Vatican never condemned liberation theology, Gustavo Gutierrez insists

May 12, 2015

The Peruvian priest who is widely regarded as the founder of liberation theology said that he is pleased with a “change in atmosphere” at the Vatican since the election of Pope Francis, but stressed that the Holy See had never condemned his work.

“To speak of rehabilitation would be inaccurate,” Father Gustavo Gutiérrez told a May 12 news conference in Rome, “It would imply that there was a de-habilitation first.”

Father Gutierrez conceded that he had tense conversations with Vatican officials in the 1980s, when the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a caution about liberation theology. But he said that the Vatican documents only questioned certain aspects of liberation theology, never dismissing the entire movement.

"Was I called to speak before the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith back then? Yes, I was,” Father Gutierrez recalled. “Was it a very critical conversation? Yes. But there was never a condemnation.”

The Vatican’s cautions on liberation theology, issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), criticized the movement’s reliance on Marxist ideology and theories of class struggle. Father Gutierrez told the Vatican press conference that “it’s clear now that the key element of Liberation theology is the special care for the poor.”

Father Gutierrez was in Rome to speak to a meeting of Caritas International, the coalition of Catholic relief agencies.

 

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Further information:

• Once scrutinized by the Holy See, Founder of 'liberation theology' visits Vatican (Rome Reports)
• Liberation theology founder praises new ‘atmosphere’ under Pope Francis (Crux)