“In this part of the story, the ideology of Soviet Communism put great pressure on Liberation Theology,” Cardinal Mueller said.
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller
At his recent book presentation, a Vatican cardinal explained that although Marxist ideology had sought to influence Liberation Theology, the two have ultimately been shown incompatible.
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, authored the book “Poor for poor. The mission of the Church,” a collection of his writings on Liberation Theology.
The book was presented Feb. 25 and contains an introduction by Pope Francis and chapters written by Fr. Joseph Sayer and Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez, a controversial Peruvian theologian who is considered one of the fathers of Liberation Theology.
Cardinal Mueller is freinds with Fr. Gutierrez and has visited Peru several times.
He recounted how Fr. Gutierrez brought him to visit the slums in Lima, where he could experience the poverty and the joy of the poor, and could learn that “being poor in spirit means to be true disciples of Jesus Christ.”
After the book presentation, Cardinal Mueller shared with CNA that Liberation Theology began as an application of the Second Vatican Council’s document “Gaudium et Spes” to the situation in Latin America.
But, he added, “when a new theology is developing, there are issues to clarify.”
[…]
