The Liberation of Puerto Rico-Latin American Liberation Theology

                                              The Liberation of Puerto Rico-Latin American Liberation Theology

Latin American Liberation Theology is a very important part of the argument for the liberation of Puerto Rico.  It is then necessary to raise questions and attempt to provide answers that will make it possible to make a case for the independence of Puerto Rico on theological grounds.  The questions that I will seek to address are the following:

1. What is Liberation Theology?

2. What are its assumptions?

3.  What diversity of opinions does Liberation Theology represent?

4.  How do Liberation theologians address the issues of history, praxis, and the role of social theory in theological reflection?

I believe that these questions can best be answered by referring to certain theologians of Liberation.

                                                Liberation Theology Defined

What is Liberation Theology?  I can best answer that question by stating that there is no one "Liberation Theology."  By this I mean that Liberation Theology is not a single school of thought.  Rosino Gibelliini says: "Liberation Theology is a richly variegated affair, both in its motifs and in the personalities involved (Rosino Gibellini, ed., Frontiers of Theology in Latin America. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1979, p.x)."  One will find diversity of thinking and methodology in Liberation Theology. It is not one particular way of thinking.  I would venture to say that there is as much diversity in Liberation Theology as there is in European theology. I would qualify this that by saying that, in spite of the diversity which may exist, there appears to be an underlying unity in this trend of thought.  I will compare the views of certain Latin American theologians in an attempt to answer that question.

Gustavo Gutierrez, a leading thinker of Liberation Theology, and in fact, known to be the one to coin the term "theology of liberation," says: "The theology of liberation offers us not so much a new theme for theological reflection as a new way to do theology.  Theology as critical reflection on historical praxis is a liberating theology, a theology of the liberating transformation of the history of humankind--gathered into ecclesia--which openly confesses Christ.  This is a theology which does not stop with reflecting on the world, but rather tries to be part of the process through which the world is transformed.  It is a theology which is open--in the protest against trampled human dignity, in the struggle against the plunder of the vast majority of people, in liberating love, and in the building of a new, just, and fraternal society--to the gift of the Kingdom of God (Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1973, p. x)."

Here Gutierrez is making a direct link between theology as reflection and the historical process of transformation.  Liberation Theology, according to Gutierrez, would be the application of the study about God to the world of concrete historical happenings.  As a critical reflection, Liberation Theology leads to self-reflection and to a critique of society and of the Church (Gutierrez, p. 11).  Liberation Theology is then , a critical way of looking at the world and also a call for changes in the structures of the Church and of of the society in which the Church exists.

Hugo Assmann, another lead thinker in Liberation Theology says: "Theology is an understanding of the faith and a re-reading of the word as it is lived in the Christian community.  More than anything, it has to do with the communication of faith and the proclamation of the good news, which is that Creator loves all people. To evangelize is to witness to that love; to say that it has been revealed to us and  was made flesh in Christ (Hugo Assmann, Practical Theology of Liberation. London: Search Press, 1975, p. 5)"

I would rephrase Assmann's statement by saying that Liberation Theology is an understanding of the faith and a re-reading of the word as it is understood and lived in Latin America.  Naturally one would have to determine how the faith is to be understood and how the word is to be lived in Latin America.  That, of course, would be the task of the thinkers of Liberation Theology.

Why do we see this type of theological reflection taking place in Latin America today?  Assmann answers, "This theological reflection is impelled by a desire to speak the word of the Lord to all people from the position of solidarity (Assmann, p. 6)."  In Assmann's view, Liberation Theology is an attempt to bring the Word of God to the world.  This proclamation would be carried out from the standpoint of taking sides with the poor and oppressed of this world.  Assmann is careful to point out that the type of Christian experience determines the form that theology takes at different moments in history.

Ester and Mortimer Arias describe Liberation Theology as "the result of a new reading of the Scriptures in a particular historical situation.  The experience of the Exodus became the key to a new perception of the Gospel (Ester and Mortimer Arias, The Cry of My People. New York: Friendship Press, 1980, p. 127). Taking the Exodus story as a model for liberation, Liberation Theology is a participation in that story. To the Ariases, Liberation Theology is not a mere retelling of the past, but rather, the incorporation of past events into present history.

Jose Miguez Bonino defines Liberation Theology as a "question addressed to the Christian obedience of our brothers and sisters in Christ elsewhere--a question, though that only they can answer (Jose Miguez Bonino, Doing Theology in a Revolutionary Situation.  Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975, p. xx)." Bonino believes that as a task, Liberation Theology is a critical and committed Christian reflection of the people who have decided to join the struggle in Latin America to construct a different society.  He does not believe that Liberation Theology is merely a "new school," or a set of self-contained theological tenets or positions.  In fact, Bonino points out that if Liberation Theology is made into a new school it will have its day and be gone (Bonino, p. xix). Bonino believes that the struggle is an ongoing one.

In the attempt to distinguish Liberation Theology from other currents of thought, Leonardo Boff describes it as "a global way of articulating the task of the intelligence of the faith (Leonardo Boff, Teologia desde el Cautiverio. Bogota: Indo-American Press Service, 1975, p. 13)." He points out that Liberation Theology is not a theme among others in theology. This theology is done according to Boff from the standpoint of captivity in Latin America.  He states that it is "a new way of doing and thinking in theology (Boff, p. 13)." Because it is done from the standpoint of captivity, Boff refers to it as a theology that addresses the issues of captivity and liberation.

Juan Luis Segundo sees Liberation Theology as "the claim to view theology from the standpoints which the Christian fonts point up as the only authentic and privileged standpoint for arriving at a full and complete understanding of God's revelation in Jesus Christ (Juan Luis Segundo, Liberation of Theology. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1976)." Segundo underscores the seriousness of Liberation Theology by posing a test case. He makes a confrontation with theology and the problem of choosing between a capitalist and a socialist society. In an article entitled "Capitalism Versus Socialism: Crux Teologica," Segundo calls attention to the need for theology to be validated by the choice which is made for the development of society.