by Joe McVeigh
Liberation theology’s main focus is the plight of the poor in a world of plenty, the oppression of indigenous peoples and the oppression of women. It is also concerned with the urgent need to Care for God’s Creation. That brings those who support liberation theology into conflict with the political establishment and sometimes also with the religious establishment.
Church theology focusses on God and the next world and is preoccupied with personal sin while ignoring the more serious social sin of injustice, the oppression of the poor and of women and the destruction of the Environment.
Liberation theology focusses on the root causes of violence in society and distinguishes between primary and secondary violence. It states clearly that State violence is the Primary violence that often brings about revolutionary violence.
Liberation theology focuses on setting the oppressed free from the drudgery of economic oppression and human degradation. The process begins with consciousness -raising which leads to direct non-violent action like boycotts, strikes, protest marches etc. Liberation theology encourages and facilitates people of faith to organise for change based on a radical reading of the Scriptures. It is not interested in status quo peace.
State theology focusses on law and order and keeping the peace at all costs based on a total misreading of the Scriptures.
Liberation theology was officially launched in 1971, when Fr Gustavo Gutierrez from Lima, Peru, published his first book entitled A Theology of Liberation. Gustavo, who came from a poor background in Lima, studied theology in Leuven, Belgium and while there became aware of some new theological thinking which was termed ‘political theology’. J.B. Metz was one of the foremost thinkers and writers of this new radical theology. Much of the new theology was based on new thinking about social justice and the oppression of the poor found in the documents of the Second Vatican Council.
The new liberation theology, so clearly presented by Gustavo Gutierrez, was adopted by many Bishops and priests in South American countries –especially in Brazil. Cardinal Arns and Archbishop Helder Camara led the way and did much to promote the Church of the poor in their dioceses in Sao Paulo and Recife in Brazil.
In Central American countries -El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala -many priests and Religious adopted Liberation theology in parishes where they worked with the poor. They formed Basic Christian Communities to come together in small groups to read and reflect on the Scriptures from the point of view of the poor and oppressed. The proponents of liberation theology were regarded by various governments and by the US government, especially when Reagan was president, as enemies of the State and of the United States. Reagan’s government backed the Contras in Nicaragua.
Practitioners of liberation theology were seen as a threat to the capitalist status quo and were labelled ‘communists’. Some were killed by State forces or by agents acting on the orders of the State rulers and military chiefs. When Archbishop Romero of San Salvador was assassinated in 1990, it was alleged by the rich and powerful that he was too sympathetic to those priests and people who were active in supporting and defending the poor. He was identified with the armed rebellion. Archbishop Romero had denounced the US supported government in El Salvador and the military for attacking the poor and Catholic priests who worked with them.
None of the Irish bishops, in the decades since the Second Vatican Council, has ever espoused Liberation theology. They have never, as an influential group, shown any interest. Very few priests, based in Ireland, have been influenced by liberation theology nor were they persuaded by the poverty and injustices they saw in their parishes. It was clear they were not going to ‘rock the boat’. Many Irish missionaries in south and Central America were deeply influenced by the Church’s preferential option for the poor and devoted their lives to opposing the injustices of the various governments.
The best known Irish based priests who were most influenced by the radical theology of liberation were Frs Des Wilson, Maurice Burke and Denis Carroll. These activists and thinkers contributed in different ways to building a new kind of Church of the poor. Fr Des left the Church system before he was expelled and set up a small Community project in an impoverished part of West Belfast. His main aim was to empower the people.Denis Carroll and Maurice Burke wrote many fine articles and books and spoke out on many occasions about the need for a different approach to injustice. Another missionary priest Fr Donal Dorr from St Patrick’s Missionaries, Kiltegan, has written many fine books and articles about his experience in Africa.
The main Irish seminaries like Maynooth steered well clear of liberation theology so that it has had little impact on the thinking and practice of the Irish clergy. This is regrettable because the Catholic faithful in Ireland have been deprived of a new and radical insight into the Christian faith. A small number of Catholics in some parishes have been influenced through their own experience of poverty and often after meeting with and listening to Irish missionaries who returned from South and Central America. I think of Mary Nelis and Des Boyle both from Derry -both of whom espoused liberation theology many years ago. They have been influential in their different ways in making the Christian faith relevant in the most impoverished and deprived situations in Derry and beyond.
The new liberation thinking has had an influence in organisations like Trocaire where the emphasis has changed from charity to justice. However, without the endorsement of the Irish Catholic bishops the influence of liberation theology on the practice of the Church in Ireland will remain peripheral. It is a great pity because this is the only way to bring new life to the Irish Church and appeal to the young generation of those searching for a spiritual meaning for their lives. The people who have lived in darkness could learn a lot from a new reading of the Scriptures from the viewpoint of the poor.
If the Irish Catholic hierarchy were to make an option for the poor it might be one way to bring about radical change in the political life of Ireland. Two conservative parties have been in power since the foundation of the Southern 26 county state. The division between rich and poor continues to deepen. In the North the two traditions have agreed to work together until a Border referendum is held.
If the Irish Catholic hierarchy were to make a preferential option for the poor and the homeless in Ireland it would show clearly how relevant Christianity is today. They could also set an example by divesting of much of the property it owns and giving to the poor in accordance with the Gospel.
This is the only way forward for the Catholic church in Ireland. It is the only way that the Christian faith will become interesting and relevant for the present generation and for the generations to come. This opportunity should not be missed while there are still some in the Church ready and willing to make it happen -if only they were encouraged by the Church leaders.
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