Liberation theology finds some liberation?
The first reading this Sunday makes clear that the God of Israel cares about the fate of those who are poor. Echoing that concern, Pope Francis has called on the Catholic Church to be “a poor church for the poor.” A progressive theological current that emphasizes the church’s closeness to the poor . . .
The first reading this Sunday makes clear that the God of Israel cares about the fate of those who are poor. Echoing that concern, Pope Francis has called on the Catholic Church to be “a poor church for the poor.” A progressive theological current that emphasizes the church’s closeness to the poor and the marginalized but was subject to decades of hostility and censure is now finding increasing favor in the Vatican under Francis, who has made plans to meet with Peruvian theologian and Dominican friar Gustavo Gutierrez, considered the founder of liberation theology.
The announcement for the meeting came on Sept. 8 from Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog, during the launch of the Italian edition of a book he had originally coauthored with Gutierrez in 2004.
It’s a remarkable turnaround for a movement that swelled in popularity but was later suppressed during the pontificates of John Paul II and his longtime doctrinal chief, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI.
Liberation theology arose as a Catholic response to the Marxist movements that fought Latin America’s military dictatorships in the 1960s and ’70s. It criticized the church’s close relations, including often overt support, with the regimes. In his highly influential 1971 book A Theology of Liberation, Gutierrez argued that the church should have a “preferential option for the poor,” following the example of Jesus.
In the 1980s the Vatican’s doctrinal office, headed by Ratzinger, condemned liberation theology for its “serious ideological deviations.” Yet it was Benedict himself who appointed Mueller as his successor at the CDF, despite the fact that the latter was a well-known Gutierrez admirer.
Though never an overt supporter of liberation theology, Pope Francis, the first pope from Latin America, has ushered in a new era in which liberation theology can no longer “remain in the shadows to which it has been relegated for some years, at least in Europe,” said the Vatican’s semiofficial newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
In his book written with Gutierrez, Mueller describes liberation theology as one of the “most significant currents of Catholic theology of the 20th century” which helped the church bridge the divide between “earthly happiness and ultra-earthly salvation.”
During the book launch in the northern Italian city of Mantua, Mueller also announced that the Vatican doctrinal office has given the green light to proceed with the sainthood cause of Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980 for his opposition to the military dictatorship in El Salvador.
Homily hint: However it is expressed, the call to live in solidarity with those who are poor as well as to work to ease the burdens of poverty go out to every Christian. How can all of us imitate God’s special consideration for the poor?
The announcement for the meeting came on Sept. 8 from Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog, during the launch of the Italian edition of a book he had originally coauthored with Gutierrez in 2004.
It’s a remarkable turnaround for a movement that swelled in popularity but was later suppressed during the pontificates of John Paul II and his longtime doctrinal chief, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI.
Liberation theology arose as a Catholic response to the Marxist movements that fought Latin America’s military dictatorships in the 1960s and ’70s. It criticized the church’s close relations, including often overt support, with the regimes. In his highly influential 1971 book A Theology of Liberation, Gutierrez argued that the church should have a “preferential option for the poor,” following the example of Jesus.
In the 1980s the Vatican’s doctrinal office, headed by Ratzinger, condemned liberation theology for its “serious ideological deviations.” Yet it was Benedict himself who appointed Mueller as his successor at the CDF, despite the fact that the latter was a well-known Gutierrez admirer.
Though never an overt supporter of liberation theology, Pope Francis, the first pope from Latin America, has ushered in a new era in which liberation theology can no longer “remain in the shadows to which it has been relegated for some years, at least in Europe,” said the Vatican’s semiofficial newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
In his book written with Gutierrez, Mueller describes liberation theology as one of the “most significant currents of Catholic theology of the 20th century” which helped the church bridge the divide between “earthly happiness and ultra-earthly salvation.”
During the book launch in the northern Italian city of Mantua, Mueller also announced that the Vatican doctrinal office has given the green light to proceed with the sainthood cause of Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980 for his opposition to the military dictatorship in El Salvador.
Homily hint: However it is expressed, the call to live in solidarity with those who are poor as well as to work to ease the burdens of poverty go out to every Christian. How can all of us imitate God’s special consideration for the poor?
Source: An article by Alessandro Speciale for Religion News Service