In early December, I was focused on Climategate and the Copenhagen Climate Summit/fiasco—both gifts that kept on giving. So I somehow missed the fact that on December 5, Pope Benedict issued a stinging rebuke to liberation theology. And he wasn’t speaking vaguely to a diffuse audience in Rome, but pointedly—to a group of Brazilian bishops.
The Pope always speaks carefully and diplomatically, so the speech is doubly significant in its directness. Here’s how Sam Gregg describes it:
Apart from stressing how certain liberation theologians drew heavily upon Marxist concepts, the pope also described these ideas as “deceitful.” This is very strong language for a pope. But Benedict then underscored the damage that liberation theology did to the Catholic Church. “The more or less visible consequences,” he told the bishops, “of that approach—characterised by rebellion, division, dissent, offence and anarchy—still linger today, producing great suffering and a serious loss of vital energies in your diocesan communities.”
Today, even some of liberation theology’s most outspoken advocates freely admit that it has collapsed, including in Latin America. Once considered avant-garde, it is now generally confined to clergy and laity of a certain age who wield ever-decreasing influence within the Church. Nonetheless, Benedict XVI clearly believes it’s worth underscoring just how much harm it inflicted upon the Catholic Church.
For a start, there’s little question that liberation theology was a disaster for Catholic evangelization. There’s a saying in Latin America which sums this up: “The Church opted for the poor, and the poor opted for the Pentecostals.”
In short, while many Catholic clergy were preaching class-war, many of those on whose behalf the war was presumably being waged decided that they weren’t so interested in Marx or listening to a language of hate. They simply wanted to learn about Jesus Christ and his love for all people (regardless of economic status). They found this in many evangelical communities.
It’s heartening to know that while leftist authoritarians like Hugo Chavez seem to be growing in popularity in certain parts of Latin America, the head of the Catholic Church is willing to call a spade a spade to the shepherds under his charge.