| This dissertation examines the content and meaning of Gustavo Gutierrez's notion of liberation in his pre- and post-1986 writings, framing the trajectory of this notion as a direct response to the 1984 and 1986 Vatican condemnations of liberation theology, composed by former-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now, former-Pope Benedict XVI). While Gutierrez's early theology was in part informed by Marxian social critique, charges of explicit "Marxism" resulted in a significant reordering of some central critical elements, in ways that complicate the fundamental liberationist assertion that theology is to be a "second act." Following Ratzinger's critique, Gutierrez moves ever closer to a theology that talks about liberation, and away from a theology that is itself liberatory, particularly as bound to praxis and critique. Where Gutierrez once questioned the very meaning of religious unity in a world characterized by (economic) division, for example, his later theology abandons such speculation, asking instead, "How are we to live evangelical charity in the midst of this situation?" The ramifications of this shift are such that the initial aims of Gutierrez's liberation theology have largely been re-assigned, with a focus on liberation as a question of faith rather than a question of human emancipation and agency. The recent rise of Pope Francis, who frequently uses liberationist language and economic critique in several recent interviews and encyclicals, has made such already murky waters even more complex. He has long distanced himself from liberation theology; now, as pope, Francis seemingly draws on the very same tradition from which he once sought to distinguish himself. What this means for Gutierrez's notion of liberation remains to be seen, but this work attempts to put Gutierrez and Marxian thinkers back into conversation with one another, particularly with regard to Marx's notion of "ruthless critique."... |
