Deliberation at the Vatican

By Richard N. Ostling

A leftist Latin American theologian faces interrogation

When Father Leonardo Boff completed his doctoral dissertation at the University of Munich 14 years ago, German Theologian Joseph Ratzinger steered it to a publisher. Matters have become more problematic since then. Boff, 45, is now Brazil's leading exponent of "liberation theology," a controversial movement that blends elements of Marxism with Christianity. Ratzinger is a Cardinal, and Pope John Paul's most powerful theological watchdog at the Vatican.

The two men will meet on Sept. 7 at the Vatican, when Ratzinger's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will begin an interrogation of Boff to decide whether retractions should be required. It will be the first notable face-to-face grilling of a scholar since left-wing Father Edward Schillebeeckx of The Netherlands was summoned to Rome in 1979. The Boff case could prove far more important, since a movement is on trial as much as a man.

Though Boff has been under close Vatican scrutiny since 1975, the current crisis results from his 1981 book, Church: Charism and Power (due in English next January from Crossroad). Like all liberation theologians, Boff sees the essential mission of Christianity as a political mobilization of the poor. But his book fervently applies similar revolutionary analysis to the structure of the church. In one of the controversial passages, Boff writes that in the classic view "the churchgoer has nothing" while "the bishops and the priests received everything. It is true capitalism." As he explains to TIME, "The Vatican wants to centralize the church around the Pope and Rome. Liberation theology challenges that view, opting for a more decentralized church."

In liberation theology, Boff contends, "there is no direct link to Marxism"; theologians may employ Marxist theory and terms, but they are anticapitalist not pro-Marxist. Boff states, "We oppose state socialism because it is authoritarianism. We do, however, recognize that countries like Cuba are better off now than before the revolution. For one thing, there are no slums in Cuba."

Boff, who teaches at a Franciscan institute in Petropolis, claims backing from the progressive majority of Brazil's bishops and reports that 30 have already sent him letters of support. Aloisio Cardinal Lorscheider of Fortaleza, former president of the Latin America-wide bishops conference, may even sit at the defense table in Rome. But not all the Brazilian bishops are so sympathetic. Eugenio Cardinal de Araujo Sales of Rio de Janeiro, a leading conservative, warns that liberation theology "constitutes one of the gravest risks to the unity of pastors and the faithful."

After visiting Nicaragua last year, Pope John Paul ordered Ratzinger to begin special examination of the theological conflict. The Pope has repeatedly opposed political violence and hate, and in a recent message to bishops in Africa said that the church cannot use "analysis based on class distinction and class struggle" when it aids victims of injustice.

Given the delicacy of the conflict, the Vatican may not issue any condemnation of Boff by name, at least for a while. But one senior Vatican official says that a substantial papal policy statement on liberation theology is forthcoming, probably after John Paul visits the Caribbean in October and before he sets out for South America in January. Once the document has drawn the line, Rome will attempt to curb the use of Marxist theory among Third World Catholics. --By Richard N. Ostling.

Reported by Michael Kepp/Rio de Janeiro and Roberto Suro/Rome

With reporting by Michael Kepp/Rio de Janeiro, Roberto Suro/Rome