Francis’ teacher says Pope never supported Marxist theology

Last updated on: September 13, 2013 at 11:09 pm by CNA Daily News

Francis’ teacher says Pope never supported Marxist theology 2013-09-13T23:09:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Vatican City, Sep 13, 2013 / 05:09 pm (CNA).- One of Pope Francis' former teachers says in a new book that the Holy Father has never supported a Marxist-based liberation theology.

“In the Argentinean Liberation Theology, social Marxist analysis is not used, but rather a historical-cultural analysis, not based on class warfare as a determining principle for the interpretation of society and history,” said Argentinean Jesuit priest Fr. Juan Carlos Scannone.

“I think that the pastoral work of Bergoglio is understood in this context.”

Fr. Scannone’s remarks are included in an extensive interview in the recent book “Francis Our Brother Our Friend” (Ignatius Press, 2013) authored by CNA's executive director Alejandro Bermudez.

The book’s release comes amid speculation by Vatican analysts regarding liberation theology, a controversial school of thought that developed in Latin America in the 1950s. Liberation theology has been criticized as a Marxist interpretation of the gospel, focusing on freedom from material poverty and injustice rather than giving primacy to spiritual freedom.

Although the meeting was not listed among the Pope’s official private audiences, the Vatican confirmed that at the request of Archbishop Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Francis this week received Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez, the Peruvian theologian credited with being one of the founders of liberation theology.

Archbishop Müller’s personal friendship with the 85-year-old theologian – who is thought to have become a Dominican in the late 90's to avoid being under the jurisdiction of the current Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani – has sparked speculations about how much Pope Francis supports the “official acceptance” of theology of liberation at the Vatican.

The speculations from some Vatican analysts grew after the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, ran a short essay from Fr. Gutierrez.

The essay was originally published as part of a book co-written with Archbishop Muller, published in Germany 14 years ago and recently translated to Italian. Gutierrez was in Rome for the presentation of the Italian edition.

However, Fr. Scannone – who taught Pope Francis during his formation period – contends that “there are different currents” within Liberation Theology, which he has studied extensively.

The Argentine current, he said, “which never used Marxist categories or the Marxist analysis of society, but rather, without disregarding the social analysis, it privileges a more historical, cultural analysis.”

“My opinion is that the Argentinean line of Liberation Theology, that some call ‘Theology of the people,’ helps understand the pastoral work of Bergoglio as Bishop, just like many of his affirmations and teachings.”

“There are things that I believe marked Bergoglio in a special way, above all the issue of the evangelization of the culture, an issue of popular piety,” the priest said, observing that it is part of the Pope’s personal “style” to speak “about the faithful people.”

When Pope Francis came out on the balcony of St. Peter’s after first being elected, Fr. Scannone noted, “the first thing that he did was to ask the faithful to pray for him so that God would bless him, before he gave the blessing to the people. That is very much him.”

“He always supports this type of theology and I believe that formed part of the environment where he did his pastoral work,” Fr. Scannone continued. “In fact, the issue of popular piety and the evangelization of the culture, and the enculturation of the Gospel are key to this current of theology.”

Vatican

Previous Post

September 13, 2013

Pope's first six months reveal a 'rich, complex' personality

Next Post

September 14, 2013 Haiti children's home to open in honor of Argentine priest

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, who ignored the injured man before the Samaritan helped?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A priest and a Levite A farmer and a shepherd A Roman soldier and a scribe A fisherman and a tax collector