0)

~,

HoE!!.(")tlOn Theology Is Done.. .23 31

of skillfully using methods but of bemg Imbued WIth
!hcjheol.ogica: spirit. Rather than introducing a new theologi-
liberation theology is a new way of being a
thc:ohJgi,ar. Theology is always a second step; the first is the
Chapter 3 that makes its power felt through love" (Gal. 5:6).
Theolog) '(not the theologian) comes afterward; liberating
';".0";0' comes first.
first we need to have direct knowledge of the reality of
:oPP'fI!Ssiorr/li,beration through objective engagement in soli-
How Liberation Theology Is Done

of leading to effective solidarity with

their liberation.
This chapter brings us to the kernel of this work, It is an "
attempt to explain the question of method' in other words fii]KJi:1'im,e Fonns of Commitment to the Poor
how liberation theology is "done," " , ).
, Of course the most appropriate and ~p.l:dfic-"",,¥...fo r theolo-
The Preliminary Stage: Living Commitment ,,:gians to commit themselves to the poor and oppressed is to
" produce good theology. But what we want to stress here is that
Before we can do theology we have to "do" liberation. The ',;'this is impossible. without a east..>QlV~lact.JYit.A-the-WQdcl/"'"
first step for liberation theology is pre-theological. It is a "; of the oppressed. er:illlJal..cm,tacLiuJeJ:essalCy-iLone-is-lo- ~
matter of trying to live the commitment of faith : 'in our case, , "a~q uire.new-theoIQgicJ!l sensitivity. .
to participate in some way in the process of liberation, to be : ,: ,'Different forms and levels ofcant act can be taken up,
"

committed to the oppressed. . , '..,depending on the inclinations arid circumstances of persons

_'Yitho~t. this sp.~fic Rre~ondition" li.beratio9,-theol.QllY . interested:
, ~woulCfl)e sunply a matter of words. So It IS not enough here ' :: • Tlje-fir-st-kvel might be called more or less restricted,
orily to reflect on what IS belOg practIced. Rather we need to either~poradiSvib the form of visits to base communities,
establish a living link with living practice. If we fail to do this, ,meetings;-anathe like, or more regular, through pastoral work
then poverty," ".oppression," "revolution," "new society"
U on ,weekends, acti!1~, advisor to communities or popular
are simply words that can be found in a dictionary. ' movements, and,~6forth .)
The essential point is this: links with specific practice are at , • The ,second' w~tild-be alternating periods of scholarly
the root of liberation theology. It operates within the great work-research, teaching, writing-with periods of practical
dialectic of theory (faith) and practice (love). work-pastoral or theological work in a particular church.
In fact, it is only this effective connection with liberating • The third level is that of those who live permanently with
practice that can give theologians a "new spirit," a new style, the people, making their home among the people, living and
or a new way of doing theology. Being a theologian is not a working alongside the people.
22
 if. ",~.:' ,

24 HowLib erat',on The{jIOgYIS C?!:" ~ . ,} 1~1$11ft:'t

tY.r~~·
r,~~~~
t ",
How ~, )n Theology Is Done
'...J
25
r,- '\
Wh ichever level is chosen , one point i~ paramo_untj/cll1yone !:tJ~~:;f.~ actual oppression and its causes . The fact is that under-
who wants to elaborate relevant liberatiolf1h-eQ!Ogy must be ;~~l:~!,iii;ding God is not a substitute for or alternative ,~o know 1-
prepared to gb into th~ex"!llination h~" of the poor. Only i!.tlFcdge'ofthe real world. As Thomas Aqumas satd. An error
after sIltmg on the benches of the humble will he or she be ~~f~bbut the world redounds in error about God" (Summa con-
entitled to enter a school of "higher learning." ;~'1frraGentj{es, 11,3).
, i.~f~j:·Furthermore, if faith is to be efficacious, in the same way as
Three Mediations , ';'~:5~:thris'tian love, it must have its eyes open to the histOrical
, ~~~I¥~ality on which it seeks to work. ,
T he elaboration of liberation theology can be divided into' ~~li!Therefore, to know the real world of the oppressed IS a
three basic stages, which correspond to the three, tr~ditional • ~'h~~material) part of the overall Che?logical process. Though not
stages involved in pastoral work: seeing, judging, acting. ",~the 'whole process in itself, it IS an mdispensable stage or
In liberation theology, we speak of three main "media- ~:~~iri-;;diation in' the development of further and deeper under-'
tions": socio-analytical mediation, hermeneutical mediation , A1;;~{a:i:iding, the knowledge of faith itself.
and practical mediation. The term "mediation" j~ used be~' '~11qi'! .
cause the three stages represent means ,or instruments of the 't~?Eiplnining the Phenomenon of Oppression
theological process . Briefly, these thre~ mediations work and :}.;~At~ .
relate to each other as follows: 'i, /: : :" Faced with the oppressed, the theologian's first question
.~ ", ~

o Socio-analytical (or historico-analytical) mediation oper- , ,( can only be: Why is there oppression and what are its causes?
ates in the sphere of the world of the oppressed. It tries to find .; ", The oppressed are to be found in many strata of society.
out why the oppressed are oppressed. ':;) , Puebla lists them: young children, juveniles , indigenous peo-
o Hermeneutical mediation operates in the sphere of God's \r pies, campesinos, laborers , the underemployed and ' unem-
world. It tries to discern what God's plan is for the poor. ployed, the marginalized, persons living in overcrowded
o Practical mediation operates in the sphere of action. It 'urban slums, the elderly . .. (§§32-39). There is .one over-
tries to discover the courses of action that need to be followed i arching characteristic of the oppressed in the Third World :
so as to overcome oppression in accordance with God's plan. . they are poor in socio-economic terms. They are the dispos-
Let us treat each of these mediations in more detail. sessed masses on the peripheries of cities and in rural areas .
"" We need to start from here, from this "infrastructural"
Socio-analytical Mediation oppression, if we want to understand correctly all other forms
of oppression and see how they relate to each other. In effeCt,
"Liberation" means liberation from oppression. There- as we shall see in more detail later, this socio-economic form
fore, liberation theology has to begin by inforrpin'g itself cond'itions all other forms. '
abo ut the actual conditions in which ,the oppressed live, the So, if we start with the fundamental expression of oppres-
various fo rms of oppression they may suffer. ' '; .. ." ,.,, , sion as socio-economic poverty, we then need to find what
Obviously, the prime object of theology is God . Neverthe- causes it. Here, liberation theology has found three ready-
less, before asking what oppression means in God's eyes, made answers, which might be called the empirical, the func-
theologians have to ask more basic questions about the nature tional, and the dialectical explanations of poverty.
 26 How Liberation Theo/og)·;.. : . .~ne HOh .•...:.;i).ration Theology Is Done 27
The empirical explanation: poverty ~~ :'~ ice, ntis approach , Paul II defines\h;~ root of this situation as the suprem-
produces a short and superficial explanation. It attributes the ~G:V:o:f ci~lpil:aI ·-en.· oyed by the few-over labor-practiced by
causes of poverty to laziness, ignorance , or simply human
wickedness. It does not look at the collective or structural explanation, also called the "historico-structural" ap-
dimension of the problem: that the poor make up whole (priJach,' sees poverty as a collective and also conjlictive phe- i
masses of a people and their numbers are growing all the time. , which can be overcome only by replacing the i ~
It is the common conception of social destitution, the explana- pi"se:nt social system with an alternative system. The way out !
tion most generally upheld in society. situation is revolution, understood as the transforma- i
From this viewpoil)t, the logical solution to the question 0( f the bases of the economic and social system. Here the
poverty is aid-in all its forms, from 'almsgiving on an individ~ stand up as "subj ects."
ual basis to worldwide schemes. , The poor are treated as.
objects of pity. i#!t!e,l'orircal Mediation and the Struggles of the Oppressed
Thejunctional explanation: poverty as backwardness. ntis
";,.r.,,, .. - .socia-analytical interpretation, as presented above ,
is the liberal or bourgeois interpretation of the phenomenon
Fi,:j!;l::~';'- on to a historical approach to the problem of poverty.
of social poverty: it is attributed to economic and social
,W' .," U' approach focuses on' the poor not only in their present
backwardness. In time, thanks to the development process
U Ji.l',:'itl,ati.on, but as the end-product of a long process of plunder
itself, helped in the ntird World by foreign loans and technol-
social marginaJization. It includes a consideration of the
ogy, "progress" will arrive and hunger will disappear-so the
';";:·;· <"",i'",I" of "the lowly" throughout their historical journey.
functionalists think.
shows that the situation of the oppressed is defined not
The social and political solution put forward here is rejorm,
Ii"::<:!f· only by {heir oppressors but also by the way in which they
understood as the progressive betterment of the existing sys-
. '.: '~react to oppression, resist it, and fi ght to set themselves free
tem. The poor are treated as passive objects of action taken by ,
others.
'\'fi-pin it. The poor cannot be understood without including
, tii'eir dimension as social subjects or co-agents-though sub-
The positive side of this approach is that it sees poverty as a
·:.'merged ones-of the historical process. This means that any
collective phenomenon; it fails, however, to see it as conjlic- '
, "' aiJalysis of the world of the poor has to take account not only
tive. In other words, it , fails to see what Puebla saw, that
of their oppressors but also of their own history and efforts at
poverty "is not a passing phase.' .. . It is the product of ec-
. liberation, however embryoructhese may be.
'\
\:, ~~l~:~h:~i~~~e~~c:e~li~c~e s~~u::~~:o;U:~e ~:~:~o' ~e; Relationships with Marxism
even poorer" (§30) .
\ \ ' The dialectical explanation: poverty as oppres.sion. ntis When dealing with the poor and the oppressed and seeking
i sees poverty as the product of the economic organization of their liberation, how do we avoid coming into contact with
Isociety itself, which exploits some-the workers-and ex- Marxist groups (on the practical level) and with Marxist the-
cludes others from the production process-the underem- ory (on the academic leVel)? This is already hinted at in the use
ployed, unemployed , and all those marginalized in one way or of such terms as "dialectical" or "historico-structural" expla-
another. In his encyclical Laborem Exercens (chap. 3), Pope nation of the phenomenon of socio-economic poverty.

"'11 •
.j :I.
 28 How Liberation Theo/~gy Is t!?>-· HO ~W!:.~\ ·-· :-tlon Theology Is Done 29
~ ~. "

In liberation theology, Marxism is never' tr~~ted as a subject a class: the poor,' the subjected, the discriminated
o n its own but alwaysfrom and in relation to thepooT. Placing ,ii~:dll"l. ,We cannot confine ourselves to the purely socio-
themselves firmly on the side of the poor,'liberation theolo- :t~I;~)IlDrni'c aspect of oppression, the IIpoverty" aspect, how-
gians ask Marx: "What can you tell us ab'out the situation of _.. _,- ,•.• , :. and "determinant" this may be. We have to look
poverty and ways of overcoming it?" Here Marxists are sub- to other levels of social oppression, such as:
mitted to the judgment of the poor and their cause, and not .racist oppression: discrimination against blacks;
th e other way around. ,ethnic oppression: discrimination against indigenous peo-
Therefore, liberation theology uses Marxism purely as .an " ,or other minority groups;
instrument. It does not venerate it as it venerates the gospel. , sexual oppression: discrimination against women.
A nd it feels no obligation to account to social scientists for any. ~w~a(:n of these various oppressions-or discriminations-
use it may make-correct or otherwise-of Marxist terminol- ' -rno,e (oppression of children, juveniles, the elderly) has
ogy and ideas, though it does feel obliged to account to the speCific nature and therefore needs to be treated (in both
poor, to their fai th and hope, and to the ecclesial community, H lt!f1iith,eory and practice) specifically. So we have to go beyond an
fo r such use. To put it in more specifk terms, liberatiOn) ;;t!&'_exclu.sively "classist" concept of the oppressed, which would
theology freely borrows from Marxism certain "methodologi- I, 1-l~2;~~~:t, the oppressed to the socio-economically poor. The
cal pointers" that have proved fruitful in understanding the : [ , of the oppressed are filled with others besides the
worid of the oppressed, such as:' , I'
• the importance of economic factors; Nevertheless, we have to observe here that the socio-
• attention to .the class struggle; ",::- economically oppressed (the poor) do not simply exist along-
• the mystifying power of ideologies, including religious '. . ' . side other oppressed groups, such as blacks, indigenous
ones . , .. peoples, women-to take the three major categories in the
This is what the then superior general of the Jesuits, Fr. Third World. No, the "class-oppressed" -the socio-
Pedro Arrupe, wrote in his 'well-known letter on Marxist economically poor-are the infrastructural expression of the
analysis of December 8, 1980. process of oppression. The other' groups represent "super-
Liberation theology, therefore, maintains a decidedly criti- structural" expressions of oppression and because of this are'
cal stance in relation to Marxism. Marx (like any other Marx- , deeply conditioned by the infrastructural. It is one thing to be
ist) can be a companion on the way (see Puebla, §544), but he a black taxi-driver, quite another to be a black football idol; it
can never be the guide, because "You have only one teacher, is one thing to be a woman working as a domestic servant,
the Christ" (Matt. 23: 10). This being so, Marxist materiilism quite another to be the first lady of the land; it is one thing to
and atheism do not even constitute a temptation for liberation be an Amerindian thrown off your land, quite another to be
theologians. . ' an Amerindian owning your own farm.
This shows why, in a class-divided society, class struggles-
Enlarging on the Concept of "the Poor" which are a fact and an ethical demonstration of the presence
of the injustice condemned by God and the church-are the
The Poor as Blacks, Indigenous Peoples, Women main sort of struggle. They bring antagonistic groups , whose
Liberation theology is about liberation of the oppressed- basic interests are irreconcilable, face to face. On the other
in their totality as persons, body and soul-and in their total- hand, the struggles of blacks, indigenes, and women bring
 .~ !~;?ip~ - .,
30 How Liberation Theology h., ~: . :;:~.::':..
.::\:~:
· ~~~~;
·t ~~.16~ ,
How ..... :::);~aHon Theology Is Done
~.:~.:.: .
31

groups that are not naturally antagonistic into ,play, whose • ~~~?iliaustion; life-a wh~le series of complex and even contra-
basic interests can in principle be' reconCiled, ' Although ex- , " l'~il1di , 'ctory perceptions, Again, what does "land" mean to an
'~t'o::Jl " : .
ploiting bosses and exploited workers can never finally be 11!1~:agricuJturai work~r and what does it mean to asoclOlogist?
reconciled (so long as the former remain exploiters and the , "~"'~I'.For the former, It IS much more than an economIC and SOCIal
latter exploited), blacks can be reconciled with whites, indi- '~:~:w~ntity; it is human' greatness, with a deeply affective and even '
genes with nonindigenes, and women with men, We are deal- iiit&[mystical significance, And if it is your ancestral land, then it
'ing here with nonantagonistic contradictions mixed in with the .l:<,'Ii';" ~
even more.
li~r~!,~~ans
basic, antagonist class conflict in our societies, But it must also ~;~i';"FinallY, "poor" for the people means dependence, debt,
be noted that noneconomic types of oppression aggravate _%:~;~~xposure, anonymity, contempt, and humiliation, The poor
preexisting socio-economic oppression, The ' poor are addi- .,,'a\i'ti
1,r. "d,0 not usu all y re fer, to t h i ves as " poor, "h'
emse w ICh wou ld
tionally oppressed when , beside being poor, they are also' . :J\)/:t~-offend their sense of honor and dignity, It is the non-poor who
black, indigenous, women, or old, ;1~;cljll th~m poor. So a poor woman , from Tacaimb6 in the
·:f~~i%~terior of Pernambuco, .hearing someone call h.er poor, re-
The Poor as "Degraded and Deprived" ,+}.~t!?,rted: "Poor, no! Poor IS the end, We are the dispossessed,
The socio-analytical approach is undoubtedly important ~,',:,,- t f'Ig hu' ng,'"
' ,"'''It-'?<'u '
for a critical understanding of the situation ofthe poor and all , .;~:,;}",. ",. From which we conclude that liberation theologians in
classes of oppressed, Nevertheless, its insight into oppression " ::Y'tri,'contac( with the people cannot be cQntent with social analyses
is limited to what an academic sort of approach can achieve, , ) :>" but also have to grasp the whole rich interpretation made by
Such an approach has its limitations, which are those of 'l('j~the poor of their world, linking the socio-analytical approach
analytical scholarship, It can only (but this is already a great :i ;,;:,
with the indispensable understanding provided by folk wis-
dealT grasp the basic and overall structure of oppression; it :)~dom.
leaves out of account all the 'shadings that only direct experi-
ence and day-by-day living can appreciate, Attending just to ",!}ThePoor as the Disfigured Son of God
the rational, scientific understanding of oppression falls into " ,:,,': Finally, the Christian view of thepoor is that they are all this
rationalism and leaves more than half the reality of 'the op- ;,and more, Faith shows us the poor and all the oppressed in the
pressed poor out of account. _,-light that liberation theology seeks to project ,(and here we
The oppressed are more than what social analysts- ,: anticipate the hermeneutical mediation):
economists, sociologists, anthropologists-can tell us about ,,: " the disfigured image of God;
them, We need to listen to the oppressed themselves, The' poor, . :" the Son of God made the suffering servant and rejected;
in their popular wisdom, in fact "know" much more about .. ,. the 'memorial of the poor and persec~ted Nazarene;
poverty than does any economist. Or rather, they know in ',. the sacrament of the Lord and Judge of history,
another way, in much greater depth, Without losing any of its specific substance, the conception
For example, what is "work" for popular wisdom and what of the poor is thus infiiiitely enlarged through being opened up
is it for an economist? For the latter it is usually a simple to the Infinite, In this way, seen from the standpoint of faith
category or a statistical calculation, whereas for the people, and the nUssion of the church, the poor are not merely human
"work" means drama, anguish, dignity, security, exploitation, beings with needs; they are not just persons who are socially
 32 How Liberation Theology Is (L :.
'-<.../
How l:L,.
'.---'
!n The o(ogy Is Done 33

oppressed and at the same time agents of history, They are all 'IOS;"IDU[ not to the exclusion of everything else, They may
these and more: they are also bearers of an "evangelizing the most important themes in the Bible (in themselves),
potential" (Puebla, §1147) and beings called to eternal life. ' '''' .• n.o" are the most relevant {to the poor in their situation of
:iiiinre:ssionl. But then it is the order of importance that deter-
Hermeneutical Mediation the order of relevance.
;,Fllftlhe['ffilDre the poor are not simply poor, as we have seen;
Once they have understood the real situation of the op- theY'",eklife, and "to the full" (John 10:10) , This means that
' pressed, theologians have to ask: What has the word of God to :(jlf~StiO[lS relevant to or urgent for the poor are bound liP with

i say about this? This is the second stage in the theological

J construct-a specific stage, in which discourse is formally
M ,'\1:,aru;cenaenl:aJ questions of conversion, grace, resurrec-

theological . , effe~t, the hermeneutics of liberation questions the word

It is therefore a ,question, at this point, of seeing the "',7' ''.-','- '- without anticipating the divine response. Because it is
"oppression/liberation" process "in the light of faith."· What ~~; \~I,ological exercise, this hermeneutics is done in fidelity-
does this mean? The expression does not denote something is"in openness to God's ever new and always surprising
vague or general; it is something that has a positive meaning in ',ey~lauon--to the foundational message that can save or
scripture, where we f ind that "in the light of faith" and "in the This 'means that the response of the word can
li ght of the word of God" have the same meaning. r,~l>al»,,;lyscall the question itself into,question, or even the ques-
The liberation theologian goes to the scriptures bearing the ':1I!)1lt:r" to the extent that it calls them to conversion, faith,
whole weight of the problems, sorrows , and hopes or the poor, '
seeking light and inspiration from the divine word. This is a or "mutual
new way of reading the Bible: the hermeneutics of liberation. VI, Evangelii
" :';tgl1lllaI10l, no. 29). there is no denying that the lead in this
The Bible of the Poor , "7'di;ue<:tic belongs to the sovereign word of God, which must
E ',;'3tl!tai.n primacy of value, though not necessarily of methodol-
An examination of the whole of scripture from the view- On the other hand, we know from the intrinsically liberat-
point of the oppressed: this is the hermeneutics or specifie :,'ing ' content of biblical revelation that for the poor the word
interpretation (reading) used by liberation theology. \ fillJ, emerge only as a message of radical consolation and
We must say straightaway that this is not the only possible "'liberation.
and legitimate reading of the Bible. For us in the Third World . ~~ { '/
today, however, it is the obvious one the "hermeneutics for ','The,Marks of a Theological-liberative Hermeneutics
,
our times," From the heart of the grea~ revel;ti;~ in the Bible . . ... -. '.

it draws the most enlightening and eloquent themes that speak The rereading of the Bible done from the basis of the poor
to the poor: God the father of life and advocate of thef and their liberation project has certain characteristic marks.
oppressed, liberation from the house of bondage, the proph- I~_h.!!!:..mefllil.ticS .J.haL[ilvdr.L!!P.Rlication rather than
ecy of a new world, the kingdom given to the poor, the church explanation. In this the theology of liberation takes up the
as total Shari~ g. The hermeneutics of liberation stresses these kind of probing that has been the perennial pursuit of all true
 34 How Liberation Theology Is J " . How LJbc~:j~!.~ n Theology /s Done 35
:::~ -1 ".!,:;"."

biblical reading, as can be seen, for example, in the church :vitable and even necessary, as the liturgy and the practice of
fathers-a: pursuit that was rieglected for a long time in favor lq~ruJl:U<:s demonstrate. The books most appreciated by liber-
of a rationalistic exegesis concerned with dragging out the theology, on its three levels-professional, pastoral, and
meaning-in-itself. jeciaLly popular-are:
Liberative hermeneutics reads the Bible as a book of life, because it recounts the epic of the politico-
not as a book of strange stories. The textual meaning is.indeed . r,,~glCJUsliberation of a mass of slaves who, through' the power
sought, but only as a function of the practical meaning: the covenant with God, became the people of God;
important thing is not so much interpreting the text of the . ',the Prophets, for their uncompromising defense of the
scriptures as interpreting life "according to the scriptures.'" God, their vigorous denunciation of injustices , their
Ultimately, this old/new reading aims to illHllc,mcm of the rights of the poor, and their proclamation
aGt!1alizatiQJL(practicality) for the textual meaning. .' messianic world;
L~~e!.<!tiy,e h~rmenE~lc.s_se,e!HQ. discover and activate the Gospels, obviously, for the centrality of the clivine
Irans[o! '!!.!ng__~rgy..9i m
biblical le.lli.. In the end, this is a ", rJP!,w of Jesus, with his announcement of the kingdom, his
question offincling an interpretation that will lead to individe . ~Jj1\¢l:ating actions, and his death and resurrection-the final
', ual change (conversion) and change in history (revolution). , ~"Hl.e!',lllnig of history;
This is not a reading from ideological preconceptions: biblical .m ".fIC[S of theApost/es, because they portray the ideal of

religion is an open and dynamic religion thanks to its messi- ••·.' o.!1.·F!:e and liberating Christian community;
anic and eschatological character. Ernst Bloch once declared: . Revelation, because in collective and symbolic terms it
"It would be difficult to make a revolution without the Bible." H ii:;pel;c'ribl:s the immense struggles of the people of God against
Finally, without being reductionist, this theological-political . ,-, 0111 H," monsters of history.
rereading of the Bible stresses the social context of the mes- some places, other books too are favored; such as the
E~1t places each text In its historical context ;;;~~der to . books, because they embody the value of divine
con.:;~r_uft an appropiTii-e-=not);ierai':::'translatiori -iilio:illu k:)~:velation contained in popular wisdom (proverbs, legends,
o;Yn historical context. For example, !iberative hermeneutics '- In some parts of Central America, after the base com-
, 1£ wiILstress (llUt not ~}h<; exclusion of o'the~'aspects)-ih~ social ' had meditated on the books of the Maccabees to
-II., c()!lteXCQL9,PpresslOn 10 which Jesus lived and the . '- ··.-inspire their faith in the context of armed uprising Oe-
I -~!itical cont;;;:o-ttiisaeiitli-cin-tlfarciss~'Obviously, when it is .. ," gitimized, it may be noted, by their pastors), once the war was
approached in this-'way,-'meliilillcill text takes on particular ', oy,:r and the period of national reconstruction began, Chris- '
relevance in the context of the oppression now being experi- '. .,ti,!ns turned to a systematic reading of the books of Ezra and
enced in the Thild World, where liberating evangelizatio'n has . ' Neh~miah, which portray the efforts at restoring the people of
immediate and serious political implications-as the growing 'God after the critical period in Babylonian captivity.
list of martyrs in Latin America proves. We hardly need to say here that any book of the Bible has to
be read in a christological key-that is, based on the high point
Biblical Books Favored by Liberation Theology of revelation as found in the Gospels. The viewpoint of the
', poor is thus placed within a wider viewpoint':::'that of the lord
Theology must, of course, take all the books of the Bible of history..,.-whence the word of God derives its consistency
into account. Nevertheless, hermeneutical preferences are in- and strength.

,.
 36 ' How Liberation Theo/og;::::::':.- o.'7ne
/ ;:"!:" .. ,
V. .: Ho~g·( . ', ',tion Theology Is Done 37
Recovering the Great Christian Tradii1Ctrr
can clearly be seen today-Francis of Assisi,
in the Perspective of Liberation
is-avonrurola, Meister Eckhart, Catherine of Siena, Bartolome
Casas and from recent times, Frs . Hidalgo, Morelos,
Liberation theology is conscious of being a new theology, .
. Nor ;hould we forget the valuable contribution of the
linked with the current period of history and addressed to the
[i:'cimlmcm life" and other similar reform movements of the
great masses, both Christian and non-Christian, in the Third
.NII.oale Ages, or the evangelical postulates of the great Re-
World. Nonetheless, it sees itself as maintaining a basic link of
continuity with the living tradition of the faith of the Christian
church. It looks to the past in an effort to learn from it and
'n l7imatitlTl Theology and the Social Teaching of the Church
enrich itself. With regard to theological tradition, it maintains
a twofold stance. theology also has an open and positive relation-
With respect to the limits arid incompleteness of the systems ",ith the social teaching of the church. 'fie have to say at
of the past-at least in part an inevitable consequence of their that liberation theology does not set an{ to be in competi-
historical setting-liberation theology maintains a stance of . . the teaching of the magisterium. Nor could It,
c.criticism. For example, the Scholastic theology of the eleventh the two sets of discourse operate on different levels
to the fourteenth century made undeniable contributions to differing objectives. But to the extent that the social
the precise and systematic presentation of Christian truth, but ofthe church provides broad guidelines for Chnstlan
liberation theology criticizes it for its overbearing tendency to li,iN~;~:~~;~~a~~ctiVity, liberation theology tries, on the one hand, to
thcoreticism, to voiding the world of its historical character . these guidelines into its own syntheSIS, and, on the
(a static vision of things), showing precious little sensitivity to clarify them in a creative manner for the spCClflc
to the social question of the poor or their historical liberation. of the Third World.
As for classic spirituality, liberation theology seeks to correct work of integration and clarification is founded in the
its ahistorical interiority, its elitism, and its deficient sense . and open nature of the social teachings of the church
of the presence of thc lord of history in liberative social proc- Puebla, §§473 and 53~V'*\hermore, by this work,
esscs. . thealogy is payingl1eed;.o the expliCit appeal of the
With respect to incorporating overlooked but fruitful tbeo- itself, which, through Paul VI's Octogesima Ad-
logical strains that can enrich and challenge us today, libera-
, ,' :veniens, stated:
tion theology maintains a stance of retrieval. Thus, from the "

I.
patristic theology of the secand to the ninth century, we can
./ It is not our ambition, nor even our mission .. . to
reincorporate· its deeply unitary sense of the history of salva-
;' pronounce one :word for ·all or to put forward one uni-
tion, its feeling for the social demands of the gospel, its
. v·ersal solution. It is for the Christian commurutJes to
perception of the prophetic dimension of the mission of the
: analyze, objectively, the situation in their own countries;
church, its sensitivity to the poor.
try te shed light on it with the light of the unalterable
Liberation theology also finds inspiration in the individual
words of the gospel; discern the options and COmmlt-
evangelical experiences of so many saints and prophets, many
. ments which they need to take in order to bring about
of them declared heretics at the time, but whose liberat-
social changes [no. 4; see also nos. 42 and 48J.
ILT-D
 ...;:;~~~
38 How Liberalion Theology Is '~:.\{: How LfC·~:~·tion Theology Is Done 39
,.!::',.

This is a precise indication of the three stages of theological- creatively bringing out or deducing the liberating con-
liberative investigation by which what is less specific in the of faith, liberation theology seeks to produce a new
teaching of the church can become more specific. of the Christian mystery, thereby helping the
Paul VI launched a challenge to the social teaching of the to carry out its mission of liberative evangelization in
church when he said it was "not limited to recaiJing a few
general principles, but is, on the contrary, something that
de velops through means of a reflection carried on in perma- Practical Mediation
nent contact with the situations of this world" (ibid., no. 42).
By taking up this challenge, liberation theology places itself theology is far from being an inconclusive theol- (ii
fully in line with the requirements of the teaching of the . starts from action and a journey wholly
church. This is also taken into account when it is worked out up with the atmosphere of faith.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.~':~it9P~a~s~se~s through
by pastors in the form of liberation theology on the pastoral .
level. action. "Back to
F urthermore, Cardinal Ratzinger himself, in his instruction . is a·characteristic call of this theology. to be a
o n liberation theology (chap. 5), considers the social teaching iriiliitanlt, comni.itted, and liberating theology.
of the church as a sort of preliberation theology, or "pastoral is a theology that leads to practical results because today,
t heology of liberation," insofar as it tries to "respond to ·the world of the "wretched cif the earth," the trueJorm o f
the challenge posed to our time by oppression and hunger" is "political love" or "macro-char'ity." Among the p'oor-
(no. 1). of the Third World, faith is not only "also" political, but
The only conclusion one can draw from all this 'is that there all else political.
is no incompatibility of principle between the social teaching despite all this, faith cannot be reduced to action,
of the church and liberation theology. One complements the i.holwever liberating it may be. It is "always greater" and must
other for the good of the whole people of God. :;al'wa'Ys include moments of contemplation and of profound
also
The Creative Task oj Theology
,
Armed with its own techniques and all the mgterial it has
thereby accumulated, liberation theology sets out to build up
truly new syntheses of faith and to put together theoretically
new answers to the great challenges of the times . It is not just
an accumulator of theological material, but a true architect.
So it arms itself with the necessary theoretical dar'ing and with . Who Designs the Program oj Action? .
a good dose of creative imagination in order to tackle previ-
ously unknown questions posed today by the continents under . The logic of this third stage-practical mediation-has its
oppresSion . " own internal regimen. Naturally, the definition of action de-
 40 41
..
How Liberation Theofogy....-:..Dane
( ... :
pends on the theological level on w'fi:jb".-,·one finds oneself: wer·e..UIC bridge b~lk ....hdecision-making and implementa-
professional, pastoral, or popular.

-- A professional theologian can QS!!!lll'-.QJ[JjJICIC'-llIOO'LCLUOJe5...J::ll-_

action. A pastor-theologian can ._- -
.. __be morc:..dcfinite as to courses
of action to be followed. A pgpular tlle()IDgi~Q.is in a position
this iliird stage, more 'knowledge is gained in practice
theory. In other words, it is easier to experience
think out. Therefore on this level, wisdom and pru-
tC?_be _abfe-to-gci-'de~Tylriio t_~e. particular course to be fol- are more useful than is analy1ical reasoning. And in
[ow~.d-in a.specific-case. But on both th"ia.sneve!s-pastoral persons are often way mead of the learned.
ina popular-the definition of action can of course be only a
collective task, carried out by all those involved in the particu- gv,fJilv oj Example: How to Do a "Theology oj Land"
lar question of the moment.
The process of acting is extremely complex. It involves.a ~H;aV1ngCOme to the end of our exposition of the methodo l-
number of steps, such as reasonable and prudent appreciation . liberation theology, it seems appropriate to give an
of all the circumstances, and attempting to foresee the conse- ~~,unple of how the three stages work out in practice, each
quences of the action planned. Whatever else it may involve, . its specific requirements. Let us take, for good reasons ,
any course of action is likely to have to take the following of "land." Depending on the degree of explicitation
elements into consideration: teqluir,:d at any of the three levels-professional, pastoral, and
• A decision as to what is historically viable, or at least ~OIJlIl'If--this is how the steps in working out a "theology of
possible, through analyzing one's own and the opposition's ntight be summarized:
forces, without underestimating the resistance and opposition
of those who want to preserve the status quo in society and in Zero: Participation
the church, and Without being utopian or satisfied with "good being involved in the specific problem concerning land in
intentions." area, working in rural base communities, being active in I"
v • Defining one's straiegy and tactics, favoring nonviolent . ",-,~.'.c ~-- unions, taking part in harvests and other field tasks,
methods, such as dialogue, persuasion, moral pressur~, pas- f.p'arlticipating in the struggles of rural workers, and so forth.
sive resistance, evangelical resoluteness, and other courses of "·."'''",eu one: Socio-analy1ical mediation (seeing)
action sanctioned by the ethic of the gospel: marches, strikes, analyze the land situation as it affects the nation as a
street demonstrations, and, as a last resort, recourse to physi- l';~: ;;Who'le or the.particular area where one is working;
cal force. encourage rural workers to stand up for themselves;
:5 • Coordinating micro-actions with the macro-system, so as • see how individuals experience their problems and how
to give them-and ensure they retain-an effectively critical resist oppression or organize their resistance to it.

r.and transformative orientation .

Articulating the action ofthe people of God with ihat of
other hlStoncaljorces present 10 society. .
two: Hermeneutical mediation (judging)
• evaluating how the populace faces up to the land question
:Dn ilie basis of its religion and faith;
J/ . Drawing up a program (blueprint) for action, inspiring • evaluating how the Bible views land' (gift of God, prom-
and encouraging the people to struggle, the program being, as . ised land, symbol of the final kingdom to come, etc.);
 .," . ........
42 How Liberation Theology Is
' -' ;' ,
u: ::.::' . '.::';8.
.,.;. . ..:<:;~

• determining how theological tradition, especially as ex-

pressed by the church fathers, sees the question of land (com-
mon ownership, nonmercantile character of land, etc.). \

Step three: Practical mediation (acting) Chapter 4

• stressing the value of worker unity and organization:
unions, cooperatives, or other movements;
• publicizing the need for agrarian reform to be brought
about by those who work the land; Themes of Liberation Theology
• making a choice of particular banners under which to
fight, linking with other forces, forecasting possible conse-
quences, possible allocation of tasks, etc. " ..':
now need to see what overall conclusions liberation·
has reached by using the methodology set out in the
J(e'ceding chapter. So let us describe briefly some of the key
that make up the content of this way of thinking and
in the light of faith. But first we must stress once more
we are not dealing with a new faith, but with the faith of
Apostles, the faith of the church linked to the sufferings
hopes for liberation of the oppressed of this world. So we
to ask: What liberating potential is, contained in the
:ti?;',.l;nnsl:1an faith, a faith that promises eternal life but also a
and · just life on this earth? What image of God
:i"~","" from the struggles of the oppressed 'for their libera-
What aspects of the mystery of Christ take on particular
What accents do the poor give to their Marian

," Let us begin by delineating the overall view a little more

, is, by defining the perspective from which we
,,' ' to approach all these subjects: the perspective of the poor
, and their liberation.

Solidarity with the Poor: Worshiping God

,and Communing with Christ

Liberation theology can be understood as the reflection in

, faith of the church . that has taken to heart the "clear and
43