Liberation
Theology: Reflecting from the Underside of History
INTRODUCTION
In this short essay I shall try to describe some developments that occurred i the Chur h s struggle to come to terms with her role in the modern world, and particularly to accept one of her own children, liberation theology. This theology was born of the fruitful union of some of her pastors and the poor and oppressed in Brazil and other Latin American countries. Further, I shall describe some ways of doing liberation theology, and look at how we as individuals might be involved.
INITIAL OPPOSITION
Much of the initial opposition in the Church to liberation theology arose from a dualist view in which the spiritual and the mundane worlds are contrasted and seen as spheres apart. Religion and politics did ot i ; the Chur h s task la i the for er, the sal atio of i di idual souls.
Many people never question this, particularly since God has slowly been squeezed out of public life and confined to the private life of the individual. But God does not want to be kept out of public life. Scripture and the social teaching of the Church confirm this.
Of course, the Church is not a political organisation entering the area of politics as a party with its own policies and manifesto aimed at gaining the popular vote. No, the Church comes to fulfil a mandate – to preach the good news, to condemn sin, to challenge injustice and to be a sign of hope for the poor and oppressed, taking Jesus as model. Jesus offered peace, yet he did not hesitate to challenge those in authority. He took the side of the disadvantaged, making people aware of and concerned about the needs of others (Matthew 25:31-46).
TWO INSTRUCTIONS
Accusations were made against liberation theologians in the first of two Instructions1 issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Some theologians were said to have borrowed concepts from Marxist ideology uncritically, and more specifically, to have made use of a deterministic concept of class struggle which entails a denial of Christian faith. After bannings, protests and delegations, these accusations were seen to be unfounded, and a second Instruction2 actually encouraged theologians to engage in this kind of theology, and provided guidelines for doing so.
The second Instru tio states that the po erful a d al ost irresisti le aspiratio that people ha e for li eratio o stitutes o e of the pri ipal sig s of the ti es. This aspiratio is stre gthe ed the a ake i g of the o s ious ess of the oppressed. Li eratio theology arises out of this in conjunction with the need to deepen the biblical theme of liberation which is fundamental to both Old and New Testaments. The gospel is indeed a message of freedom and a force for true liberation.
DOING LIBERATION THEOLOGY
Li eratio theolog is i the first pla e a refle tio o faith fro the u derside of histor . It is a people s theolog o i g fro the grass roots, here refle tio is i tert i ed ith pra is or riti al
1 Instruction on Certain Aspects of the Theology of Liberation (6 August 1984)
2 Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation (22 March 1986)
action. Extensive use is made of social analysis: social, political, economic and anthropological studies lay bare the structures of the social situation.
Before John Paul II, most popes had exhorted those who had positions of power to bring about the necessary kind of changes that social analysis was laying bare. But of course such changes would mean more than superficial reforms or tinkering with the established system. The fundamental question of liberation theology carries an implicit threat to the privileged: the poor ask whether it is true that God wants them just to accept their suffering and oppression with patience and resig atio . Is there o hope of li eratio fro oppressio i this life or ust o e si pl a ait o e s reward in heaven?
Necessary change would mean alteration of structures and that would mean confrontation and conflict because the powerful are fiercely protective of their own privilege. It is little wonder that these papal exhortations fell largely on deaf ears.
OPTION FOR THE POOR
John Paul II, when speaking in the favela of Salvador da Bahia in July 1980, took a radically different line. He stressed that the poor, and not the powerful, would be the main agents in bringing about the necessary structural change. The poor are to struggle to bring about their own liberation. This struggle will depend on worker solidarity, solidarity among the poor and with the poor. In Laborem Exercens (20) John Paul underlined the special importance of trade unions in this movement of solidarity among workers in their struggle for rights in the production process.
The Church is o itted to this ause. The ost fa ous for ulatio of the Chur h s o it e t to so ial justi e a e fro the Lati A eri a ishops at Medelli i 1 6 . Optio for the poor has often been misunderstood and therefore wrongly criticised. Albert Nolan in To Nourish Our Faith explains:
Basically it can mean one of two things and they need to be very carefully and clearly distinguished. Option for the poor can mean an option for some people over against other people, or it can mean an option for one cause over another cause. These are two different options and they should not be confused.
The option for people who are poor is a choice about the people to whom we will preach the gospel, give pastoral care, give assistance, and so forth. That option can never be exclusive, at least not for the Church as a whole. It must be preferential.
On the other hand, the option for the cause of the poor is a moral judgement about which cause is right and just and which cause is wrong and sinful. Here it is not a question of to whom you will preach but what you will preach to everyone and anyone (48-49)
While committed to the cause of the poor and oppressed, the Church continues to point out that a struggle for liberation that rejects belief in God and sin will be selfish and cannot lead to true freedom. Through the Magisterium the Church guides liberation theology, offering principles for refle tio , riteria for judge e t a d dire ti es for a tio . The Chur h s tea hi g authorit sets out the limits within which one may do theology and still remain true to the tradition.
Liberation from the oppression of sin is the deepest liberation that a person requires. But, in addition to thinking of sin as an individual act, one must also think of it in collective, social terms. Sin is the root cause of all oppression. Unjust structures are caused by sin but once they are set up, the structures themselves then cause injustice. This is why liberation theology concentrates on the
transformation of the structures within which we live. Paul VI, in Evangelii Nuntiandi (39) stressed that attention should first be focused on the cultural structures which limit freedom. The more visible economic, social and political structures depend on these.
THE WORLD OF WORK
In Laborem Exercens, John Paul tackles an area of human life where unjust structures are firmly entre hed. He halle ges so e dog ati assu ptio s i the produ tio pro ess hi h he affir s is the fundamental issue for those who wish to work for justice.
Human work is a key, perhaps the essential key, to the whole social question, if we try to see that uestio f o the poi t of ie of a ’s good (3).
The Industrial Revolution turned the correct order of values on its head. Instead of economic development being at the service of the person, the person is now put at the service of economic development, only useful as an instrument of production and only insofar as it is profitable. Retrenchment is the order of the day in times of recession; replacement by machines (who have no voice) deprives many of their previous employment.
The document halle ges a other dog a hi h has e a led oppressi e e o o i stru tures to flourish, namely the exclusive rights to private ownership of the means of production. Christian tradition has always understood that this right is subordinated to the right to common use. The document espouses the principle that labour has priority over capital, and indicates some new ways of joint ownership which uphold the principle of respect for work.
THE GOAL OF LIBERATION THEOLOGY
It is clear as I pointed out earlier that liberation theology does not see human existence in two separate spheres, this orld a d the e t, ut rather takes seriousl Joh Paul s i siste e o a integral humanism in which all the dimensions of human life are seen as relatively important. In fact, liberation theology thinks in terms of a realised eschatology. In addition to its goal of understanding the faith, it includes the purpose of changing the unjust situation. It wants to contribute something here and now to the new heaven and the new earth already arriving. Liberation theology is impelled by the vision of the Reign of God In the new creation which should already be taking root.
REALISING THE VISION
What can we as individuals and together do to further this vision? First, we must be caught up in it, and this implies a real conversion experience. The Second Instruction has this to say:
The evil inequities and oppression of every kind which afflict millions of men and women today ope ly o t adi t Ch ist’s gospel, a d a ot lea e the o s ience of any Christian indifferent… The e is o gap et ee lo e of eigh ou a d desi e fo justi e (57).
When we realise clearly what we have been party to in our comfortable ignorance, a sense of outrage will awaken in us a strong moral imperative to resist complicity in unjust structures and to find some means of acting in solidarity with the poor. It will be necessary to work simultaneously for the conversion of hearts and for the improvement of structures.
To become involved in liberation theology a number of recognised methods are available. At the root of all these ethods is Cardi al Cardij s “ee-Judge- Act. It goes as follows:
SEE stands for the truth of life (reality)
JUDGE is the truth of faith or the ideal that God desires
ACT stands for the truth of movements or the effort to move from what current reality is to what God desires it to be
Each method enables a community or group to start from the reality of life, to look at that In the light of faith, and to try to change their situation through taking some action.
REFERENCES
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Instruction on Certain Aspects of the Theology of Liberation (6 August 1984)
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation (22 March 1986)
John Paul II. To the "favela Dos Alagados" Salvador da Bahia, Brazil (7 July 1980)
John Paul II. Laborem Exercens (14 September 1981)
Nolan, Albert & Broderick, Richard. 1987. To Nourish Our Faith: Theology of Liberation for South Africa. Hilton: Cornerstone
Paul VI. Evangelii Nuntiandi (8 December 1975)