Posted on 09/05/2013 12:53:52 PM PDT by beaversmom
THE Vatican has begun a historic move to rehabilitate the leftist Catholic movement known as liberation theology as the Pope refocuses the church on the poor.
LOsservatore Romano, the Vaticans official newspaper, devoted its centre spread to defending the virtues of liberation theology, which had been anathema since the Cold War.
With a Latin American Pope, liberation theology could not remain for long in the shadows to which it has been relegated for some years, at least in Europe, wrote Ugo Sartorio, a priest and editor of a Catholic magazine.
Father Sartorio even argued in his piece yesterday that, while serving as archbishop of Buenos Aires, the Pope had been an exponent of the Argentine version of liberation theology.
For decades, liberation theologians in Latin America, deeply critical of the church hierarchys ties to military dictatorships, were denounced as Marxist by the vehemently anti-communist Polish pope, John Paul II.
He was succeeded by his conservative doctrinal enforcer, the German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was nicknamed Gods rottweiler.
Under its first Latin American pope, however, the Vatican is recognising the strengths of the movement that gave priority to the poor. Francis has eschewed the pomp of the papacy refusing to wear red papal slippers and insisting on living in the Vatican guesthouse rather than the luxurious papal apartment overlooking St Peters Square.
The first pope to take the name of St Francis of Assisi has proclaimed that he wants a poor church for the poor. This outreach comes as the Catholic Church is confronting sex and money scandals and suffering a loss of many faithful to evangelical churches.
Francis is understood to be writing a new encyclical on poverty, to be titled Beati Pauperes, or Blessed are the Poor.
A new biography, by Paul Vallely, reports that the Pope has secretly been taking advice from the left-wing Brazilian theorist Leonardo Boff, a leading proponent of liberation theology.
Francis has also unblocked moves to canonise Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador who was shot dead at the altar after condemning violence by the military in El Salvador. He is considered a hero by liberation theologians.
Francis has just appointed the Papal Nuncio in Venezuela, Pietro Parolin, as his new Secretary of State, the Vaticans equivalent of prime minister.
In an interview with the pro-government Venezuelan newspaper Ultimas Noticias, before he was named, Archbishop Parolin gave a careful endorsement of liberation theology. On liberation theology, and I say this with all my heart . . . things are much clearer now, he said.
The church has a preferential option for the poor . . . But its also always clarified that its not an exclusive option, or one that excludes anyone. The church must not assume Marxist categories, or class struggle.
The occasion of this weeks double-page spread in the official Vatican newspaper was the publication of an Italian translation of a 2004 book co-written by the father of liberation theology and a German theologian who is now the Vaticans doctrinal chief.
Gerhard Ludwig Muller was appointed by Benedict XVI last year to his former post as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vaticans chief ideologist. The German bishop and professor was not only close to the German pope, but also a lifelong friend of the Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutierrez, who coined the term liberation theology.
The two will present their book, On the Side of the Poor, at a festival in Mantua, Italy.
This new Pope is supporting a fresh look at the situation of the poor all over the world, said Marco Politi, an author of books on the Vatican. What is coming is this peoples theology, which seems very much about the poor and the rift between the poor and the rich.
No it isn't. They rationalized theft and envy opening the floodgates.
Instead of repenting they won't even acknowledge what they have done.
Now at the 11th hour as the whole western world is about to collapse, they are pushing more of the same.
Don’t the Papists vote in the majority for Dems anyway?
- The Northen California Catholic Hosital Building Fund has 3 billion dollar$ in its coffers since the 1980`s-
It never goes down-
They use the interest for building catholic hosptitals in northern California-
There hasn`t been a new catholic hospital built in Northern California since 1970.
I spoke with the head of the organization in the 1990`s.
Big money and church hospitals do not mix well at all. When Providence hospital needed money they were merged with a private hospital; they didn`t get a cent from this "fund:
There are crooks everywhere in the church.
When Our Lady of Angels Hospital needed money, same story- not a cent from this "fund"
I was the liason person for the Northern California Asian Catholic Community to the Chancery of the Oakland Diocese.
What is that pictorial description of the Voris/CA feuding doing on this thread?
there is a difference between supporting the poor and supporting a theology that replaces Jesus with a socialist state.
Here in the Philippines, the bishops are against the rich folks who have a monopoly on business and the government while stealing everything in sight. That is not quite the same thing as liberation theology....
Of course, what they don’t push is the idea of capitalism as the way to increase the wealth for the poor...so the up and coming middle class are often protestant: these churches stress personal responsibility and honesty...making jobs for the poor, not donating to the poor with the right hand while you accept bribes with the left hand.
Uh huh
Fox is in the henhouse again
Its all most unfortunste
You are correct. So what does this Pope want?
Hey, they want us to divest ourselves of our culture, borders, language, and treasure. Turn about is fair play. I’d rather see the Vatican disappear than the US.
The real story...............
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350589?eng=y
Peace Made Between Müller and Gutiérrez. But Bergoglio Isn’t Falling For It.
The prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith and the founder of liberation theology are trying to conclude twenty years of polemics. But one of the most severe critics of this theological current has been precisely the current pope.
Thank you VERY much!
Still don’t really understand.
Basically an end to "NGO" games and a return to clearly Christian Charity as opposed to going along to get along.
JMHO
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