Retort to Rome

Liberals affirm their rights

Liberation theology is a predominantly Roman Catholic movement of theologians and activists who believe that it is the church's duty to work for human rights for the poor and oppressed. Some of its more extreme proponents endorse the concept of Christ as liberator and see their mission in terms of a Marxist class struggle.

Church officials, who for 20 years watched liberation theology spread from Latin America throughout the Third World, have grown increasingly uncomfortable with its aims and activities. Last March Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the Vatican's top official in charge of doctrinal matters, delivered a speech denouncing those who advocate Marxist solutions to social and political problems. His words were thought to have the blessing of Pope John Paul II. The statement was the toughest attack on liberation theology ever made at the top level of the church.

Last week, in what is considered one of the strongest challenges to Vatican pronouncements in many years, a group of prominent Catholic theologians from Europe, Latin America and the U.S. defiantly championed the ideas and practices of the liberation movement. The response came from a group of prominent and liberal theologians called Concilium, among them the Revs. Hans Kueng and Gustavo Gutierrez, a prime architect of Liberation theology. Said the statement: "As these movements are a sign of hope for the whole church, any premature intervention from higher authorities risks stifling the Spirit, which animates and guides local churches."

Members of Concilium accuse their critics of a narrow misreading of the ideas of liberation theology. Virgilio Elizondo, president of the Mexican-American Cultural Center in San Antonio says, to "label Liberation theology as one that follows Marxist analysis is to oversimplify the situation." Moreover, he claims that there has been an unfair emphasis on the alleged use of arms to effect social change.

Says he: "It is not a call to organize a people's militia, to carry weapons and guns. But neither do we condone silent violence, where the masses are kept poor and ignorant."

The Vatican has not yet responded to this appraisal, but top officials in the past have emphasized that they do not condemn all struggles of the oppressed for liberation, only those that rely on Marxism for solutions. Concludes Ratzinger: "If one thinks on how radical is the interpretation of Christianity derived from it, the problem of how one can and must confront it becomes so much more urgent."