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Prophets and Populists: Liberation Theology, 1968-1988

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Jeffrey L. Klaiber S.J.
Jeffrey L. Klaiber S.J.*
Affiliation:
Catholic University, Lima, Peru
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Extract

Although liberation theology may still be considered a “current event,” nevertheless, given its very evident and widespread impact on Latin American Christianity and elsewhere, it seems fairly safe to state that it is the most important theological movement which has emerged in Latin America in the four centuries since evangelization. Many authors would further contend that liberation theology symbolizes the coming of age of the Latin American church: from a peripheral, somewhat dormant and intellectually dependent church to one which actively contributes to Catholic and Protestant thought throughout the world. For this reason alone, without mentioning the many political ramifications of liberation theology, it merits attention as one of the key themes in Latin American church history. The aim of this article is threefold: to briefly outline the origins and development of liberation theology; to examine the different ecclesial, social and political factors which influenced its development, and finally, to indicate what direction liberation theology seems to be taking currently.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , July 1989 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1989

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References

1 For general accounts of liberation theology and the progressive church, see Cleary, Edward L. Crisis and Change: The Church in Latin America Today (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1985)Google Scholar; and, Berryman, Philip Liberation Theology (New York: Pantheon Books, Random House, 1987).Google Scholar

2 Private interview with Father Gustavo Gutiérrez, Lima, March 21, 1983. On the evolution of Father Gutiérrrez’ theology, see Oliveros, Roberto Liberación y teología: génesis y crecimiento de una reflexión (1966–1976), 2d. ed. (Lima: Centro de Estudios y Publicaciones, 1980)Google Scholar; and Manzanera, Miguel Teología y salvación en la obra de Gustavo Gutiérrez (Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, 1978).Google Scholar

3 On Camilo Torres and Gustavo Gutiérrez, see Hart, John William “Topia y Utopia in Colombia and Peru: The Theory and Practice of Camilo Torres and Gustavo Gutiérrez in Their Historical Contexts” (PH.D. diss., Union Theological Seminary, 1978)Google Scholar; on Segundo, see Hennelly, Alfred T. Theologies in Conflict: The Challenge of Juan Luis Segundo (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1979).Google Scholar

4 Liberation theology became the principal subject of the annual CICOP meeting in 1971: see, Quigley, Thomas E. (ed.), Freedom and Unfreedom in the Americas: Toward a Theology of Liberation (Washington: Latin American Bureau, U.S. Catholic Conference, 1971).Google Scholar

5 Klaiber, Jeffrey “The Catholic Lay Movement in Peru: 1867–1959,” The Americas 40 (October 1983): 164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

6 See de Kadt, Emanuel Catholic Radicals in Brazil (London: Oxford University Press, 1970)Google Scholar; Landsberger, Henry (ed.), The Church and Social Change in Latin America (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1970)Google Scholar; Turner, Frederick Catholicism and Political Development in Latin America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971).Google Scholar

7 On the origins of the “ecclesial base communities” in Brazil, see Azevedo, Marcello Comunidades eclesiais de base de inculturaçâo da fe (São Paulo: Edições Loyola, 1986)Google Scholar; Mainwaring, Scott The Catholic Church and Politics in Brazil, 1916–1985 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1986)Google Scholar. See, also, the delightful account by Kramer, Jane “Letter from the Elysian Fields,” The New Yorker, March 2, 1987, pp. 40–73.Google Scholar

8 On the church in Brazil under the military, see Mainwaring; for Chile, see Smith, Brian The Chilean Catholic Church (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982).Google Scholar

9 See Maloney, Thomas J. “The Catholic Church and the Peruvian Revolution: Resource Exchange in an Authoritarian Setting” (Ph.D. diss., University of Texas at Austin, 1978).Google Scholar

10 Segundo, Juan Luis “The Shift Within Latin American Theology,” lecture delivered at Regis College, Toronto, March 22, 1983 Google Scholar; and, “Two Theologies of Liberation,” The Month (October 1984): 321–327.

11 See Berryman, Philip The Religious Roots of Rebellion: Christians in Central American Revolutions (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1984).Google Scholar

12 The Power of the Poor in History (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1983). The original version in Spanish, La fuerza histórica de los pobres, was published in Lima in 1979 (Centro de Estudios y Publicaciones).

13 We Drink from Our Own Wells (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1984) appeared originally in Spanish under the title, Beber de su propio pozo: En el itinerario espiritual de un pueblo (Lima: Centro de Estudios y Publicaciones, 1983). “In 1988 Gutiérrez published the second edition of A Theology of Liberation (Orbis Books).”

14 Ecclesiogenesis: The Base Communities Reinvent the Church (London: Collins Liturgical Publications, 1986). The original work in Portuguese was published in 1977 (Petropolis: Editora Vozes).

15 Church, Charism and Power: A Radical Ecclesiology. Toward A Militant Ecclesiology (New York: Crossroad, 1981). Translated from the Portuguese (Petropolis: Editora Vozes, 1981).

16 On the views of the Central American theologians, see Irvin, George and Gorostiaga, Xabier (eds.), Towards an Alternative for Central America and the Caribbean (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1985)Google Scholar; and the different issues of the Revista Latinoamericana de Teología, published by the Centro de Reflexión Teológica of the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas, San Salvador.

17 Lernoux, Penny Cry of the People (New York: Penguin Books, 1982), pp. 413–425.Google Scholar

18 Haight, Roger “The Liberation Theology of the Centre” Grail: An Ecumenical Journal (Canada), 2(September, 1986): 23–32.Google Scholar

19 Documento de la Conferencia Episocpal Peruana sobre la teología de la liberación (Lima: Editorial Salesiana, 1984).

20 For defenses of liberation theology, see Segundo, Juan Luis Theology and the Church: A Response to Cardinal Ratzinger and a Warning to the Whole Church (Minneapolis: A Seabury Book, 1985)Google Scholar; and Leonardo, and Boff, Clodovis Liberation Theology: From Confrontation to Dialogue (San Francisco: Harper and Row Publishers, 1986).Google Scholar

21 See, especially, Levine, Daniel H. Religion and Politics in Latin America: The Catholic Church in Venezuela and Colombia (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Levine, (ed.), Religion and Political Conflict in Latin America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986).Google Scholar

22 See Min, Anselm K. “The Vatican, Marxism and Liberation Theology,” pp. 439–455 Google Scholar, and Aman, Kenneth “Marxism(s) in Liberation Theology,” pp. 427–428 Google Scholar, in: Cross Currents 34(Winter 1984–1985).

23 See Reilly, Charles A. “Latin America’s Religious Populists,” in Levine, (ed.), Religion and Political Conflict in Latin America, pp. 42–47.Google Scholar

24 Among notable critics of liberation theology are Novak, Michael Will it Liberate? Questions about Liberation Theology (New York: Paulist Press, 1986)Google Scholar; Schall, James V. Liberation Theology in Latin America (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1982).Google Scholar For a more complete list of both the defenders and the critics of liberation theology, see Nash, Ronald (ed.), Liberation Theology (Mott Media, Inc., 1984).Google Scholar

25 See Witvliet, Theo A Place in the Sun: An Introduction to Liberation Theology in the Third World (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1985).Google Scholar

26 See Ruether, Rosemary Liberation Theology: Human Hope Confronts Christian History and American Power (New York: Paulist Press, 1972)Google Scholar; Russell, Letty M. Human Liberation in a Feminist Perspective: A Theology (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1973)Google Scholar; Welch, Sharon Communities of Resistance and Solidarity: A Feminist Theology of Liberation (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1985).Google Scholar

27 For two works which attempt to forge a theology of liberation for North Americans, see Mahan, Brian and Richesin, L. Dale (eds.), The Challenge of Liberation Theology: A First World Response (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1981)Google Scholar, and Haight, Roger An Alternative Vision: An Interpretation of Liberation Theology (New York: Paulist Press, 1985).Google Scholar

28 For a survey of liberation theology from a Protestant perspective, see Esther, and Arias, Mortimer The Cry of My People: Out of Captivity in Latin America (New York: Friendship Press, 1982)Google Scholar; Duque, José La tradición protestante en la teología latinoamericana (Costa Rica: DEI, 1983)Google Scholar; Escobar, Samuel La fe evangélica y las teologías de la liberación (El Paso: Casa Bautista de Publicaciones, 1987).Google Scholar

29 On the relations between the historical churches and the “sects,” see Prien, Hans-Jürgen La historia del cristianismo en América Latina (Salamanca: Ediciones Sígueme, 1985), especially pp. 1093–1117 Google Scholar. The original version of this work appeared in German in 1978.

30 See Brockman, James R. The Word Remains: A Life of Oscar Romero (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1982).Google Scholar

31 On modern martyrs and the cult to contemporary religious figures in Latin America, see Lernoux, Penny Cry of the People, especially, pp. 463–470 Google Scholar; Lange, Martin and Iblacker, Reinhold Witnesses of Hope: The Persecution of Christians in Latin America (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1980)Google Scholar; and Brett, Donna Whitson and Brett, Edward T. Murdered in Central America: The Stories of Eleven U.S. Missionaries (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1988).Google Scholar