Liberation theology

Context

  • Extreme inequality, oppression, and corruption across LA in the 1960s.

  • Military/oppressive governments e.g. Chile, Argentina, El Salvador

  • Devotion to the Church in LA is high, about 80%

  • Base Ecclesial Communities - BECs - inspired by more radical/activist elements of Jesus’ teachings that had been understated in the Church historically

    • SGF Brandon - Church history has understated Jesus’ radical activism

    • Reuther’s golden thread argument can be twisted in this direction away from feminism and to a liberation in general

  • 1968 Conference of Latin American Bishops in Columbia

    • Coined the phrase “preferential option for the poor“

    • This was subsequently adopted by Catholic Social Teaching

  • Inspired by Marx’s critiques of capitalism - agreement over capitalisms inherent unjust nature - alienation, bourgeoise vs proletariats etc

  • People are blind to their own oppression - link to Hegelian slave dialectic

Guitierrez

  • The poor are alienated/exploited in capitalist society. The poor will desire to overturn current social systems to be liberated

  • Not completely Marxist but agreed with certain aspects and thought they should be adopted by Christianity

    • Obviously didn’t back religion as a form of oppression, main focus was capitalism

  • Suggests the Church, through complacency, has contributed to oppression rather than the true liberative message of the Bible e.g. Exodus

  • The Church needs to take action, this includes politically, to challenge injustice in social structures

  • Marxism offers a means to understand the structure of unjust society

  • STRUCTURAL SIN - a society itself can be sinful, not just individuals

Helder Camara

  • When I help the poor they call me a saint, when I ask why they are poor they call me a communist

  • Basically saying the Church is okay with people doing charity work but not with challenging societal structures

Other scholars

  • E.g. Boff brothers, Juan Segundo

Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

  • Liberation theology engages too much with the atheist/revolutionary ideology of Marxism

  • Liberation Theology overemphasises the political aspects of the gospels and takes some liberation out of context

  • Does accept and recommends that the Church accept the preferential option for the poor - formally declared by Pope John Paul II in 1891

  • The key message of gospels is salvific