LATIN AMERICAN LIBERATION THEOLOGY AND INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE* 1

Sociedade E Cultura, 2020

Society and Culture publishes in this edition the special issue Christianity of Liberation and Liberation Theology in Latin America. It is an effort to gather the most recent analysis of the main specialists regarding this phenomenon, which has become less mediatic since the 2000s, but which remains alive in the Latin American context. Liberation Theology (LT) has its origin mainly in Latin America, based on the convergence of internal and external changes that result from modernity lived by the Catholic Church and some protestant churches in the second half of the 20th century. It is a theological thought that is born from the perspective of interpreting Latin American reality in light of the Gospel, using Marxist terms and concepts, while also affirming a “preferential option for the poor”, in other words, a political choice guided by the notion of social class.

Decolonizing Liberation Theologies. Past, Present, and Future, 2023

The Postcolonialism and Religions series by its very name bridges the secular with the sacred through hybrid, interstitial, and contrapuntal inquiries. The series features the scholarship of indigenous scholars working at the intersections of postcolonial theories, theologies, and religions. The editors welcome authors around the world in an effort to move beyond and interrogate a historical North American and Eurocentric postcolonial studies disciplinary dominance. The series seeks to foster subaltern voices especially from Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and the liquid continent.

This paper shows how theology of religions needs to focus on two aspects when speaking of religious pluralism: the ability and capacity of religious groups to dialogue, and the challenges of human rights and inclusiveness. From the Latin American theological context, the research was formulated around three topics: (i) the public importance of religion in both peace building as well as the promotion of justice, taking into account the importance of mysticism and otherness in the ecumenical formation of spiritualties and how they affect religious and social processes, allowing the emergence of new utopian, democratic and meaningful perspectives; (ii) the necessity of reshaping the theological lens with an intentional starting point in the realities of afro-indigenous cultures; and (iii) the contribution of feminist liberation theology to the debate of religious pluralism.

2012

The liberation theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez has offered an effective postcolonial critique of the conditions of life of the Latin American poor, and of a theological method that legitimated them. The present article studies early writings of Gutiérrez that show his critique taking form. In the first instance, Gutiérrez argued, theological truth is not something beheld in philosophical theoria, but is rather a performance of agonistic practice. One may usefully abstract to theoretical expressions of the truth about divine matters; however, the abstractions are only useful if—indeed only true if— they play back upon that practice to effect greater freedom for the poor. So Gutiérrez drew upon and pointed toward a ‘new spirituality’—a theological and practical reorientation away from the spirit of a Eurocentric faith, enmeshed in the geopolitics of colonialism and neocolonialism under which most Latin Americans have suffered for centuries, toward the spirit in which the poor whom he served live. Eventually, in pursuing this reorientation himself, Gutiérrez became persuaded that methodology is not the primary mode of critique, and began a turn from conceiving theology as ‘critical reflection on practice’ to conceiving it as ‘thought about a mystery’. This study’s limited purpose is to understand Gutiérrez’ development to this pivotal moment.

2025

holds a PhD in History from the University of Liverpool, writing his thesis on the emergence and mobilisation of liberation Christian ity in Argentina, and particularly its political responses to state terrorism. His research more broadly focuses on left-wing political cultures and social movements in Latin Amer i ca's Cold War, exploring religion, international solidarity and strategies towards state repression. He currently teaches at the University of Greenwich.

2011

In 2008 a best selling book critical of spiritist and African religions was ordered removed from bookstores in the state of Bahia, Brazil, for fomenting religious prejudice and intolerance. This action by the state judiciary was based on the book's affirmation that the Bible teaches that Spiritist beliefs are false, having their origin in the demonic rather than God. Back of this is the assumption that tolerance requires a non-exclusive view of truth, recognizing the equal validity of all religions. Among the cultural influences in Latin America supporting this assumption is the resurgence of Liberation Theology, now formulated in a pluralist direction. In a series of recent publications in Portuguese and Spanish, a number of Latin American theologians are developing a revitalized theology of liberation significantly influenced by pluralists such as John Hick. They argue that religious truth is relative, all religions are equally salvific, and that traditionally exclusivist claims about the uniqueness of the person of Christ and other doctrines must be modified. Drawing on these sources, this paper discusses this development, provides an exclusivist critique of its conclusions, and argues that it represents a theological and missiological challenge that Evangelicals should take seriously. Evangelical Theological Society annual meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 2011.

Munera: Rivista europea di cultura, 2019

Latin American Theology underwent significant development following the Second Vatican Council, with a proposal that has come to characterize the continent: Liberation Theology (LT). This theology explicitly proposed to accompany the liberation processes based on the Word of God, and as a church rising in—and as a result of—those broad processes. Among other relevant aspects, though born as a critical reflection, this theology develops its thoughts from the historical praxis of the liberation of the oppressed and from a conceptualization of the poor as non-person. This validates LT as a humanist proposal with two unique features: a theological humanism and a liberating humanism (liberating people from injustice and oppression). LT has elaborated a significant theological approach to contemporary humanism, with God’s concrete manifestation in the fight for the equality of all people and their development as persons. Beyond their historical conditioning and the huge changes that have taken place in the world and Latin America in the third millennium, some theological institutions remain currently relevant as regards the topic of contemporary humanism. After introducing LT and the semantic context behind the concept of person, we will develop three aspects that confirm the character of LT as theological and liberating humanism.

Theology Today, 2017

I would like to contrast some of the premises proposed by the so-called postcolonial approach with what some Latin-Americans scholars identify as ''epistemological Decolonization.'' Colonialism is not something of the past; it has new forms. That is the challenge of the Latin American Theology. I wish to show how Moltmann's critique of and dialog with Latin-American Theology help us in the process of elaborating more clearly a ''decolonial epistemology.'' At the same time, I wish to show how Latin American liberation theology resonates with many of the insights that the decolonial approach offers. I argue that since its inception Latin American theology has displayed a decolonizing content and impetus, which becomes clearer in our present global climate.

Australian Religion Studies Review, 2012

The liberation theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez has offered an effective postcolonial critique of the conditions of life of the Latin American poor, and of a theological method that legitimated them. The present article studies early writings of Gutiérrez that show his critique taking form. In the first instance, Gutiérrez argued, theological truth is not something beheld in philosophical theoria, but is rather a performance of agonistic practice. One may usefully abstract to theoretical expressions of the truth about divine matters; however, the abstractions are only useful if—indeed only true if— they play back upon that practice to effect greater freedom for the poor. So Gutiérrez drew upon and pointed toward a ‘new spirituality’—a theological and practical reorientation away from the spirit of a Eurocentric faith, enmeshed in the geopolitics of colonialism and neocolonialism under which most Latin Americans have suffered for centuries, toward the spirit in which the poor whom he served live. Eventually, in pursuing this reorientation himself, Gutiérrez became persuaded that methodology is not the primary mode of critique, and began a turn from conceiving theology as ‘critical reflection on practice’ to conceiving it as ‘thought about a mystery’. This study’s limited purpose is to understand Gutiérrez’ development to this pivotal moment.