Gutiérrez, Gustavo (1928–)

Gustavo Gutiérrez (b. 8 June 1928) is a Peruvian priest and founder of Liberation Theology. His attempt to interpret the meaning of Christianity within the context of the struggle for justice unleashed a revolution in Latin American theological inquiry. After training for the priesthood in Europe in the 1950s, Gutiérrez became part of a South and Central American network of Catholic Church reformers seeking to apply the teachings of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) to Latin American conditions. Influenced by radicalized students, the Peruvian Marxist José Carlos Mariátegui, the author José María Arguedas, and dependency theory, Gutiérrez came to champion the liberation of the Latin American poor. In 1968 he coauthored the central texts of the famous Medellín Latin American bishops' conference that denounced social and economic inequality. In his 1971 foundational text Teología de la liberación: Perspectivas, he proposed the new theological method of theology as reflection on the commitment of Christians to construct a just society.

The liberation theology movement that his ideas spawned committed some members of the Catholic Church to defend the rights of the marginalized. Because of his use of certain aspects of Marxist theory, Gutiérrez's theology has attracted Vatican and conservative criticism. Nevertheless, he has continued to refine his ideas through conferences, international theological networks, and contact with the poor. In later works Gutiérrez has developed a spirituality of suffering.

Gutiérrez is professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame and a member of the Peruvian Academy of Language. In 1993 the French government awarded him the Legion of Honor.

See alsoCatholic Church: The Modern Period; Conference of Latin American Bishops (CELAM); Liberation Theology.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation, rev. ed. (1988); The Future of Liberation Theology, edited by Marc H. Ellis and Otto Maduro (1989), esp. part II.

Penny Lernoux, People of God (1989).

Christian Smith, The Emergence of Liberation Theology (1991).

Additional Bibliography

Herndl, Carl G., and Danny A. Bauer. "Speaking Matters: Liberation Theology, Rhetorical Performance, and Social Action." College Composition and Communication 54, no. 4 (June 2003): 558-585.

Smith, Christian. "Las Casas as Theological Counteroffensive: An Interpretation of Gustavo Gutiérrez's Las Casas: In Search of the Poor of Jesus Christ." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41, no. 1 (2002): 69-73.

                              Matthew J. O'Meagher