Letters

Pope Benedict and liberation theology

John Schmid

Contents - Jun 2006 - Buy a copy now Editorial: Pentecost: Church needs a spiritual kick-start - Michael Gilchrist China defies Holy See to 'ordain' two bishops - Peter Westmore (reviewer) News: The Church Around the World Books: Look for AD2000 Books online at freedompublishing.com.au! Vocations: Sydney seminary's growth continues - Michael Gilchrist The Da Vinci Code: did the Church vilify Mary Magdalene? - Frank Mobbs Education: Why do CEOs use Groome's RE method? - AD2000 Report Is dialogue possible between Christians and Muslims? - Cardinal George Pell Respect: New text book series vilifies the Catholic Church - Kevin Donnelly The John Paul II Institute after five years - AD2000 Report Liturgy: Catholics at prayer: why we stand and kneel - Fr Sebastian Camilleri OFM Letters: The new barbarism - Fr. B. McGrath Letters: Victory? Letters: Disturbing exhibit - Veronica Sidhu Letters: Thank you from India - Fr. A. Joseph Letters: Meditation - Rosemary Chandler Letters: Priestly celibacy - Tim Coyle Letters: Pope Benedict and liberation theology - John Schmid Events: VIRTUS Retreat 7-9 July 2006 Books: Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church - Michael Gilchrist (reviewer) Books: Letters to a Young Catholic, by George Weigel - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: The Defamation of Pius XII, by Ralph McInerny - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: Dear Son, Dear Daughter: God's Plan for Catholic Marriage and the Family - Michael Gilchrist (reviewer) Books: Stimulating reading from AD Books Reflection: Pentecost, launching of the Church - Cardinal Francis Arinze

"We Are Church" (May AD2000), is quoted as saying, "how rigid Ratzinger was for more than 23 years as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, banning critical theologians, condemning liberation theology ...".

What were Cardinal Ratzinger's views on liberation theology? And how "rigid" were they?

* "An analysis of the phenomenon of liberation theology reveals that it constitutes a fundamental threat to the faith of the Church. At the same time it must be borne in mind that no error could persist unless it contained a grain of truth. Indeed, an error is all the more dangerous, the greater the grain of truth is, for then the temptation it exerts is all the greater." (The Ratzinger Report, 1985).

* "Gustavo Guierrez is regarded as the creator of Liberation Theology. We entered into dialogue with him - which I in part also carried on personally - and came to an ever greater agreement. That helped us to understand him, and he on the other hand, saw the one-sidedness of his work and then really developed it further in the direction of a suitable form of liberation theology that really had a future." (Salt of the Earth, 1997).

It would appear one must be careful in reading works on liberation theology - the verson that is a "fundamental threat to the faith of the church", or the "form of liberation theology that really had a future".

So much for "We Are Church's one-sided attack on Pope Benedict.

JOHN SCHMID
Boronia, Vic

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 19 No 5 (June 2006), p. 16