Gustavo Gutiérrez

In the Bible poverty is a scandalous condition inimical to human dignity and therefore contrary to the will of God.

Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino (8 June 1928 – 22 October 2024) was a Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest regarded as the founder of Liberation theology. He was professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a visiting professor at many major universities in North America and Europe.

Quotes

A Theology of Liberation (1971)

Originally published as Teología de la liberación (1971)

English translation by Caridad Inda and John Eagleson (1973)

• About the twelfth century the possibility of sharing contemplation by means of preaching and other forms of apostolic activity began to be considered. This point of view was exemplified in the mixed life (contemplative and active) of the mendicant orders and was expressed in the formula: contemplata aliis tradere ("to transmit to others the fruits of contemplation").
  • p. 7

• Theology must be man's critical reflection on himself, on his own basic principles. Only with this approach will theology be a serious discourse, aware of itself, in full possession of its conceptual elements.
  • p. 11

• By keeping historical events in their proper perspective, theology helps safeguard society and the Church from regarding as permanent what is only temporary. Critical reflection thus always plays the inverse role of an ideology which rationalizes and justifies a given social and ecclesial order.
  • p. 12

• Theology as critical reflection thus fulfills a liberating function for man and the Christian community, preserving them from fetishism and idolatry, as well as from a pernicious and belittling narcissism.
  • p. 12

• A theology which has as its points of reference only "truths" which have been established once and for all—and not the Truth which is also the Way—can only be static and, in the long run, sterile.
  • p. 13

• Theology thus understood, that is to say as linked to praxis, fulfills a prophetic function insofar as it interprets historical events with the intention of revealing and proclaiming their profound meaning.
  • p. 13

• The theologian ... will be engaged where nations, social classes, people struggle to free themselves from domination and oppression by other nations, classes, and people.
  • p. 13

• Contemporary man has begun to lose his naiveté as ... the deep causes of the situation in which he finds himself are becoming clearer. He realizes that to attack these deep causes is the indispensable prerequisite for radical change. And so he has gradually abandoned a simple reformist attitude regarding the existing social order, for, by its very shallowness this reformism perpetuates the existing system.
  • p. 48

• People are also more keenly and painfully aware that a large part of the Church is in one way or another linked to those who wield economic and political power in today's world. ... Under these circumstances, can it honestly be said that the Church does not interfere in "the temporal sphere"? Is the Church fulfilling a purely religious role when by its silence or friendly relationships it lends legitimacy to a dictatorial and oppressive government?
  • p. 65

• The liberation of our continent means more than overcoming economic, social, and political dependence. It means, in a deeper sense, to see the becoming of mankind as a process of the emancipation of man in history. It is to see man in search of a qualitatively different society in which he will be free from all servitude, in which he will be the artisan of his own destiny.
  • p. 91

• Faced with the urgency of the Latin American situation, the Church denounces as insufficient those partial and limited measures which amount only to palliatives and in the long run actually consolidate an exploitative system.
  • p. 110

• The Christian community ... is faced ever more clearly with the dilemma now confronting the whole continent: to be for or against the system, or more subtly, to be for reform or revolution.
  • p. 138

• The world today is experiencing a profound and rapid socio-cultural transformation. But the changes do not occur at a uniform pace, and the discrepancies in the change process have differentiated the various countries and regions of our planet.
  • p. 21

• It has become ever clearer that underdevelopment is the end result of a process. Therefore, it must be studied from a historical perspective, that is, in relationship to the development and expansion of the great capitalist countries. The underdevelopment of the poor countries, as an overall social fact, appears in its true light: as the historical by-product of the development of other countries. The dynamics of the capitalist economy lead to the establishment of a center and a periphery, simultaneously generating progress and growing wealth for the few and social imbalances, political tensions, and poverty for the many.
  • p. 54

A Theology of Liberation - 15th Anniversary Edition

• Once causes are determined, then there is talk of "social injustice" and the privileged begin to resist.
  • Introduction: Expanding The View, p. xxiv

• As we progress, various shades of meaning and deeper levels of understanding will complement this initial effort.
  • Part 1, Theology And Liberation, p. 1

• Reason has, especially today, many other manifestations than philosophical ones.
  • Chapter One, Theology: A Critical reflection, p. 5

• The world today is experiencing a profound and rapid socio-cultural transformation. But the changes do not occur at a uniform pace, and the discrepancies in the change process have differentiated the various countries and regions of our planet.
  • Chapter Two, Liberation And Development, p. 13

• The building of a just society means overcoming every obstacle to the creation of authentic peace.
  • Chapter Three, The problem, p. 31

• Christendom is not primarily a mental construct. It is above all a fact, indeed the longest historical experience the Church has had. Hence the deep impact it has made on its life and thought.
  • Chapter Four, Different Responses, p. 34

• Is the Church fulfilling a purely religious role when by its silence or friendly relationships it lends legitimacy to dictatorial and oppressive government?
  • Chapter Five, Crisis Of the Distinction Of Planes Model, p. 40

• The imbalance between developed and underdeveloped countries - caused by the relationships of dependence - becomes more acute if the cultural point of view is taken into consideration.
  • Chapter Six, The Process Of Liberation In Latin America, p. 53

• The Church cannot be a prophet in our day if she herself is not turned to Christ.
  • Chapter Seven, The Church In the Process of Liberation, p. 70

• Although until recently the Church was closely linked to the established order, it is beginning to take a different attitude regarding the exploitation, oppression, and alienation which prevails in Latin America. This has caused concern among the beneficiaries and defenders of capitalist society, who no longer can depend on what used to be - whether consciously or unconsciously - one of their mainstays.
  • Chapter Eight, Statement Of The Questions, p. 72

• Human history is in truth nothing but the history of the slow, uncertain, and surprising fulfillment of the Promise.
  • Chapter Nine, Liberation And Salvation, p. 91-92

• The complete encounter with the Lord will mark an end to history, but it will take place in history.
  • Chapter Nine, Liberation And Salvation, p. 97

• The future of history belongs to the poor and exploited.
  • Chapter Ten, Encountering God In History, p. 120

The complete encounter with the Lord will mark an end to history, but it will take place in history.

• To hope does not mean to know the future, but rather to be open, in an attitude of spiritual childhood, to accepting it as a gift.
  • Chapter Eleven, Eschatology And Politics, p. 125

• Through the persons who explicitly accept his Word, the Lord reveals the world to itself.
  • Chapter Twelve, The Church: Sacrament Of History, p. 147

• In the Bible poverty is a scandalous condition inimical to human dignity and therefore contrary to the will of God.
  • Chapter Thirteen, Poverty: Solidarity And Protest, p. 165

• Liberation from every form of exploitation, the possibility of a more human and dignified life, the creation of a new humankind - all pass through this struggle.
  • Conclusion, p. 174