wfn.org | WCC OPINION: Walter Altmann: Liberation theology is alive and well

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For immediate release - 16/11/2009 16:46:46 

>LIBERATION THEOLOGY IS ALIVE AND WELL

>By Walter Altmann (*)

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, twenty years ago, many
critics have been quick to sign liberation theology's death
certificate. Most of them did so because they understood it to be
an apology of bygone Soviet-style socialism. It seems, though,
that this death certificate has been issued prematurely.

It is true that liberation theologians – some more than others –
used Marxist categories for socioeconomic analysis and for a
critique of capitalism's evils. However, the core of liberation
theology has never been Marxism.

It is rather the compassionate identification with the poor and
their struggle for justice, inspired by the life and teachings of
Jesus himself, which is at its heart. Instead of on social
analysis, which was seen as a methodological tool, from the
outset liberation theology placed greater emphasis on the crucial
role of God's people committed praxis – or, in other words, the
Christian communities' action inspired by faith and informed by
theological reflection.

Liberation theology is spiritually grounded on – and gets its
motivation from – the life changing encounter with Christ as
liberator and with our neighbours in need. Their suffering is not
a result of fate but of systemic injustices and oppression, which
can be overcome by transformative action.

If we look at our reality today, we are reminded that poverty
has by no means been overcome in the world yet. On the contrary,
the recent international financial crisis, produced by
unrestrained capitalist forces governed by greed and private and
corporate interests, has increased the number of the poor – or
rather, the impoverished – in the world by hundreds of millions.

Liberation theology emerged in the late 1960s in Latin America.
The ground had been prepared in the 1950s by Christian base
community movements aiming for social, political and economic
reforms in society, and for the active participation of laypeople
in pastoral activities within the church.

Latin America being predominantly a "Catholic" continent, the
new theological approach was widely linked with pastoral and
theological developments within the Roman Catholic Church,
although it was from the very beginning an ecumenical endeavour.
The very term "liberation theology" was proposed almost
simultaneously by the Roman Catholic priest Gustavo Gutiérrez,
from Peru, and the Presbyterian theologian Rubem Alves, from
Brazil.

It is then no surprise that in the seventies and eighties
liberation theology had a strong influence on the ecumenical
movement, including the World Council of Churches (WCC). The
relevancy of its actions in supporting struggles for human rights
under military dictatorships in Latin America, in developing
effective methods of overcoming illiteracy (as did the exiled
Brazilian pedagogue and WCC education adviser Paulo Freire), and
in combating racism, mainly in Southern Africa, has been widely
recognized.

As a contextual approach, aimed at critically reflecting on the
praxis of God's people, liberation theology was never intended to
become a static, dogmatic theoretical construction. Its intention
was not to highlight a neglected theological theme, but rather to
propose a newway of doingtheology. It naturally underwent changes
over the decades. At the outset it focused on the living
conditions of the poor, later on it incorporated other issues,
like indigenous peoples, racism, gender inequalities and
ecology.

Nowadays liberation theology deals as well with the
interpretation of cultures and with anthropological questions,
for example the temptation of power. The goal of striving towards
a more just society where there is "room for all" persists, yet
the way of achieving it has shifted towards civil society
action.

The influence of liberation theology goes way beyond the realm
of the churches. Its contribution towards overcoming military
dictatorships in Latin America and apartheid in Southern Africa
has already been hinted at. Today it helps shape Latin American
political efforts towards a model of democracy that overcomes
poverty and social injustices. Several Latin American presidents –
Lula da Silva in Brazil, Morales in Bolivia, Correa in Ecuador,
Ortega in Nicaragua and Lugo in Paraguay - have all in different
ways had close contact with Christian base communities and
liberation theologians.

But, above all, liberation theology continues to be very much
alive and well within civil society movements and Christian base
communities.

>[680 words]

(*) The Rev. Dr Walter Altmann (

http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4211 )is the president of the
Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil and the
moderator of the World Council of Churches Central Committee.

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WCC policy. This material may be reprinted freely, providing
credit is given to the author. 

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