Saturday, December 01, 2007 | Today's Toronto Star Born again: Liberation theology Stephen Bede Scharper “Liberation theology is dead. It hasn't had a new thought in years.” So declared a distinguished Canadian theologian to me during a personal conversation several years ago. Fortunately, this professor was wrong, dead wrong. At a recent meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, Calif., where more than 10,000 theologians and scholars of religion met to discuss their academic wares, liberation theology publicly showed it was anything but moribund. A new book series, Reclaiming Liberation Theology, was launched there by SCM Press, and several lively and well-attended sessions on new developments in the field were featured. The seminars also highlighted several young authors pursuing issues such as racism, aboriginal rights, sexism, and the "idolatry" of market capitalism – subjects that mark fresh directions for the movement. Springing from the barrios of Latin America during the 1960s, liberation theology asserted that Christians could not be neutral in the face of social and economic injustice. It argued that the Church must adopt what the 1968 Latin American Bishops Conference termed a "preferential option for the poor." At that time the Church had an often cozy and beneficial relationship with oppressive dictatorships and brutally unjust economic systems. It urged the church, in effect, to lay down its traditional teaspoons of charity and climb aboard the bulldozers of justice. Not surprisingly, liberation theology stepped on a lot of political and ecclesial toes. One reason it became so controversial was that many priests, sisters, and lay catechists openly sympathized with the oppressed and so became government targets, especially in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. During the height of El Salvador's civil war in the mid-1980s, for example, pamphlets reading, "Be a patriot. Kill a priest," were widely distributed. Eighteen priests were assassinated during the conflict. Many of its leading exponents, such as Archbishop Oscar Romero and Rev. Ignacio Ellacuria, were killed, and many of its leading theorists – Leonardo Boff and most recently Jon Sobrino – have been silenced or censured by the Vatican. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, led the ecclesial crusade against liberation theology, penning a 1984 critique of its allegedly Marxist interpretation of the gospel. Ivan Petrella's recent book, The Future of Liberation Theology, shows the continuing relevance of the movement as Latin nations strive for social justice and stronger democracies. According to Petrella, "Liberation theology is controversial because it wrests knowledge away from the wealthy and powerful. In doing so, it demands a shift in thinking about the world so radical that it's really nothing less than a conversion." For example? "The UN Human Development Report once noted that it would take an additional yearly investment of $6 billion to assure basic education for everyone, while $8 billion is spent annually on cosmetics in the U.S. The report also noted that an additional $9 billion of investment would take care of clean water, while $11 billion a year is spent on ice cream in Europe," Petrella says. "What does this data have to do with Christianity? Until liberation theology came along, nothing. And that's the point." While many liberation theologians are dead, the concept clearly is not. And, in light of growing poverty and economic inequity both in Toronto and around the world, it seems, sadly, it will remain germane for a long time to come. Stephen Bede Scharper is associate professor, Centre for Environment, University of Toronto. stephenscharper@utoronto.ca