opening speech, expressing his concern not only about the radicalism of liberation theology but also about the unjust condition of the poor. For while saying, "this conception of Christ as a political figure, a revolutionary, as the subversive of Nazareth, does not tally with the Church's catechisms," he also referred to "the ever increasing wealth of the rich at the expense of the ever increasing poverty of the poor," stating that the principle of private property "must lead to a more just and equitable distribution of goods." But, 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, Gutiérrez 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 those theologians that had not even been invited to the conference. It must be true, because in the end the conference endorsed the idea of God's "preferential option for the poor" as part of the quest for justice and criticized the military dictatorships of Latin America as "institutionalized violence."

Later development

Later the 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

Pope Paul VI, who reigned the Vatican from 1963 to 1978, tried to slow the progressivism initiated by the [[Second Vatican Council[[. The Vatican, of course, admitted of Latin American liberation theology's partial compatibility with the social teachings of the Catholic Church, but this radical theology was unacceptble. So, Cardinal Samore, in charge of the relations between the Roman Curia and the CELAM as the leader of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America from 1967 to 1983, was ordered to put a stop to the orientation of liberation theology judged antithetical to the Catholic Church's teachings.

The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (or the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1983) also dealt liberation theologians. 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 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 the Vatican in this matter.

Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI was a key opponent of liberation theology.

Former Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), who headed the (Sacred) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Earth from 1981 to 2005, strongly oppoesed liberation theology. In March 1983, he published an article entitled "Ten Observations on the Theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez," 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.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Earth under Ratzinger condemned liberation theology twice (in 1984 and 1986), issuing "Instruction on Certain Aspects of the 'Theology of Liberation'" (1984) and "Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation" (1986). The 1984 instruction criticized especially the social analysis which liberation theology adopted from Marx's notions of "labor value," "surplus value," and "exploitation." (Cf. José Míguez Bonino’s explicit use of Marx in his Christians and Marxists; and Gutiérrez’s specific reference to the appropriation by capitalists of "the value of the work of others.") The 1986 instruction showed a bit more sympathy to liberation heologians.

In 1985, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Earth silenced Leonard Boff for a year for his book Church: Charism and Power. He was almost silenced again in 1992, in an attempt to prevent him from attending the Eco-92 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, but this led him to leave the Franciscan order and the priesthood. Also, some other dissident priests were prohibited from teaching their doctrines in the name of the Catholic Church.

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. Sympathetic to the plight of the poor and opposed to the death squads, Óscar Romero had argued that El Salvador's government should not be supported because of its alleged support of terror and human rights violations.

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

The Impact of Liberation Theology

Liberation theology has 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 do not have to continue to live in poverty. This was Paulo 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 Protestants, 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. Black liberation theology, which ministers to those oppressed by the effects of slavery in the United States, frequently cites Exodus because Moses led the slaves out of Egypt.

In Africa and Asia, the 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, Daoism, 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.

Bibliography

• Alves, Rubem. A Theology of Human Hope (originally titled Towards a Theology of Liberation). Abbey Press, 1969.
• Assman, Hugo. Theology for a Nomad Church. New York: Orbis Books, 1976. ISBN 0883444941
• Berryman, Phillip. Liberation Theology. 1987. ISBN 087722479X
• Birch, Charles and John B. Cobb, Jr. The Liberation of Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. ISBN 0521237874
• Boff, Leonardo. Church: Charisma & Power, Liberation Theology and the Institutional Church. New York: Crossroad, 1986. ISBN 0824507266
• Boff, Leonardo. Jesus Christ Liberator: A Critical Christology for Our Times. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1978. ISBN 0883442361
• Boff, Leonardo. Liberating Grace. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1979.
• Boff, Leonardo with Clodovis Boff. Introducing Liberation Theology. New York: Orbis Books, 1987. ISBN 0883445506
• Boff, Leonardo and Clodovis Boff. Liberation Theology: From Confrontation to Dialogue. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1986. ISBN 0866835288
• Bonino, José Míguez. Christians and Marxists: The Mutual Challenge to Revolution. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1976.
• Cone, James H. A Black Theology of Liberation. New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1970. ISBN 0397100981
• Cone, James H. God of the Oppressed. New York: Seabury Press, 1975. ISBN 0816402639
• De Soto, Hernando. The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in the Third World. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. ISBN 0060160209
• Ferm, William Deane. Contemporary American Theologies II: A Book of Readings. New York: Seabury Press, 1982. ISBN 0816424071
• Ferm, William Deane. Third World Liberation Theologies: A Reader. New York: Orbis, 1986. ISBN 0883445174
• Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Seabury Press, 1970. ISBN 0816491321
• Gutiérrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation. Revised ed. Translated by Matthew J. O'Connell. Orbis Books, 1988. ISBN 0883445425
• Gutiérrez, Gustavo. The Power of the Poor in History. Orbis Books, 1984. ISBN 0883443880
• Hillar, Marian. "Liberation Theology: Religious Response to Social Problems. A Survey." In Humanism and Social Issues. Anthology of Essays. M. Hillar and H.R. Leuchtag (eds.). American Humanist Association, Houston, 1993, pp. 35-52. (Online Source) Retrieved June 3, 2008.
• Mahan, Brian and L. Dale Richesin. The Challenge of Liberation Theology: A First World Response. New York: Orbis Books, 1981. ISBN 088344092X
• Miranda, José. Marx and the Bible: A Critique of the Philosophy of Oppression. New York: Orbis Books, 1974. ISBN083443074
• Novak, Michael. Will it Liberate?: Questions About Liberation Theology. Madison Books Reprint, 2000. ISBN 0819180602
• Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal. "Liberation Theology." Retrieved August 26, 2008.
• Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal. "Ten Observations on the Theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez." In Liberation Theology: A Documentary History, edited by Alfred T. Hennelly, 348-50. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1990. ISBN 088344593X
• Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal with Vittorio Messori. The Ratzinger Report. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985. ISBN 0898700809
• Schall, James V. Liberation Theology in Latin America. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1982. ISBN 089870006X
• Segundo, Juan Luis. The Liberation of Theology. New York: Orbis, 1976. ISBN 0883442868
• Sigmund, P.E. Liberation Theology at the Crossroads. 1990.
• Smith, Christian. The Emergence of Liberation Theology: Radical Religion and the Social Movement Theory. University of Chicago Press, 1991.
• Sobrino, Jon. Christology at the Crossroads. New York: Orbis, 1985. ISBN 0883440768
• Sobrino, Jon. Jesus in Latin America. New York: Orbis, 1987. ISBN 0883444127
• Song, Choan-Seng. Third-Eye Theology. New York: Orbis Books, 1979. ISBN 0883444747

External links

All Links Retrieved June 3, 2008.

• What is abiding in Liberation Theology
• A short history of Liberation theology
• Excerpts on and Chronology of liberation theology
• "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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