By Dr Punsara Amarasinghe
Early days of Papacy
It is by no means an exaggeration to mention that the Catholic Church that existed before modernity loomed in Europe was culpable of many atrocities which are heinous and the dogma that prevailed within the corners of the Vatican was a contrast to the love and compassion preached by Christ. Popes known as the ring bearers or Vicar or Christ in the Renaissance led more mundane lives leading armies across Europe as quintessential examples of the temporal power.
Against the backdrop of such a dubious history, the contributions rendered by Pope Francis will immortalize him as a pope who tried to swim against the stream in a manner, in which he took the plunge in changing Church doctrines by the needs of the people. His reign in the Papacy saw a robust development of Liberation theology’s influence in the corners of the Vatican which was not the case before Pope Francis.
Liberation Theology
Liberation theology refers to theologies that proclaim that salvation involves a total liberation involving political, economic, and spiritual freedom. The gospel demands an end to oppression and a recognition of the exploitation of the poor, women, and minorities. Liberation theology is similar to the Social Gospel movement in these aspects. Still, it is more radical in its demands for societal change and in its use of Marxist and feminist social criticism. Developed in the context of Latin America challenging the much traditional views of the Church, liberation theology grew in harmony with the leftist currents. Liberation theology, nourished by its pioneers like Gustavo Gutierrez, the one who coined the term and Juan Luis Segundo shacked the traditional pillars of the Vatican as some of the old order viewed it suspiciously.
The predecessors of Pope Francis shared an abominable attitude towards liberation theology making it a heresy within the Catholic Church. Overwhelming opposition shown by both Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict the 16th on liberation theology was rooted in their reluctance to admit the political aspect of it. Especially, The Vatican, headed by Pope John Paul II, refuted its core beliefs. To portray Christ as “a political figure, a revolutionary,” the pope said in 1979, violates Church catechism.
Pope John Paul’s successor Pope Benedict XVI was one of the ardent critics of liberation theology. Before he ascended to the papacy Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (which until 1965 had been known as the Office of the Inquisition), looked at the alternative narratives outside the church. Liberation theology became his prime concern, which he perceived as a singular heresy because Ratzinger did not want to accept the liberation theology’s interpretation of Christ’s crucifixion as a political event. In 1984, Cardinal Ratzinger released a sharp denunciation, in a paper titled “Instruction on Certain Aspects of the ‘Theology of Liberation.’” The simplicity and egalitarian culture of the “people’s church,” Ratzinger wrote, intentionally mocked “the sacramental and hierarchical structure” of the Roman Church—the splendour of which “was willed by the Lord Himself.” On its own, the phrase “liberation theology” is unobjectionable, but it is the church’s “first and foremost” duty to liberate people from “the radical slavery of sin.” Not from poverty.
Sri Lanka’s only liberation theologian Rev. Fr. Tissa Balasuriya was not spared from Cardinal Ratznger’s ire when Fr. Balasuriya’s book titled “Mary and the Human Liberation” was sent to the Vatican based on the allegations that Balasuriya’s depiction of Mary as a strong revolutionary woman challenges century of European iconography in which Mary is portrayed as docile and voiceless.
Pope Francis’s Admiration for Liberation Theology
The archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who followed Ratzinger as Pope Francis reversed the church’s pessimism of Liberation theology to an optimistic outlook. The irony is Pope Francis was not trained to be a revolutionary priest emulating the liberation euphoria that spread across Latin America. Rather he was born and raised in Peronese Argentina where he witnessed the level of disparity that prevented the poor from entering the higher echelons. At the same, he witnessed how Argentina went through crony capitalism which resulted in an unmitigated disaster. In fact, what Neoliberalism did to Argentina was the wake-up call to Pope Francis to welcome liberation theological insights to his personal philosophy. After becoming the pope as the leader of the Catholic world in 2013, Pope Francis stated No one can accept the premises of Neoliberalism and consider themselves Christian.
Pope Francis’s vehement criticism of Neoliberalism should be understood in the context of his background in which his native Latin America was ravished by neoliberal policies. Pope Francis contended that Neoliberalism corrupts democracy by denying the fullness and interdependency of humans.
One of the most revolutionary steps taken by Pope Francis was to invite native Americans to the Vatican in 2019. This was an addendum to the Vatican’s apology issued in 2015 for the colonial sins and leaders who visited the Vatican from Native American tribes wore traditional dress, some with their faces painted—debated a range of issues related to capitalism, natural resources, and sustainability.
It goes without saying that the Pope’s practice of liberation theology met severe resistance from the conservative sects within the Catholic Church. Mainly the traditionalist sect led by American cardinal Raymond Leo Burke often critiqued the more nuanced theological views of Pope Francis by deepening the schism between Old Europe and the Global South. The worthy cause championed by the late Pope Francis has come to a perilous situation after its demise which opened the path for traditionalists in the church to consolidate their power. It should be noted that if the papacy falls to the hands of a more conservative cardinal like Raymond, the existing chasm between the Global South and North would reach its nadir. By all means, liberation theology’s finest era continued to flourish under the papacy of the late pope, the people’s priest who devoted his whole life to the real cause of Christ.
Dr Punsara Amarasinghe is a lecturer at the Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University
24 April 2025
Source: countercurrents.org