Dr Andreas Frick, Managing Director of the Catholic aid organisation Misereor, comments on the death of the theologian and "father of the theology of liberation", Gustavo Gutierrez:
"Misereor mourns the loss of Gustavo Gutierrez, who died in Lima on 22 October at the age of 96. As a Catholic aid organisation for development cooperation, we would like to thank the deceased for his life's work and express our deepest sympathy to his family, relatives and friends. Gutierrez was closely associated with Misereor for decades and inspired our work as an impressive, powerful personality. In particular, the "option for the poor" that he emphasised is one of the guiding principles of our project work in the global South.
Known as the "father of the theology of liberation" after his book of the same name, Gustavo Gutierrez not only influenced entire generations of theologians, Christians and social movement activists in Latin America, but his influence extended far beyond the borders of the Latin American continent. His work "Teología de la Liberación", published in 1971, emerged from a lecture that Gutierrez gave in the run-up to the Second General Assembly of the Latin American Episcopate in Medellín in 1968. It was translated into many languages and has had a lasting impact to this day.
As a "critical reflection of historical practice in the light of the Gospel" - a practice that, as a follower of Jesus, signifies a commitment to a just and solidary world - the book forms the central core of his understanding of theology. The starting point is always the partisan option for the poor, i.e. for those who suffer under the prevailing conditions of oppression. Having been confronted with situations of personal suffering and social exclusion since his childhood, he became involved in various Christian youth and student movements at a young age. His theological thinking was based on his close links with communities on the outskirts of Lima.
With this "kind of theology based on situations of suffering and marginalisation", a theological paradigm shift was initiated at the end of the 1960s, in which reality and not abstract reflection became the starting point in the question of God and Christian responsibility in the world. For the grassroots church communities that emerged in this context, it was clear that Christians could not remain aloof from the political processes of liberation from oppressive structures that prevailed in many Latin American countries through military dictatorships until well into the 1980s. Rather, Christian faith meant being part of the social struggles and protests against exploitation and the trampling of human dignity. As an active contributor to the transformation of history and humanity, theology thus became a liberating action and, from the very beginning, always aimed to bring about necessary changes within the church.
As a great thinker, theologian and committed Christian who was aware of the concrete challenges of his time, Gustavo Gutierrez set impulses that are of great relevance beyond the context of his time and especially for today. May his death always remind us of our mission to be committed to the suffering of the world at all times and in all places.
Theology is then no longer limited to conceptualising the world, but attempts to understand itself as a moment in the process by which the world is changed. Because - in protesting against the trampling of human dignity, in the fight against the exploitation of the vast majority of people, in the love that liberates and in the creation of a new, just and fraternal society - it opens itself to the gift of the Kingdom of God."
