On the Side of the Poor: The Theology of Liberation

For many years the theology of liberation, which emerged from Latin America in the 1970s, was viewed with suspicion and even hostility in Rome. In this historic exchange, Father Gustavo Guti?rrez, one of the original architects of liberation theology, and Cardinal Gerhard M?ller, current Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, offer a new and positive chapter. Cardinal M?ller, who as a student of Guti?rrez spent many summers working in Peru, writes with deep feeling and conviction about the contributions of liberation theology to church teaching--particularly in its articulation of the preferential option for the poor.

In his own contribution here, Guti?rrez lays out the essential ideas of liberation theology, its ecclesial location, and its fresh enunciation of the gospel for our time.