Poverty and injustice

• Latin American Liberation Theology (LT) claims as its basis Jesus’ sermon in Luke 4 where he announces physical, material and spiritual liberation in his time.
• The political basis of this theology is as a response to centuries of colonial economic exploitation in general and, in particular, the post-war expansion of capitalism in Latin America through cheap labour.
• Gutiérrez was alarmed that workers were kept in poverty by the capitalistic status quo, finding truth in Marx’s vision of a classless society and recognition that those benefitting most economically would resist change.
• The ethical basis of LT comes from its recognition that the Church has all too often elevated orthodoxy (‘right thinking’) above orthopraxy (‘right practice’), focusing on meditation, theology and intellectual discussion.
• When faith is applied to life, this will result in humanitarian efforts that will focus on the whole person/society, not just its ‘spiritual’ side.
• The religious basis of LT is the recognition that God is concerned for every dimension of human life as reflected in the Exodus, Jesus’ ministry, the communal practices of the early Church (Acts 2:43-47) and the fact that love of God cannot be separated from the love of humanity (I John 4:20-21).
• Leonardo Boff seeks to re-envision the Church as a network of base ecclesial communities, made up of 15-20 families dedicated to supporting one another financially and spiritually.
• This will counteract the ecclesiocentrism of the too-powerful Church and is also truer to the Trinitarian vision of equality.
• Many Latin American Bishops have supported Liberation theology, using the phrase ‘preferential option for the poor’, indicating that God considers the poor to have the most urgent moral claims.
• The Vatican has also used this phrase but has rejected the political and economic analyses of Gutierrez and others.
• The Vatican is wary of any association with Marx due to the oppression of religion in the Soviet Union.
• Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) has been especially critical of Liberation Theology for being delusional in thinking that a ‘golden age’ can be brought about through political means.
• Boff has responded that a socialist society has the potential to be more human than the capitalism experienced in Latin America.
• As a young priest in Argentina, Pope Francis was a harsh critic of Liberation Theology.
• Recently, however, the Pope has written against the evils of capitalism and has invited Gutiérrez to the Vatican as a guest of honour.