He was the voice of the voiceless, the father of Liberation Theology and one of the most persecuted theologians during the pontificate of John Paul II. At 96 years old, Gustavo Gutiérrez has died in Lima, after a month spent in the hospital. As soon as the news was heard, the Cardinal of Lima, Carlos Castillo, praised the Dominican as “a tireless defender of the preferential option for the poor, a phrase that he coined and that was integrated into the Magisterium of the Church as a fundamental path to live our faith”.
“We thank God for having had a faithful theologian priest who never thought about money, or luxuries, or anything that seemed to believe he was superior. Small as he was, with his smallness he knew how to announce the Gospel to us with strength and courage,” said Castillo, who wanted to expressly remember that, despite the persecutions, “this friend of ours accompanied the Church throughout his life, being faithful in the most difficult moments.” During Francis’ pontificate, it has been endorsed that Liberation Theology “is a promising path, knowing that the Gospel is the first that contains that option.” In fact, one of Francis’ first gestures after being elected Pope was to invite Gutiérrez to the Vatican, making official the reconciliation between the official Church and the theology of the poor.
Gutiérrez was born in Lima in 1928 and was ordained as a priest when he was 31, after which he published numerous books and articles on theology and social activism. With more than 30 honorary doctorates from universities around the world, the Dominican always defended that “there has never been a condemnation” of Liberation theology, despite what rigorous sectors in the Church still claim today. Persecuted by the Legionaries of Christ, the Opus Dei or the Sodalicio, Gutiérrez always remained firm in his defense of the Gospel of the poor, and the fight for the dignity of oppressed peoples.
Despite the criticism he received, especially during the papacy of John Paul II, Gustavo Gutiérrez always maintained a position of dialogue with the Church, especially with Cardinal Ratzinger, with whom he maintained a close relationship, as well as with another of the leaders. of ecclesial rigorism, the former prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith Gerhard Müller. He never refused dialogue, nor did he abandon the priesthood or his membership in the Dominican order.
The arrival of Jorge Bergoglio to the papacy served to vindicate those who, like him, had fought for a Church more committed to the vulnerable and discarded in history, such as Leonardo Boff or Ernesto Cardenal. Thus, Monsignor Romero was canonized, and the process of another of the bishops of the poor, the Brazilian Hélder Cámara, is open. Also, it is expected, that of another of his great friends of the Liberation, Pedro Casaldáliga.
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