Liberation Theology Supporters Fear Strife With Pope Benedict XVI

c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The crowds cheering the new Pope Benedict XVI do not include supporters of the liberation theology movement in Latin America. The pope, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, has sharply criticized liberation theology _ a movement advocating the role of the poor in the church’s faith and life _ as Marxist. […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The crowds cheering the new Pope Benedict XVI do not include supporters of the liberation theology movement in Latin America.

The pope, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, has sharply criticized liberation theology _ a movement advocating the role of the poor in the church’s faith and life _ as Marxist.


As prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger authored two Vatican instructions _ “Instruction on Certain Aspects of the `Theology of Liberation”’ in 1984 and “Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation” in 1986 _ upbraiding some liberation theologians for what he saw as reducing salvation to freedom from political and economic oppression.

In 1984, Ratzinger censured Leonardo Boff, a Franciscan priest considered by many supporters to be the father of liberation theology, forbidding him to speak publicly or to publish his ideas.

“Obviously the new pope is not a friend of liberation theology,” said the Rev. Kevin Burke, a Jesuit and professor of systematic theology at Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass. “He clearly sees liberation theology as a threat to the church.”

The Rev. Roy Bourgeois, a Jesuit and founder of the Washington-based School of the Americas Watch, a Latin American human rights organization, said his response to Ratzinger’s election as pope was disappointment rather than fear.

“This will cause a lot of pain for many in Latin America who are knowledgeable about the destruction he caused liberation theology,” Bourgeois said.

“Liberation theology gave hope to many in Latin America and brought about new models of church, a more circular model and less top down,” he said.

Many liberation theology supporters in Latin America have lived through autocratic regimes in their nations, Bourgeois said. “They see Ratzinger as another dictator in his style of leadership.”


Latin American Catholics, whether allied with liberation theology or not, may also be disappointed because Ratzinger was chosen over a number of Latin American cardinals _ including those from Argentina, Brazil, Honduras and Mexico _ considered as candidates for pope, Bourgeois said.

“It’s also a grave disappointment, a betrayal to the people of Latin America where so many Catholics come from,” Bourgeois said.

Margaret Swedish, a Catholic and director of the Washington-based Religious Task Force on Central America and Mexico, said Pope Benedict XVI will likely continue to steer the Catholic Church toward a central authority rather than emphasizing local communities.

The liberation theology movement _ which finds its roots in Vatican II documents and the 1968 “Preferential Option for the Poor” by the Latin American bishops _ encouraged the growth of church communities with strong lay leaders.

“Cardinal Ratzinger made it very clear even in the last couple of weeks that the church needs to centralize,” Swedish said. “A lot of the dynamism in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s came from Pope Paul VI’s support of the local church. That’s the trend that we’re seeing reversed.”

Burke said it is too soon to say what Benedict’s effect will be on the remaining base communities, or lay-led churches, in Latin America, which he estimated at more than 1,000.


“People change,” Burke said. “Who’s to predict the future?”

DH/PH END RNS

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