Despite the landmark nature of his work, liberation theology, Although coming from an era of military dictatorships and guerrilla insurgencies, the true revolution that Gustavo Gutierrez (OP) catalysed overturned today’s world’s imagination of true Christian faith. The humble Peruvian priest who died on October 22 at the age of 96 struggled perhaps more than any other theologian of the past century with the question he considered to be at the heart of liberation theology: “How do you say to the poor, ‘God loves you’ ? “
In a world that is increasingly understanding the structural underpinnings of poverty and violence, and in a Church that is just beginning to face the challenges of modernity, Father Gutiérrez is a prophet who sees clearly that Christianity’s claim to salvation involves more than just the afterlife , and this also includes the liberation of human beings in this life.
The path to this revolutionary text begins in another era of Catholic theology. Father Gutierrez, like many talented Latin American seminarians of the time, traveled to Europe in 1955 to complete his training. There he encountered neo-scholastic theology, which emphasized a clear distinction between the natural and supernatural realms.
It’s a way of thinking based on abstract principles that can be applied anywhere and at any time—the context doesn’t matter. The Church is understood as the only vehicle of salvation, perfect society It seems to have little connection with the world, except to function like Noah’s Ark, ushering souls from the chaos of earth into heaven. As a priest, Father Gutierrez should serve his people by turning their eyes from the suffering of this world to the hope of the coming eternal rest. But he could never accept the separation of the gospel message from real human experience.
Father Gutierrez, who was bedridden with polio between the ages of 12 and 18, remained sensitive to human suffering and did initially intend to study medicine and psychology. Fortunately, his studies in Belgium, France and Rome (ordained priest in 1959) also included contacts with figures of the “new theology”, e.g. Mary Dominique Chenou and Yves CongarHis historical study of ancient and medieval Christian theology opened a path away from abstract neo-scholasticism.
The lesson Father Gutierrez draws from these encounters is twofold: first, that all theology is contextual and dynamic, and second, that there is a spirituality behind every theology. These insights contributed to the dramatic changes associated with the Second Vatican Council.
However, for all its achievements, especially in addressing the “non-believers” of the modern world, Vatican II did not fully take into account what Father Gutiérrez calls “non-people.” If the church is to engage meaningfully in the world, it needs to respond to the realities in which most of the planet’s inhabitants live—poverty and exclusion.
Although Father Gutierrez often worked with college students, he did not hold university positions until later in life. His theology came not from academia but as a response to the questions and concerns he heard from parishioners in Lima’s poor Rimac neighborhood.
Of course, while his theology may have been nourished on a local level, it would soon have global ramifications. In 1968, Father Gutierrez served on the groundbreaking theological commission Latin American Bishops’ Conference held in Medellin, Colombia. Its document sounded the clarion call to reimagine the role of the Catholic Church in Latin America and around the world.
Published in 1971 liberation theology (English translation published in 1973) sparked the vibrant and controversial theological movement of the same name and established Father Gutierrez as its most important spokesperson. Its insights are too numerous to list here, but it is safe to say that it remains one of the most important works of twentieth-century thought. In it, Father Gutierrez presented ideas that he would pursue and refine for the rest of his career.
He describes theology as “critical reflection on Christian practice in the light of God’s Word.” This is the second moment after the first moment of mystical encounter with God in the world and through action. This second moment is crucial because facing poverty and oppression requires more than a one-way Christian response. It requires a rethinking of Christian thought itself in light of these horrific realities, a dynamic that explains what the term “liberation theology” really means.
Father Gutierrez concludes that it is not enough to view salvation as a purely otherworldly hope in the face of violence and poverty. Of course, the God of Exodus, the God of the prophets, the God of the reign that Jesus preached, and the God who became flesh on earth offers much more. Father Gutierrez explores the depths of salvation as human communion with God and each other. Although its consummation is a future hope, it must begin now.
Liberation and salvation are therefore synonymous with God’s merciful activity. Liberation theology is actually a theology of salvation that has a profound impact on how Christians live, believe, pray, and act today. Reflecting on Jesus as Liberator, considering sin in its social and structural dimensions, considering the implications of the Church’s mission to preach the true good news to the poor—these are the fruits of liberation theology.
Of course, liberation theology produced new insights that shook traditionalist understandings of faith and church. After all, in Latin America the Catholic Church has maintained the status quo with few exceptions since colonial times. Many people are disturbed by imagining it severing alliances with the powerful and proclaiming a salvation that would mean full human development for all peoples. According to liberation theology, peace is not simply the absence of violence but the active presence of justice; it is a personal and structural reality that requires constant transformation of the Church and all its members.
The signature achievement in Father Gutierrez’s thought was his theological treatment of poverty. As a young pastor, he wondered how Christianity could speak of it in beautiful terms, even in the face of the dehumanizing effects of poverty. Clearly, there is a need to distinguish between different meanings of the term poverty without losing sight of its basic material meaning. But whether it is a lack of material resources to survive or a denial of basic human rights, Father Gutierrez said poverty, in its basic material sense, is undoubtedly evil and must be considered theologically as a sin. This poverty, he often said, meant death, premature death. Any other understanding of poverty comes after this basic understanding and must address it.
But looking across the Bible and Christian tradition, Father Gutierrez also points to two “positive” meanings of the word poverty. The first is the sense of poverty that arises from man’s complete dependence on God. This kind of “spiritual poverty” should be cultivated by everyone, but the reality of material poverty cannot be ignored. Instead, Father Gutiérrez links spiritual poverty to a third kind of poverty, that of commitment, that is, solidarity with those affected by material poverty.
This solidarity takes many forms, from benevolent care for the poor to prophetic condemnation of the causes of material poverty. Above all, the interplay of these three senses of poverty requires an active commitment of the church’s spirituality and contemplation to bring the world closer to the rule of God preached by Jesus.
This spirituality is embodied in the often misunderstood phrase “the poor’s first choice.” Through it Father Gutiérrez expressed a tendency, a priority and a way of life that followed the contradictory Gospel injunction that “the last should be first.” Christian disciples are called to face the complex realities of poverty. They must prioritize the poor and make choices on their behalf (note this is not optional).
This principle has been adopted and elaborated in modern authoritative texts and has become a defining feature of Catholic social teaching. However, this is not just a moral injunction. In Father Gutierrez’s work, the preference of the poor is a mystical experience; it is God’s own self-revelation. The love of God expressed over and over again in the Bible is not exclusive but gives priority to those who are weakest. In the words of the 16th-century Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas, “God has a very fresh and vivid memory of the smallest and most forgotten people.” Father Gutiérrez wrote for him A great book.
For decades, Father Gutierrez’s theology aroused suspicion in Vatican circles and among privileged segments of the Latin American church who felt threatened by his challenges. In the face of questions, doubts and threats, Father Gutierrez remained calm and responded thoughtfully to his critics. his book the truth will set you free He explains the relationship between theology and the social sciences and provides a powerful response to those who caricature him as a Marxist.
Eventually, he was vindicated. Father Gutierrez was never denounced and his works were never considered heretical. To the dismay of his critics, he published books with Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. At the turn of the new millennium, he joined the Missionaries (Dominicans), taught at their famous school in Rome (the Angelicum), and was even awarded the title “Dominican”. Governor of Holy Theologyan honorific title given to the great medieval figures St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas.
I remember attending a seminar by a sociologist who claimed to have worked with Father Gutierrez for some time in Peru. The speaker lamented that Father Gutierrez unfortunately “left behind something of early liberation” when he began to write about spirituality. This is not the case.
From works like this We drink from our own well Or his personal favorite, On the jobFather Gutierrez shows how faith and social commitment are organically intertwined. It is a radically incarnational theology that testifies to God’s presence in humanity and calls all believers to participate in making the world more consistent with God’s will for human flourishing.
In this sense, when the poor are in the spotlight, they are not simply the recipients of good news (although they certainly are). Instead, their struggle illuminates the reality of the world, revealing God’s mysterious presence that human language and understanding can only reach. This is why Father Gutierrez repeatedly emphasizes that the preference for the poor is a God-centered choice, and that believers in the Church, like Job, need witness; they need to hear God’s own choice in revelation, And follow this example in your life.
Yes, even the poor need to make choices for the poor.
Most readers overlook the double devotion liberation theology. Father Gutiérrez dedicated the book to the Peruvian mestizo novelist José María Aguedas, who vividly painted the situation of the indigenous people of the Andes, and to the black Brazilian priest Enrique Pereira Neto , he was kidnapped and tortured under the military dictatorship. The pair were chosen to symbolize two of the continent’s vast marginalized groups: indigenous and African.
Hearing these marginalized voices and placing their concerns at the center of theological thought—this is the lasting legacy of Gustavo Gutierrez. He does not try to make Christianity “meaningful,” but he shows that the Christian faith fulfills its deepest calling when it truly responds to human suffering. Gustavo Gutierrez is both a prophet who denounces the abuse of marginalized groups and a mystic who sees the presence of God where He is least present.
More from the US:
Video interview with Gustavo Gutierrez at the 2015 beatification of Oscar Romero in El Salvador.
From 2023: 50 years later, Gustavo Gutierrez‘s Liberation Theology remains prophetic.
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