Gustavo Gutiérrez, Peruvian priest and revered father of Latin American liberation theology, has died on the age of 96. His passing was confirmed by the Dominican Order of Peru on Tuesday night in Lima, though the reason for loss of life was not launched.
A distinguished theologian and thinker, Gutiérrez spent his life advocating for the world's poor and marginalized, and his 1971 Liberation Theology profoundly reshaped the function of the Catholic Church in addressing the issues of injustice in Latin America. His method intertwined Christian salvation with a radical name for liberation from materials and political oppression, encapsulated in his declaration: “The way forward for historical past belongs to the poor and the exploited.”
Born in 1928, Gutiérrez served as a parish priest in his early years, serving poor communities in Lima. His grassroots work impressed his theological views, which argued that the church mustn’t solely present religious steerage, but in addition struggle for social justice and stand alongside the oppressed of their battle in opposition to exploitation and inequality. This message resonated strongly within the context of Latin American nations scuffling with dictatorships and financial disparities throughout the Sixties and Nineteen Seventies.
Nevertheless, Gutiérrez's theology encountered opposition from the Vatican. Liberation theology, seen by some as influenced by Marxism, was initially criticized and a number of other of its proponents confronted disciplinary motion. Gutiérrez himself was by no means formally condemned, though he acknowledged “tough moments” and “important dialogue” with the Holy See.
However, Gutiérrez's affect grew. It impressed key figures similar to Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who was assassinated in 1980 for his outspoken opposition to authorities oppression.
Over time, Gutiérrez's concepts turned extra accepted within the church, culminating in a hotter reception from Pope Francis. The primary Latin American pope shifted the main target of the Church to the plight of the poor and successfully rehabilitated liberation theology. In 2018, on the event of Gutiérrez's ninetieth birthday, Pope Francis honored him for his lifelong dedication to “the Church and humanity” and his “preferential love for the poor”.
Archbishop Carlos Castillo of Lima paid tribute to Gutiérrez, remembering him as “a devoted theological priest who by no means considered cash, luxurious or something that might make him superior”. Castillo added that regardless of his small bodily stature, Gutiérrez's phrases carried power and braveness.
