Theology of liberation : faith or politics?

Abstract

This article purports to be a contribution to the current debate on the theology of liberation. The recent "Instruction on Certain Aspects of the Theology of Liberation" has come out heavily against the alleged Marxist subversive elements of liberation theology. Our aim, however, is not to evaluate the Instruction's critique but to help in the understanding of the highly complex, at times elusive, phenomenon which is liberation theology - a complexity expressly recognised by the Vatican document (111,3; VI,S). We will present a general survey of the subject from two different points of view: the first part of this article will describe some of the main ideas of

liberation theology as elaborated by the theologians of liberation themselves; the second part will list and explain the major objections which

critics have been putting to the theology of liberation.