On the Side of the Poor: The Theology of Liberation

In my judgment, the ecclesial and theological movement that began after the Second Vatican Council in Latin America under the name ‘liberation theology, … is one of the most significant currents of Catholic theology in the 20th century. –Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller

For many years the theology of liberation, which emerged from Latin America in the 1970’s, was viewed with suspicion in Rome. It was the subject of a critical notification from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and many of its leading proponents were disciplined or silenced. Now, an historic exchange between Gustavo Gutierrez, author of the seminal work A Theology of Liberation, and Cardinal Muller, the current Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Fiath, signals a new chapter in this ongoing dialogue. Cardinal Muller, a former student of Gutierrez who spent many summers working in Peru, writes with deep feeling and conviction about the contributions of liberation theology to church teaching–particularly in articulating the preferential option for the poor. In his contributions, Gutierrez lays out the essential ideas of liberation theolgoy, its ecclesail location, and its fresh enunciation of the gospel for our time.