A New Theology

The turnaround, or change, among many of the Catholic clergy has resulted in a radically new theology. According to a Brazilian newspaper, “liberation theology refers to a movement widely spread among Brazilian priests favoring church support for revolutionary elements aimed at fighting poverty and oppression.”

This alternative theology proposes that Jesus was a liberator. It promotes the ‘fundamental belief that Christianity’s chief mission involves politically mobilizing the poor.’ So liberation theology justifies action in a world where the poor have always been encouraged to be passive.

Activist Francis O’Gorman explains: “There has to be a change. Something is wrong in society when two-thirds of the world is suffering from poverty because they’re denied their rights. We have the resources to feed everybody. We see the rich becoming richer while the poor are becoming poorer.”

It Is Dividing the Church

Liberation theology is sharply dividing the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II, for example, has denounced the involvement of priests in it. He said: “The idea of Christ as a political figure, a revolutionary, as the subversive man from Nazareth, does not tally with the church’s catechism.” The pope, in fact, is trying to restrain the activist movements, fearing that the Latin-American church is allowing itself to be manipulated by radical forces.

Recently, the pope rebuffed Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff for advocating liberation theology. Interestingly, Catholic prelates, like the pope, do not criticize the supporters of liberation theology because of their involvement in politics, since the church has had a long history of such involvement. No, but they object because of the similarity of liberation theology to communistic ideology.

Vicente Cardinal Scherer of Brazil declared that communists “have a different tactic from the one used in the past to infiltrate and dominate. Instead of using brutal methods . . . they try to attract certain factions of the Church to their cause, and unfortunately they have succeeded in making these factions participate in promoting the communistic cause.”

Boaventura Kloppenburg, a Catholic bishop of Salvador, Brazil, said of proponents of liberation theology: “They want to make a rereading of the Gospel, a reinterpretation of doctrine and history, a popular appropriation of the liturgy, an unblocking of the moral consciences in the sense that people can commit revolutionary acts without problems.”

No wonder sincere Catholics find it difficult to follow church leaders who disagree so much among themselves.

Will Liberation Theology Succeed?

Although the proponents of liberation theology may be well-meaning, needed reforms do not come easily. The complexities of human society and inborn selfishness indicate that even if change is achieved, problems will not be solved. As Lord Halifax wrote: “When the people contend for their liberty, they seldom get anything by their victory but new masters.”

Ask yourself: Do those who believe in such movements as liberation theology know where they are being led? Jesus warned about going ahead blindly, saying: “If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”​—Matthew 15:14.

So, then, are you sure you have a realistic picture of the plight of the poor in the Third World and how it can be solved? Does God see the problems of poverty and oppression, and will he do anything about them?

Solving the Problem of the Poor

SOME religious leaders express themselves so eloquently about today’s problems that people may believe they really know how to improve things. Yet, if politicians and economists have been unable to solve problems, can religious leaders really do better by supporting revolutionary elements?

Church leaders defend their agitating spirit, but not everyone is convinced of their sincerity. Edmund Burke wrote: “It is a general error to suppose the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare.” Is it possible that church leaders are motivated by concerns other than simply a zeal for justice?

The Brazilian magazine Veja claims: “In reality, what the Church desires is power . . . The fact that the world’s riches are concentrated strongly in Protestant, Buddhist, and even atheistic countries forces the Church to try to return to power by the hands of the poor in the Third World.”