By LEONARDO BOFF*
Tribute to the father of Liberation Theology
On October 22 of this year, the founder of Liberation Theology Gustavo Gutiérrez died in Lima, at the age of 96.
He was a close friend with whom, from the 1970s onwards, we collaborated to create a theology appropriate to the situation in Latin America, which is full of social injustice and degrading poverty.
As for every theologian, the center of his inquiry is God. But first God as an experience of life, especially from the perspective of human suffering, and only then as a reverent reflection.
The disturbing theme that always followed him throughout his life was suffering. He himself suffered from polio and was confined to a wheelchair for years. After surgery, he walked with difficulty. He was small, lame, muscular, with the face of a Quechua Indian, and endowed with an extraordinary, creative intelligence, full of humor and beautiful “trouvailles” such as this one: “politicians only think about one intention, that is, the second one”. In short, he was fundamentally a good, simple, humble and witty man.
His great question, with a biographical background, was: how to understand God in the face of the suffering of the innocent; how to understand the resurrected Jesus in a world where people die before their time due to oppression; how to find the liberating God in a world where fraternity and solidarity are lacking?
The Christian message is not only about eternal life and the Kingdom of God, but it also offers incentives to improve present life, especially that of the poor and oppressed, in the conviction that eternal life and the Kingdom of God begin here on Earth. Furthermore, the historical Jesus himself was poor and had nowhere to lay his head. Hence, according to Gustavo Gutiérrez, he understands theology as “a critical reflection of historical practice in the light of the Word of revelation.”
The founding book of 1971 was Liberation theology, perspectives. Interestingly, in that same year, without us knowing each other, I wrote Jesus Christ Liberator. Juan Luis Segundo in Uruguay and Segundo Galea in Chile were also working from a perspective of liberation. We did not know each other but we heard a call, I believe, that came from the Spirit (Hegel would say from the Weltgeist) and we were just the mere microphones that enhanced the sound of that call.
The structuring axis of this type of theology is the non-exclusive option for the poor, against poverty and in favor of social justice and liberation. Always based on the tradition of the prophets and the practice of the historical Jesus. Gustavo Gutiérrez rightly stated: “The poor are God’s favorites not because they are Christians, religious or good, but because God, identifying with them, is good and merciful.” The living God chooses those who have the least life. This is the theological foundation of the option for the poor, for their oppressed life and for their liberation.
A deeply spiritual man, he lived among the poor in the peripheral Rimac neighborhood of Lima. From this involvement came almost all of his works, especially Drink from your own well; The god of life; The historical strength of the poor; Where will the poor sleep?; In search of the poor of Jesus Christ; The thought of Bartolmeu de Las Casas and others more.
Like other liberation theologians, he suffered misunderstandings and persecution, especially from Cardinal Cipriani of Lima, of Opus Deus, who accused him of being a Marxist theology. This idea was reinforced by the greatest opponent, I would even say, persecutor of Liberation Theology, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo of Medellin in Colombia. This accusation is untenable and has always been leveled against those, such as Dom Helder Camara, who place the situation of the poor as victims of a society of injustice and exploitation that demands a historical and social transformation.
In Latin America, the concept of poor was extended to indigenous people, black people, women, the economically poor, the culturally poor and those of other sexual orientations. Thus, the various strands of Liberation Theology emerged. Each specific group has its own appropriate method and corresponding liberation. The method is always this: to see the suffering reality; to judge with scientific means and in the light of faith; to act to transform this anti-reality, with the oppressed themselves as the main protagonists.
Hence liberation from faith. Marx was never the father or godfather of Liberation Theology, as some people still baselessly accuse him of today. His inspiration is found in the sources of the Christian faith, in the Deeds and in the tradition of figures such as Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Vincent de Paul and others who gave centrality to the poor.
For his seriousness he received numerous awards and doctorate degrees. Honorary. He did not give importance to these recognitions, as he always placed himself in his place of origin, poverty and the poor with whom he shared his life.
Pope Francis welcomed him to Rome as a gesture of recognition of his reflection, which is a treasure for the entire Church. On the occasion of the funeral, the Pope sent this short message: “Today I think of Gustavo Gutiérrez, a great, a man of the Church who I suppose to be called when he had to be called, I suppose to suffer when he suffers, I suppose to bring forward so much apostolic fruit and so much rich theology. May he rest in peace".
We who knew him through his work and in his daily life can attest that he lived and died with clear signs of personal holiness. And we will miss him greatly.
*Leonardo Boff is an ecologist, philosopher and writer. Author, among other books, of Caring for our common home: clues to delay the end of the world (Vozes). [https://amzn.to/3zR83dw]
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