Liberation theology is a school of
theologyThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
within
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
, particularly in the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
. It emphasizes the Christian mission to bring
justiceJustice is the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, fairness, or equity.-Concept of justice:Justice... concerns the proper ordering of things and persons within a society. As a concept it has been subject to philosophical, legal, and theological reflection and...
to the poor and oppressed, particularly through political activism. Its theologians consider sin the root source of poverty, the sin in question being exploitative capitalism and class war by the rich against the poor. It has a range of meanings: broadly, especially in the media, it may refer to any politically-activist Christian thought, but the technical sense is narrower.
Liberation theologians use political theory, primarily
MarxismMarxism is the political philosophy and economic worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; three primary aspects of...
, to help understand how to combat
povertyPoverty is the condition of lacking basic human needs such as nutrition, clean water, health care, clothing, and shelter because of the inability to afford them. This is also referred to as absolute poverty or destitution...
. Some elements of certain liberation theologies have been rejected by leaders of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church over the last 30 years. At its inception, liberation theology was predominantly found in the Catholic Church after the
Second Vatican CouncilThe Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October, 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on 8 December, 1965...
. It is sometimes regarded as a form of
Christian socialismChristian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated. This category can include Liberation theology and the doctrine of the social gospel. The term "Christian Socialism" is used...
, and it has enjoyed widespread influence in
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and among the
JesuitsThe Society of Jesus is a Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits.Jesuits are the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, with 18,815 members—13,305 priests, 2,295 scholastic students, 1,758 brothers and 827 novices—as of January 2008, although the...
, although its influence diminished within Catholicism after liberation theologians using Marxist concepts were harshly admonished by
Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła served as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death almost 27 years later. His was the second-longest pontificate; only Pope Pius IX served longer...
(leading to the curtailing of its growth).
The current Pope,
Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI is the 265th and reigning Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the head of the Catholic Church and, as such, Sovereign of the Vatican City State...
, has long been known as an opponent of certain types of liberation theology, and issued several condemnations of tendencies within it while head of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the FaithThe Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, and sometimes simply called the Holy Office is the oldest of the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. Among the most active of these major Curial...
(CDF).
Overview
Liberation Theology posits fighting poverty by suppressing its source: sin. In so doing, it explores the relationship between
Christian theologyChristian theology is discourse concerning Christian faith. Christian theologians use Biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument to understand, explain, test, critique, defend or promote Christianity...
— especially
Roman Catholic theologyRoman Catholic theology refers to the beliefs held by the Roman Catholic Church which bases its conclusions on Scripture and Sacred Tradition, as interpreted by Magisterium. The Church teaches that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, keeping of the Ten commandments and receiving the...
— and political activism, especially about
social justiceSocial justice is a notion used to describe a society with a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution, policies aimed toward achieving that which developmental economists refer to as equality of opportunity and...
,
povertyPoverty is the condition of lacking basic human needs such as nutrition, clean water, health care, clothing, and shelter because of the inability to afford them. This is also referred to as absolute poverty or destitution...
, and
human rightsHuman rights refer to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the...
. The Theology's principal methodological innovation is seeing theology from the perspective of the poor and the oppressed (socially, politically, etc.); per
Jon SobrinoJon Sobrino, S.J. is a Jesuit Catholic priest and theologian, known mostly for his contributions to liberation theology....
, S.J., the poor are a privileged channel of God's grace. According to
Phillip BerrymanPhillip E. Berryman is the author of several books on both liberation theology and the Christian experience in Latin America. After his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest in 1963, he spent two years at a church in Pasadena, California, before working in pastoral ministry in the Panama City...
, liberation theology is "an interpretation of Christian faith through the poor's suffering, their struggle and hope, and a critique of society and the Catholic faith and Christianity through the eyes of the poor".
Liberation theologians base their social action upon the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
scriptures describing the mission of Jesus Christ, as
but bringing a swordMatthew 10:34 - "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword" is one of the controversial statements reported of Jesus in the Bible. The saying has been interpreted in several ways, by Christians and non-Christians, to support several mutually-incompatible conclusions...
(social unrest), e.g. , , — and
not as bringing peace (
social orderSocial order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
). This Biblical interpretation is a call to
action against poverty, and the sin engendering it, and as a call to arms, to effect Jesus Christ's mission of justice in this world. In practice, the Theology includes the
MarxistMarxism is the political philosophy and economic worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; three primary aspects of...
concept of perpetual
class struggleClass struggle is the active expression of class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, leading ideologists of communism, wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle".Marx's notion of class has...
, thus emphasizing the person's individual self-actualization as part of God's divine purpose for mankind.
Besides teaching at (some) Roman Catholic universities and seminaries, liberation theologians often may be found working in Protestant schools, often working directly with the poor. In this context, sacred text interpretation is
Christian theological praxisPraxis may refer to:In education:* Praxis test, a teacher certification exam* Praxis School, a school of Marxist philosophyIn entertainment:* Praxis , a Bill Laswell musical project...
.
The issue is seriously confused by the problem of terminology. "Liberation theology" is used in a technical sense to describe a particular theology which uses specific Marxist concepts. It is also used, especially by non-specialists and the media, to refer to any approach which sees Christianity as requiring political activism on behalf of the poor. It is in the first sense that the Roman Catholic hierarchy has condemned "liberation theology", rejecting especially the idea that a violent class struggle is fundamental to history, and the reinterpretation of religious phenomena such as the Exodus and the Eucharist as essentially political. The broader sense is not condemned: "The mistake here is not in bringing attention to a political dimension of the readings of Scripture, but in making of this one dimension the principal or exclusive component."
The
Instruction explicitly endorsed a "preferential option for the poor", stated that one could be neutral in the face of injustice, and referred to the "crimes" of colonialism and the "scandal" of the arms race. However, media reports tended to assume that the condemnation of "liberation theology" meant a rejection of such attitudes and an endorsement of conservative politics.
These tensions have probably been worsened by the fact that many liberation theologians regard their concepts of political liberation as the only meaningful ones, and thus see little advance in the official attitudes described.
History
Created in 1955 in
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial era, and...
(Brazil), the
CELAMThe Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano , also known as CELAM, is a conference of the Roman Catholic bishops of Latin America, created in 1955 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil....
(
Conselho Episcopal Latino Americano - Latin American Episcopal Conference) pushed the
Second Vatican CouncilThe Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October, 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on 8 December, 1965...
(1962-65) toward a more socially oriented stance. During the next four years, CELAM prepared for the 1968
MedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.4 million...
Conference in Colombia. Cardinal
Alfonso López TrujilloAlfonso López Trujillo was a Colombian Cardinal Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church and president of the Pontifical Council for the Family.-Youth:...
, who was a central figure in Medellín and who was later at the Vatican, said that the gathering of Roman Catholic bishops officially supported a version of liberation theology similar to that of the Vatican's CDF in 1984. This began in the X Meeting of CELAM in
Mar del PlataMar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the Buenos Aires Province, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is one of the major fishing ports and the biggest seaside beach resort in Argentina....
and the message
Pope Paul VIPope Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 1963 to 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
issued to the Latin American Bishops,
Church and Problems. Cardinal López Trujillo, in his account of those historical events, also said 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 AlvesRubem Alves, Brazilian theologian, philosopher, educator, writer and psychoanalyst, was born on 15 September 1933, in Boa Esperança, Minas Gerais.-Education:# Bachelor in Theology, Seminário Presbiteriano de Campinas, 1957....
, 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 Catholic priest, Fr.
Gustavo GutiérrezGustavo Gutiérrez Merino, O.P., is a Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest regarded as the founder of Liberation Theology. He holds the John Cardinal O'Hara Professorship of Theology at the University of Notre Dame...
, O.P. In his 1972 book,
A Theology of Liberation, 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 MovementThe Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities of Catholics and their associates founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ." One of its guiding principles is hospitality towards those on...
and the French Christian youth worker organization,
"Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne." It was also influenced by
Paul GauthierPaul Gauthier catholic theologian and humanist.-Biography:French theologian and humanist known for his contribution to the liberation theology....
's
"The Poor, Jesus and the Church" (1965).
CELAM as such never supported liberation theology, which was frowned on by the Vatican, with Pope Paul VI trying to slow the movement after the 1962-1965 Council. Cardinal Samore, in charge of relations between the
Roman CuriaThe Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
and the CELAM as the leader of the
Pontifical Commission for Latin AmericaThe Pontifical Commission for Latin America is a dicastery of the Roman Curia. Established by Pope Pius XII on April 19, 1958, it is charged with providing assistance to and examining matters pertaining to the Church in Latin America...
, was ordered to put a stop to this orientation, which was judged antithetical to the Catholic Church's global teachings.
With Cardinal López Trujillo's election in 1972 as general secretary of the CELAM, another liberationist current began to take force in Latin America. This one was an orthodox point of view which became predominant in CELAM as well as in the Roman Curia after the General Meeting of Latin American Bishops in
PueblaPuebla is a Mexican state located in the south-central part of the country, to the east of Mexico City. The state borders Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Mexico State, Tlaxcala, and Morelos to the west, and Guerrero and Oaxaca to the south. The state's largest cities are Puebla and Tehuacan, it has...
in 1979.
At the 1979 CELAM's Conference of Puebla, the more ecclesiastical reorientation was met by strong opposition from the liberal part of the clergy, which 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 Medellin.
Sebastian KappenSebastian Kappen , was a renowned Indian Jesuit priest and Theologian.-Formation and studies:...
, an Indian theologian, published
Jesus and Freedom in 1977, with an introduction by the French activist
François HoutartFrançois Houtart is a Belgian sociologist and Catholic priest.He studied philosophy and theology at the seminary of Mechelen and became a priest in 1949. He earned a masters degree in political and social sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven . He earned a degree at the International...
. In 1980, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asked the General of the
Society of JesusThe Society of Jesus is a Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits.Jesuits are the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, with 18,815 members—13,305 priests, 2,295 scholastic students, 1,758 brothers and 827 novices—as of January 2008, although the...
(of which Kappen was a member) to disavow this book. Kappen responded with a pamphlet entitled "Censorship and the Future of Asian Theology". No further action was taken by the Vatican on this matter.
A new trend blossomed from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now
Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI is the 265th and reigning Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the head of the Catholic Church and, as such, Sovereign of the Vatican City State...
)'s and
Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła served as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death almost 27 years later. His was the second-longest pontificate; only Pope Pius IX served longer...
's condemnations of the Marxist current of liberation theology, which is called Reconciliation Theology and has had a great influence among clergy and laity in Latin America.
Nonetheless,
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
reported on the eve of Pope Benedict's 2007 visit to Brazil that liberation theology remains popular in Latin America, with Brazil alone the home to over one million Biblical study circles reading and interpreting the Bible from this perspective.
Reaction within the Catholic Church
Official Vatican pronouncements, including the Pope's, have concluded that - while the Church concurs in condemning the injustices condemned by the Liberation theologians - Liberation Theology in the technical (Marxist) sense is incompatible with official
Catholic social teachingCatholic social teaching is a body of social doctrine developed by several popes of the Catholic Church since the end of the Nineteenth Century on matters of poverty and wealth, economics, social organization and the role of the state....
, and that much of it must be rejected. The orthodox Catholic criticism is the integration of
MarxismMarxism is the political philosophy and economic worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; three primary aspects of...
to Catholic theology, specifically
dialectical materialismDialectical materialism is the philosophy of Karl Marx, which he formulated by taking the dialectic of Hegel and joining it to the Materialism of Feuerbach.According to many followers of Karl Marx's thinking, it is the philosophical basis of Marxism....
, and aligning with revolutionaries (
Camilo TorresFather Camilo Torres Restrepo was a Colombian socialist, Roman Catholic priest, a predecessor of liberation theology and a member of the National Liberation Army guerrilla organisation...
,
Jean-Bertrand AristideJean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian politician and former Roman Catholic priest. He was briefly President of Haiti in 1991, prior to a September 1991 military coup, and was President again from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004. He was then ousted in a February 2004 rebellion in which former...
,
Ernesto CardenalReverend Father Ernesto Cardenal Martínez is a Nicaraguan Catholic priest and was one of the most famous liberation theologians of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, a party he has since left. From 1979 to 1987 he served as Nicaragua's first culture minister. He is also famous as a poet, and he still...
) and revolutionary socio-political movements.
Despite the orthodox bishops' predominance in CELAM, from the 1972
SucreSucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an altitude of 2750m . Its lower altitude gives the city a warm temperate climate year-round....
conference onwards, Liberation Theology remains much supported in South America, thus, by 1979, the Puebla Conference was an opportunity for orthodox bishops to reassert control of the radical elements of liberation theology; they failed.
As liberation theology strengthened in Latin America, Pope John Paul II was conciliatory in his opening speech at the CELAM conference in
PueblaPuebla is a Mexican state located in the south-central part of the country, to the east of Mexico City. The state borders Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Mexico State, Tlaxcala, and Morelos to the west, and Guerrero and Oaxaca to the south. The state's largest cities are Puebla and Tehuacan, it has...
in January 1979. He criticized radical liberation theology, 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 did speak of "the ever increasing wealth of the rich at the expense of the ever increasing poverty of the poor", and affirmed 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
expropriationExpropriation is the confiscation of private property with the express purpose of establishing social equality.Unlike eminent domain, expropriation takes place beyond the common law legal systems and refers to socially-motivated confiscations of any property rather than to taking away the real estate...
, itself, done in the right way"; on balance, the Pope offered neither praise nor condemnation.
Barred from attending the conference, some liberation theologians, working from a seminary and with aid from sympathetic, liberal bishops, partially obstructed the orthodox clergy's efforts to ensure that the Puebla Conference documents satisfy their conservative concerns. Within four hours of the Pope's speech, Gutiérrez and the other priests wrote a twenty-page refutation, circulated among the present. According to a socio-political study of liberation theology in Latin America, twenty-five per cent of the final Puebla documents were written by theologians who were
not invited to the conference. Cardinal López Trujillo said that affirmation is "an incredible exaggeration" (Ben Zabel 2002:139), nevertheless, he concedes that there was strong pressure from a group of eighty Marxist liberation theologists external to the Bishop's Conference. Despite the Roman Catholic Church's official disavowal of Liberation Theology, and disavowal by many lay folk in Latin America, despite the Puebla Conference, Liberation Theology continues in Latin America and other poor parts of the world.
Cardinal Ratzinger (now
Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI is the 265th and reigning Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the head of the Catholic Church and, as such, Sovereign of the Vatican City State...
), strongly opposed certain elements of Liberation Theology, through the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the FaithThe Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, and sometimes simply called the Holy Office is the oldest of the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. Among the most active of these major Curial...
(headed by him), the Vatican twice (1984, 1986) officially condemned its acceptance of Marxism and armed violence. For example,
Leonardo BoffLeonardo Boff was born 14 December 1938 in Concórdia, Santa Catarina state, Brazil. He is a theologian, philosopher and writer, known for his active support for the rights of the poor and excluded....
was suspended and others silenced, however, Cardinal Ratzinger did praise the theology's intellectual underpinnings that reject violence, and, instead, "[stress] the responsibility which Christians necessarily bear for the poor and oppressed".
In March 1983, Cardinal Ratzinger made ten observations of Gutiérrez's theology, accusing him (Gutiérrez) of politically interpreting the Bible in supporting temporal messianism, and that the predominance of
orthopraxisOrthopraxy is a term derived from Greek meaning "correct action/activity", and is a religion that places emphasis on conduct, both ethical and liturgical, as opposed to faith or grace etc...
over orthodoxy proves Marxist influence. Finally, Ratzinger's attack says that these conceptions necessarily uphold class conflict in the Roman Catholic Church, which, logically, leads to rejecting hierarchy. During the 1980s and the 1990s, Ratzinger continued condemning these intellectual elements in Liberation Theology, prohibiting dissident priests from teaching the doctrines in the Catholic Church's name and excommunicated
Tissa Balasuriya-Theological work:In 1971 Balasuriya founded the Center for Society and Religion; four years later he founded the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians. In 1990, Balasuriya published the book Mary and Human Liberation...
, in
Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
, for so doing. Under Cardinal Ratzinger's influence, theological formation schools were forbidden from using the Catholic Church's organization and grounds to teach Liberation Theology (in the sense of theology using unacceptable Marxist ideas, not in the broader sense).
In
ManaguaManagua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as the department and municipality by the same name. It is also the largest city in Nicaragua. It is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Managua. The city was declared the national capital in 1852. Previously, the capital had alternated...
,
NicaraguaNicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democratic republic. It is the largest country in Central America with an area of 130,373 km
2. The country is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west of...
, Pope John Paul II criticized (what he labelled) the "popular Church" movement by means of "ecclesial base communities" (CEBs) in effecting class struggle, the replacement of the Catholic
dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy is the organization of individuals in a group that occurs when competition for resources leads to aggression...
with a locally-selected system in the magisterium, and the Nicaraguan Catholic clergy's supporting the Sandinista National Liberation Front. To that, the Pope re-stated and insisted upon his authority as Universal Pastor of the Roman Catholic Church in
conformity with canon law and catechism.
The orthodox priests who disagree with liberationism consider Liberation Theology's world view as narrow; that it does not look at the entire meaning of God and the Bible's writers. The orthodox accuse liberation theologians of mining the Bible in supporting their specific political and social ideology. These criticisms, in turn, provoke counter-criticisms that the orthodox, by condemning the teachings and the organization of the liberationist movement, are in effect casting their lots with authoritarian regimes. In other words, some liberationists maintain that pure doctrine is not so much what the Vatican is trying to defend, as is established ecclesiastical and political order. This conflict could be compared to some aspects of the
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
. Outside Latin America, some of Liberation Theology's most ardent advocates are Protestant thinkers (e.g.,
Jurgen MoltmannJürgen Moltmann is a German Protestant theologian.- Moltmann's Youth :Moltmann was born in Hamburg. He described his German upbringing as thoroughly secular. His grandfather was a grand master of the Freemasons. At sixteen, Moltmann idolized Albert Einstein, and anticipated studying mathematics...
,
Frederick HerzogFrederick Herzog was a professor of systematic theology at Duke University. An impassioned champion of civil rights, his academic focus was liberation theology....
).
Liberation theology in practice
One of the most radical parts of liberation theology was not the writing of highly educated priests and scholars, but the social organization, or re-organization, of church practice through the model of
Christian base communitiesChristian Base communities are autonomous religious groups often associated with Liberation Theology. The 1968 Medellin, Colombia meeting of Latin American Council of Bishops played a major role in popularizing them....
. Liberation theology, despite the doctrinal codification by Gutiérrez, Boff, and others, strove to be a
bottom-upBottom-up may refer to:* In business development, a bottom-up approach means that the adviser takes the needs and wishes of the would-be entrepreneur as the starting point, rather than a market opportunity ....
movement in practice, with Biblical interpretation and liturgical practice designed by lay practitioners themselves, rather than by the orthodox Church hierarchy. This type of church community resembles the Independent type of Protestantism, which is extremely common in the United States though they are associated with the right more than the left.
Among others, journalist and writer
Penny LernouxPenny Lernoux was an American journalist and book author.Lernoux was born into a comfortable Catholic family in California and excelled in school...
described this aspect of liberation theology in her numerous and committed writings intended to explain the movement's ideas in North America.
Furthermore, with its emphasis on the "preferential option for the poor," the practice (or, more technically, "praxis" to use a term from
GramsciAntonio Gramsci was an Italian philosopher, writer, politician and political theorist. A founding member and onetime leader of the Communist Party of Italy, he was imprisoned by Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime...
and
Paulo FreirePaulo Reglus Neves Freire was a Brazilian educator and influential theorist of critical pedagogy.- Biography:...
) was as important as the belief, if not more so; the movement was said to emphasize "
orthopraxisOrthopraxy is a term derived from Greek meaning "correct action/activity", and is a religion that places emphasis on conduct, both ethical and liturgical, as opposed to faith or grace etc...
" over "
orthodoxyThe word orthodox, from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion", from orthos + doxa , is typically used to mean adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith, especially in religion.The term did not conventionally exist with any degree of formality The word orthodox, from Greek...
." Base communities were small gatherings, usually outside of churches, in which the Bible could be discussed, and mass could be said. They were especially active in rural parts of Latin America where parish priests were not always available, as they placed a high value on
layLay may refer to:*Lay person, any person who is not a member of the clergy is of the laity*a lyric song or lyric poetry**Germanic *laikaz***any poem of the Poetic Edda**Lai, a 13th- or 14th-century northern European song***Breton lai...
participation. As of May 2007, it was estimated that 80,000 base communities were operating in Brazil alone.
Joseph Ratzinger, on the other hand, has suggested that the movement is in origin a creation of western intellectuals: "an attempt to test, in a concrete scenario, ideologies that have been invented in the laboratory by European theologians" and in a certain sense itself a form of "cultural imperialism". Ratzinger saw this as a reaction to the demise or near-demise of the "Marxist myth" in the west. He did, however, qualify this as referring especially to the origins of the movement and did not deny that it had popular support.
Roman Catholic priest and author
Andrew GreeleyAndrew M. Greeley is an Irish-American Roman Catholic priest, sociologist, journalist and best selling author....
criticized liberation theology in his 2009 fictional book
Irish Tweed. In Greeley's book, a
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
Catholic school is taken over by a principal and priest practicing liberation theology, and its ideas are applied in the school environment, as for instance with basketball team members being chosen on their family's economic status rather than on ability.
Future developments
There is a notion that Latin American Liberation Theology has had its day, a dream killed off by the “end of history” claims of the champions of capitalism. However,
Ivan PetrellaIvan Petrella is an Argentine social theorist and liberation theologian. He is an associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida and co-executive editor of the “Reclaiming Liberation Theology” book series with SCM Press.-Theological...
, in a recent study, contends this is an ill-conceived notion, and shows that this theology can be reinvented to bring its preferential option for the poor into the real world. The actualisation of historical projects is possible by adopting the methods developed by the Brazilian social theorist, Roberto Unger.
Doing so will entail the rejection of these theologians’ unitary concepts of a despised and rejected capitalism and a canonized and accepted socialism. Petrella argues for a reconstruction of these concepts and those of democracy and property too. He closely analyses the differences in democracy and capitalism as practised across the USA and Europe in support for the reconstruction of these concepts, bringing about far-reaching suggestions for the future of liberation theology.
At a time of the profound crisis of the world capitalist system, a group of social scientists and theologians in Andreas Mueller,
Arno TauschArno Tausch is an Austrian political scientist and one of the founders of quantitative world system and development research in Europe. His research program is focused on world systems theory, development studies and dependency theory, European studies in the framework of core-periphery...
and Paul M. Zulehner took up anew the issue of liberation theology. Having arisen out of the struggle of the poor Churches in the world's South, its pros and cons dominated the discourse of the Churches throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s.
Then, dependency theory was considered to be the analytical tool at the basis of liberation theology. But the world economy - since the Fall of the
Berlin Wall|-||-||-||-||}The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic completely encircling West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany...
- has dramatically changed to become a truly globalized capitalist system in the 1990s. Even in their wildest imaginations, social scientists from the
dependency theoryCategory:Uncategorized articles needing expert attentionDependency theory is a body of social science theories predicated on the notion that resources flow from a "periphery" of poor and underdeveloped states to a "core" of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the...
tradition and theologians alike would not have predicted for example the elementary force of the Asian and the Russian crisis.
The Walls have gone, but poverty and social polarization spread to the center countries. After having initially rejected Marxist ideology in many of the liberation theology documents, the
VaticanThe Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and speaks for the whole Catholic...
and many other Christian Church institutions moved forward in the 1980s and 1990s to strongly declare their "preferential option for the poor". Now, the authors of this book, among them
Samir AminSamir Amin is an Egyptian economist. He currently lives in Dakar, Senegal.- Biography :Samir Amin was born in Cairo, the son of an Egyptian father and a French mother . He spent his childhood and youth in Port Said; there he attended a French High School, leaving in 1947 with a Baccalauréat...
, one of the founders of the
world systems theoryThe World-systems approach is a view of world affairs, one of several historical and current applications of Marxism to international relations...
approach, take up the issues of this preferential option anew and arrive at an ecumenical vision of the dialogue between theology and world systems theory.
Liberation theologians
- Raymond Aguas, Ph.D., Philippines
The Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, Professor of Theology at the Ateneo de Manila UniversityThe Ateneo de Manila University is a private university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits. It was then a state-subsidized school...
- Walter Altmann, Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
- Marcella Althaus-Reid
Marcella Althaus-Reid was Professor of Contextual Theology at New College, University of Edinburgh. When appointed, she was the only woman professor of theology at a Scottish University, and the first woman professor of theology at New College in its 160 year history.She was born in Rosario, , and...
, ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
- ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
(1952-2009)
- Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian politician and former Roman Catholic priest. He was briefly President of Haiti in 1991, prior to a September 1991 military coup, and was President again from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004. He was then ousted in a February 2004 rebellion in which former...
, HaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago...
(b. 1953)
- Paulo Evaristo Arns
Paulo Evaristo Arns O.F.M. is the Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of São Paulo.-Early life and education:Paulo Arns was born as the fifth of thirteen children of the German immigrants Gabriel and Helana Arns...
, BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(b. 1921)
- Hugo Assmann, Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(1933 - 2008)
- Naim Ateek
The Rev. Dr. Naim Stifan Ateek is a Palestinian Christian who is the founder and head of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. He went to school to the Nazareth Baptist school where he also taught after graduation...
, PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
(b. 1937)
- Tomás Balduíno, Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(b. 1923)
- Jose Oscar Beozzo, Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
- Alan Boesak, South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
(b. 1945)
- Clodovis Boff, Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
- Leonardo Boff
Leonardo Boff was born 14 December 1938 in Concórdia, Santa Catarina state, Brazil. He is a theologian, philosopher and writer, known for his active support for the rights of the poor and excluded....
, BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(b. 1938)
- Robert McAfee Brown
Robert McAfee Brown was an American theologian and activist.Brown earned a bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1943 and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1944...
, U.S. (1920-2001)
- Curt Cadorette, Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
, Professor of Religion at University of Rochester
- Rafael Puente Calvo, Bolivia
Bolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
(b. 1940), present President of Bolivian police under Evo MoralesJuan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , has been the President of Bolivia since 2006. He has been declared the country's first fully indigenous head of state in the 470 years since the Spanish Conquest....
- Katie Geneva Cannon
Katie Geneva Cannon is a Christian theologian associated with womanist theology and liberation theology. She is currently the Annie Scales Rogers Professor for Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. Previously Cannon has served on the faculties of Temple University, Episcopal...
, U.S.
- Pedro Casaldáliga
Pere Casaldàliga i Pla, more known as Pedro Casaldáliga is a Catalan-born emeritus Brazilian Bishop of São Felix do Araguaia . He is one of the most known practitioners of Liberation Theology. He has received numerous awards, including the International Catalunya Prize...
, SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
- BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(b. 1928)
- James Cone
James Hal Cone is an advocate of Black liberation theology, a theology grounded in the experience of African Americans, and related to other Christian liberation theologies. In 1969, his book Black Theology and Black Power provided a new way to articulate the distinctiveness of theology in the...
, U.S. (b. 1938)
- Ernesto Cardenal
Reverend Father Ernesto Cardenal Martínez is a Nicaraguan Catholic priest and was one of the most famous liberation theologians of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, a party he has since left. From 1979 to 1987 he served as Nicaragua's first culture minister. He is also famous as a poet, and he still...
, NicaraguaNicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democratic republic. It is the largest country in Central America with an area of 130,373 km
2. The country is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west of...
(b. 1925)
- Fernando Cardenal, Nicaragua
Nicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democratic republic. It is the largest country in Central America with an area of 130,373 km
2. The country is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west of...
- Miguel A. De La Torre
Miguel A. De La Torre is an associate-professor of social ethics at Iliff School of Theology, a religious scholar, author, and an ordained minister.-Biography:...
, U.S. Cuban
- Jean Marc Ela
Jean-Marc Ela was a sociologist, Diocesan Priest, Professor and author of many books on theology, philosophy, and social sciences in Africa. His most famous work, African Cry has been called the "soundest illustration" of the spirit of liberation theology in sub-Saharan Africa...
, CameroonThe Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of...
(b. 1936)
- Virgilio Elizondo
Virgilio Elizondo is a Mexican American, Roman Catholic priest who divides his time between his parish in San Antonio, Texas, and teaching at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He is a major theologian in liberation theology and Hispanic theology. He has been named by Time...
, U.S.
- Ignacio Ellacuría
Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J. was a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, philosopher, and theologian who did important work as a professor and rector at the Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas" , a Jesuit university in El Salvador founded in 1965...
, S.J., SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
- El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
(1930-1989)
- Marc H. Ellis
Marc H. Ellis is an American author, liberation theologian, and University Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Baylor University.-Biography:...
, U.S. (b. 1952)
- Paul Gauthier
Paul Gauthier catholic theologian and humanist.-Biography:French theologian and humanist known for his contribution to the liberation theology....
, FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
(1914-2002)
- Gustavo Gutiérrez
Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, O.P., is a Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest regarded as the founder of Liberation Theology. He holds the John Cardinal O'Hara Professorship of Theology at the University of Notre Dame...
, PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
(b. 1928)
- François Houtart
François Houtart is a Belgian sociologist and Catholic priest.He studied philosophy and theology at the seminary of Mechelen and became a priest in 1949. He earned a masters degree in political and social sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven . He earned a degree at the International...
, BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
(b. 1925)
- Gérard Jean-Juste
Fr. Gérard Jean-Juste was a Roman Catholic priest and rector of Saint Claire's church for the poor in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was also a liberation theologian and a supporter of the Fanmi Lavalas political party, the largest in Haiti. In 1978, Father Jean-Juste founded the Haitian Refugee Center...
, HaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago...
(b. 1947)
- Sebastian Kappen
Sebastian Kappen , was a renowned Indian Jesuit priest and Theologian.-Formation and studies:...
, India (1924 - 1993)
- Elmar Klinger, Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
(b. 1938)
- Erwin Kräutler, Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
- BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(b. 1939)
- Hans Küng
Hans Küng , is a Swiss Catholic priest, controversial theologian, and prolific author. Since 1995 he has been President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic . Küng remains a Catholic priest in good standing, but the Vatican has rescinded his authority to teach Catholic theology...
, SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
- GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
(b. 1928)
- Aloìsio Leo Arlindo Lorscheider, Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(1924-2007)
- Martin Maier
Martin Maier was founder and proprietor of Martin Maier Trunk and Bag Company , which specialized in making specialty and sample trunks...
, S.J. GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
- Ignacio Martín-Baró
Ignacio Martín-Baró, S.J. was a scholar, social psychologist, philosopher and Jesuit priest...
, S.J.,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
-
El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
(1942-1989)
- Herbert McCabe
Herbert McCabe was a Dominican priest, theologian and philosopher. After studying chemistry and philosophy at Manchester University, he joined the Dominicans in 1949, where under Victor White he began his life-long study of the works of Thomas Aquinas...
, O.P., UK (1926-2001)
- Johann Baptist Metz
Johann Baptist Metz is a Catholic theologian. He is Ordinary Professor of Fundamental Theology, Emeritus, at Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster, Germany....
, GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
(b. 1928)
- José Míguez Bonino, Argentina
- Jürgen Moltmann
Jürgen Moltmann is a German Protestant theologian.- Moltmann's Youth :Moltmann was born in Hamburg. He described his German upbringing as thoroughly secular. His grandfather was a grand master of the Freemasons. At sixteen, Moltmann idolized Albert Einstein, and anticipated studying mathematics...
, GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
(b. 1926)
- Segundo Montes
Segundo Montes, S.J. was a scholar, philosopher, educator, sociologist and Jesuit priest...
, S.J., SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
- El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
(1933-1989)
- Henri Nouwen
Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen , was a Dutch-born Catholic priest and writer who authored 40 books on the spiritual life.Nouwen's books are widely read today by Protestants and Catholics alike...
, NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
(1932-1996)
- Sr. Peggy O'Neil, US - El Salvador
- Camilo Torres
Father Camilo Torres Restrepo was a Colombian socialist, Roman Catholic priest, a predecessor of liberation theology and a member of the National Liberation Army guerrilla organisation...
, ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
(1929-1966)
- Samuel Ruiz
Samuel Ruiz García is a Mexican Roman Catholic prelate who served as bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, from 1959 until 1999. This zone in Mexico is characterized by its poverty and its indigenous population. Some 40,000 indigenous Mexicans received some kind of help from this bishop...
, MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(b. 1924)
- Edward Schillebeeckx
Edward Cornelis Florentius Alfonsus Schillebeeckx is a Belgian Roman Catholic theologian.He is a member of the Dominican Order...
, Belgium - NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
(b. 1914)
- Juan Luis Segundo
Juan Luis Segundo, S.J. was a Jesuit priest and theologian who was one of the most important figures in the movement known as "Liberation theology." He wrote numerous books on theology, ideology, faith, hermeneutics, and social justice, and was an outspoken critic of what he perceived as church...
, S.J., UruguayUruguay , is a country located in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.46 million people, of whom 1.1 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area. An estimated 88–94% of the population are of mostly European and/or mixed descent.Uruguay's only land border is...
(1925-1996)
- William Sidhum, Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
- Stefan Silber, Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
- Stephen Sizer
The Reverend Dr Stephen Robert Sizer is the incumbent at Christ Church, Virginia Water, an Anglican parish in Surrey, England. In addition to his parish ministry, he has a number of external roles and is known internationally as an author and speaker specialising in topics relating to the land of...
, EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(b. 1953)
- Jon Sobrino
Jon Sobrino, S.J. is a Jesuit Catholic priest and theologian, known mostly for his contributions to liberation theology....
, S.J., SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
- El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
(b. 1938)
- Dorothee Sölle
Dorothee Sölle was a German liberation theologian and writer who coined the term Christofascism. She died at a congress in Göppingen, Germany.-Biography:...
, GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
(1929-2003)
- William Stringfellow
William Stringfellow was a renowned American lay theologian during the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:Born in Johnston, Rhode Island, he managed to obtain several scholarships and entered Bates College in Lewiston, Maine at the age of fifteen. He later earned a scholarship to the London School of...
, U.S. (1929-1985)
- Jung Mo Sung
Jung Mo Sung is a Roman Catholic lay theologian trained in theology, ethics, and education. He was born in Korea but moved to Brazil with his family in 1966 and has remained there ever since...
, BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(b. 1957)
- Luiz Carlos Susin, Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
- Luis Zambrano Rojas, Puno
Puno is a city in southeastern Peru, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It's also the capital city of the Puno Region and the Puno Province. The city was established in 1668 by viceroy Pedro Antonio Fernández de Castro as capital of the province of Paucarcolla with the name San Juan Bautista de...
, PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
- Dean Brackley, El Salvador
El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
- Jeremiah Wright
Jeremiah Alvesta Wright, Jr. is Pastor Emeritus and the former Pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ , a megachurch in Chicago with around 8,500 members. In early 2008, Wright retired after 36 years as the Senior Pastor of his congregation and no longer has daily responsibilities at the...
, U.S. (b. 1941)
- Father Ricardo Falla, Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its size is just under 110,000 km² with an estimated population...
Influence on others
- Diane Drufenbrock
Sister Diane Joyce Drufenbrock , also known as Sister Madeleine Sophie, is a Franciscan nun of the School Sisters of St. Francis and Christian socialist. She was the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party USA in the United States presidential election, 1980, and has served as that...
, U.S.
- Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer is an American anthropologist and physician, the Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard University and an attending physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts...
, U.S. (b. 1959)
- Brian P. Moore, U.S.
- Óscar Romero
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez...
, El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
- Paulo Freire
Paulo Reglus Neves Freire was a Brazilian educator and influential theorist of critical pedagogy.- Biography:...
, BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
(1921-1997)
- Vekoslav Grmič, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.The first country to be known by this...
- Robert McAfee Brown
Robert McAfee Brown was an American theologian and activist.Brown earned a bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1943 and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1944...
, U.S. (1920-2001)
- Fernando Lugo
Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez is the current President of Paraguay and the former Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of San Pedro.-Early life and history with the Church:...
- John Dear
Fr. John Dear, S.J. is a Jesuit priest, peace activist, lecturer, and writer of approximately twenty books on nonviolence, including Living Peace....
, S.J., U.S.
- Jan de Vos van Gerven
Jan de Vos van Gerven is a Belgian historian, living in Mexico since 1973.
In 1995 he became guest-advisor to the EZLN during the peace talks between the Zapatistas and the Mexican Government....
, BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
/ MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(b. 1936)
- Ali Shari'ati, Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
(1933-1977)
- Hugo Chavez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the President of Venezuela. As the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Chávez promotes a political doctrine of participatory democracy, socialism and Latin American and Caribbean cooperation...
, VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
- Pope John Paul I
Pope John Paul I , born Albino Luciani, , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and as Sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent Year of Three Popes...
General
- Black theology
Black theology refers to a variety of Black theologies which has as its base in the liberation of the marginalized, especially the injustice done towards blacks in American and South African contexts...
- New Monasticism
New Monasticism, or Neomonasticism, is a modern day iteration of a long tradition of Christian monasticism that has recently developed within certain Christian communities.-Origins:The origin of the new monastic movement is difficult to pinpoint...
- Process theology
Process theology is a school of thought influenced by the metaphysical process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead . While there are process theologies that are similar, but unrelated to the work of Whitehead the term is generally applied to the Whiteheadian school...
- Christian socialism
Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated. This category can include Liberation theology and the doctrine of the social gospel. The term "Christian Socialism" is used...
- Dependency theory
Category:Uncategorized articles needing expert attentionDependency theory is a body of social science theories predicated on the notion that resources flow from a "periphery" of poor and underdeveloped states to a "core" of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the...
- Feminist theology
Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of those religions from a feminist perspective...
- Marxism
Marxism is the political philosophy and economic worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; three primary aspects of...
- Maryknoll
Maryknoll is a name shared by three organizations within the United States Catholic Church whose joint focus is on the overseas mission activity of the U.S. Catholic Church. These organizations are: The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers ; The Maryknoll Sisters Maryknoll is a name shared by three...
- Spiritual left
Spiritual left refers to a spiritually or religiously based position that shares the social transformative vision of the Left and its commitment to social justice, peace, economic equality, and ecological consciousness, but who base their commitment on spiritual or religious traditions.- Examples...
- Social gospel
Social gospel may refer to:*Spoken or written good news about the cause of achieving justice in every aspect of society.*Social Gospel, a late 19th and early 20th century Protestant Christian intellectual and social movement which applied progressive Christian ethics to dealing with social issues....
- Raul Prebisch
Raúl Prebisch was an Argentine economist known for his contribution to structuralist economics, in particular the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis that formed the basis of economic dependency theory. He is sometimes considered to be a neo-Marxist though this label is misleading...
- World systems theory
The World-systems approach is a view of world affairs, one of several historical and current applications of Marxism to international relations...
Related movements
- Landless Workers' Movement
Landless Workers Movement, or in Portuguese Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra is a social movement in Brazil; it is the largest in Latin America, with an estimated 1.5 million landless members organized in 23 out of Brazil's 26 states. The MST states it carries out land reform in a...
in BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
- Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas is a populist leftist political party in Haiti. Former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is the leader of the party, which has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 1991...
in HaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago...
- Abahlali baseMjondolo
Abahlali baseMjondolo is a shack-dwellers' movement in South Africa. The movement grew out of a road blockade organized from the Kennedy Road shack settlement in the city of Durban in early 2005 and now also operates in the cities of Pietermaritzburg and in Cape Town...
in South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
General
- Theology in Africa - Articles
- Orbis Books
- Complex and Alive. Recent Developments of the Theology of Liberation
- As Pope Heads to Brazil, a Rival Theology Persists
- 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
- Black Liberation Theology: Information
- Socialism and Faith Commission of the Socialist Party USA
- Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary
- Liberation Theology at Centropian
Liberation theology and social science
Vatican responses