John Paul II and the Exorcism of Liberation Theology: A Retrospective Look at the Pope in Nicaragua
1985; Wiley; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/3338840
ISSN1470-9856
Autores Tópico(s)Religious and Theological Studies
ResumoThe summer of 1984 has provided Vatican watchers of a Latin American bent with many important developments. The scene was set by the Pope's six-day visit to Switzerland in June (where he went to great lengths to demand obedience to papal authority, and to the Church hierarchy). That same month, the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, despite earlier pressure from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger that they censure liberation theology and its best known proponent, Father Gustavo Gutierrez of the Archdiocese of Lima, noted that they would continue to study the relationship between the theology and its pastoral application. As the summer unfolded controversy again raged over the Church's role in Nicaragua, where a priest, Father Amado Pena, was clearly implicated in counterrevolutionary activities (he was filmed transporting explosive, hand grenades, and anti-Sandinista literature, along with a flag ofthe Vatican colours ?on which the initials FDN, the largest counterrevolutionary group were found), and in the wake of this scandal, some ten foreign priests were expelled on July 9. Finally, as the summer wound to a close, the Vatican unleashed a final dramatic assault on what the pontiff clearly sees as an errant wing of the Roman Catholic Church, that of Latin America, and specifically the section which preaches?and practices?the 'Theology of liberation'. First came a 36-page report, 'Instruction on Certain Aspects of the Theology of Libera? tion,' issued by its heresy-fighting arm, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.2 The same week, Father Leonardo Boff, one of the leading Brazilian liberation theologians, underwent a four-hour interrogation in Rome, and an official Nicaraguan delegation met with Agostino Cardinal Casaroli, the Vatican
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