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CLASS NOTES ON THE SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT IN THE CHURCH

Theology 141, Sections A, B, C and D, Second Semester 2015-2016


Handout No. 1
1 Vatican II and Church openness/ dialogue with
the modern world
1.1 Vatican II (1962-65) as watershed event in broad
movement of change in the Catholic Church
beginning in the late 1800s
> from defensive, inward-looking stance (focused
on preservation of Tradition) to responsive,
outward-looking stance (concerned with
openness and dialogue with the world)
> emphasis on an understanding of the Church as
as a communion and as the people of God at
the service of the human community
> opening statement of Gaudium et Spes (one of
the 16 documents written during Vatican II):
The joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of
men and women of this age, especially of those
who are poor or in any way afflicted, these too
are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties
of the followers of Christ.... (GS, no. 1)
1.2 Theological emphases of Vatican II:
a. renewal in the understanding of faithfulness to
Tradition in the life and mission of the Church
1. the various meanings of tradition in
contemporary Catholic theological discourse: (a)
tradition" = process by which the definitive
saving Word of God in Jesus Christ (= the
Gospel) is preserved, transmitted and actualized
in every generation and for the salvation of
humanity through the action of the Holy Spirit in
and through the Church; (b) Tradition = the
teachings and practices received from the
apostlesthat are passed on from generation to
generationwhich manifest and make present in
a normative way the Gospel; (c) traditions =
the monuments or bearers of Tradition; the
concrete teachings, rituals, practices, institutions,
structures, customs etc. in particular historical
and cultural contexts by which the Gospel is
communicated and actualized
2. faithfulness to Tradition = not a narrow, static
clinging to traditions from the past but rather a
creative, dynamic fidelity that actualizes the
Gospel in the contemporary human situation
b. renewal in the understanding of the redemptive
and creative Presence of God in the world
1. affirmation of the universality of Gods offer of
redemptive grace: God is graciously present to
all of humanity
> Since Jesus died for all people and since all
have the same divine vocation, we must hold
that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to

God offers to every person the possibility of sharing in


the event of redemption. (GS, no. 22)
2. emphasis on Gods redemptive and creative activity in all
of human history
> Gods Spirit with a marvelous providence directs
the unfolding of time and renews the face of the
earth. (GS, no. 26)
> (Jesus) was crucified and rose to break the stranglehold
of the evil one, so that the world would be fashioned
anew according to Gods design and reach its
fulfillment. (GS, no. 2)
3. emphasis on Christian participation in renewal of the
world: because the Spirit is present in the world and calls
us to participate in its transformation, Christian faith should
increase and stimulate our concern and responsibility for
the earth
> Therefore, while we are warned that it profits a man
nothing if he gain the whole world and lose himself, the
expectation of a new earth must not weaken but rather
stimulate our concern for cultivating this one. For here
grows the body of a new human family, a body which
even now is able to give some kind of foreshadowing of
the new age to come. (GS, no. 39)
c. emphasis on signs of the times methodology: (a)
scrutinizing the signs of the times (the situation of people
in the world, their yearnings and aspirations); then (b)
interpretation in the light of the Gospel
> (T)he Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the
signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of
the Gospel. (GS, no. 4)

Post-Vatican II
Renewal of Catholic
Church Life
a. Relative emphases of Pre-Vatican II Church
> traditionalist, inward-looking (preservation of
Tradition)
> Church as institution and hierarchy
> Church as sacrament of salvation for the
world
> holiness as flight from the world
b. Relative emphases of Post-Vatican II Church
> responsive, outward-looking (openness and
dialogue with the world)
> Church as community and servant
> Gods redemptive grace active in all human
history
> holiness as active engagement in the world

2. CELAM II, the emergence of liberation theology


(LT) and the view from below
2.1 LT as experience/ pastoral movement before
reflection/ theological movement
a. 1. experience of personal connectedness
with poor (being with, sharing life
with, breaking bread with)
2. action on behalf of poor
3. reflection on structural nature of
poverty and meaning of Church mission
in the context of this reality
b. involvement in the development debate and
socio-political unrest of the late 1960s to
mid-1980s
> decisive influence of the political
economy/ dependency view of
development
2.2 Meetings of Latin American theologians in the
1960s: formation of the basic concepts and
propositions of LT
> influence of Church social encyclicals and
European political theology (God is
revealed in history and promises a new

future, church as institution of social criticism)


2.3 CELAM II (2nd General Conference of Latin
American Bishops held in Medellin, Colombia in
1968)
a. purpose: implement Vatican II teachings and
relate to Church mission in Latin America
b. appropriated methodology of Vatican II:
beginning theological reflection with survey of
contemporary human situation
c. aspiration for liberation as central theme/
message:
1. biblico-theological sense: God acting in human
history to save people from every form of
enslavement
2. socio-political sense: liberation from external
and internal neo-colonialism
> prophetic denunciation of the latter as
reality of structural injustice or
institutionalized violence
d. option for the poor = viewing history and social
reality from the perspective of its victims; solidarity
and action for justice with and on behalf of the
poor

Social Ferment and Conflict of the Late 1960s to the Mid-1980s


1. Growing awareness of massive problems of poverty and
underdevelopment
a. widespread absolute poverty
> material deprivation, lack of basic necessities for a
dignified human existence of majority
> underdevelopment of the productive capacity of the
economy
> regionally imbalanced growth (rural stagnation, urban
congestion)
b. vast inequities/ stark inequalities in the distribution of wealth
and income
> poverty as concentration of wealth and power in a
domestic elite and the consequent marginalization of the
majority from sharing equitably in growth and
development
2. Ideological debate on root causes of poverty and
underdevelopment
> based on two contrasting views of development

growth even though initially concentrated on a dominant elite


will eventually trickle down to the poor majority)
b. elements of political economy/ dependency view of
development
> radical critique of the failure of economic growth-focused
development efforts of the 1960s pejoratively referred to as
developmentalism
> re-reading of history: colonial and neo-colonial domination of
LDCs by DCs (in context of historical assimilation of former
into world economic order dominated by the latter)
> focus on question of equity (do people share equitably in
development?) and control (are people objects or
subjects of development?)
> development = liberation from external and internal neocolonialism (breaking of dominance/ dependency
relationships existing between DCs and LDCs, on one hand,
and between the domestic elites and the majority poor in
LDCs, on the other)
3. Spiral of violence

a. elements of mainstream/ modernization view of


development
> stages of growth theory (development = series of
successive stages through which all societies must pass
in their evolution from a traditional peasant society to a
modern industrial society)
> assumptions: developed countries or DCs show path of
development to less developed countries or LDCs,
historical benevolence of DCs towards LDCs (DCs
accelerate modernization of LDCs through capital,
technology and trade flows)
> primacy of economic growth as key to development
(belief in the trickle-down theory: benefits of economic

a. violence of poverty (institutionalized violence)


b. violence of the political left
> national liberation movements led by marxist/ communist
organizations which, in adhering to extreme variants of the
political economy view of development, believed in
revolutionary armed struggle as the path to development
c. violence of the political right
> national security states (civilian/ military dictatorships) set
up as reaction to national liberation movements and in
defense of the interests of domestic elites with policies of
brutal repression and consequent rampant human rights
abuses

2.4 Further articulation of LT in writings of liberation


theologians in the 1970s

2.5 Central themes of LT (based on the article Poverty


and Liberation Theology by Roger Haight, S.J.)

a. Gustavo Gutierrez (Peru), Juan Luis Segundo


(Uruguay), Jon Sobrino (El Salvador), Leonardo
Boff (Brazil)
b. some core ideas from the work of Gutierrez:
1. LT methodology vs. traditional methodology of
theology (starting point of solidarity with
struggles of the poor)
2. salvation as embracing all of human reality
(body and spirit, individual and society, time
and eternity)
> liberating action of God in human history
(for the physical well-being and salvation
of His people) at the core of Christian
tradition: manifest in the story of the
Exodus, in the work of the prophets, in the
life and ministry of Jesus
> need for Church to be instrument of Gods
liberating action in both its (a) spiritual
(transcendent) and personal and (b)
temporal and social (political) dimensions
3. option for the poor (including critique of
Church practices that were supportive of an
oppressive status quo)

pre-note: these themes as the product of reflection


on experience (sharing in life struggles of the
poor, faith-inspired efforts at building community,
promoting empowerment and self-help programs,
promoting critical consciousness on structural
causes of poverty as a result of the influence of
the political economy/ dependency view of
development, involvement in the spiral of
violence)
a. on the nature of God and Gods Providence
> God as a GOD OF LIFE: call of faith is call to
the wholeness and fullness of life which God
offers that begins to come about in the here
and now
> faith thus includes the call to be Gods
instrument in acting on behalf of those who are
poor and marginalized because poverty that
dehumanizes is not the will of God but the
result of social arrangements created by
human beings contrary to Gods will

On the Structural Nature or Causes of Poverty


1. This analysis was associated with the political
economy/ dependency view of development with its
critique of external neo-colonialism (LDC economy
is integrated into world economy dominated by DCs
through trade and investment with the consequent
lack of integration between parts of the domestic
economy and its underdevelopment) and internal
neo-colonialism (concentration of ownership/
control of economic resources--land and capital--in a
domestic elite at expense of poor majority)
2. Basic thesis: Poverty is maintained and perpetuated
by social structures that within LDCs systematically
benefit particular social groups at the expense of
others.
> Social structures are the habitual, organized and
relatively stable patterns of behavior of people in
interaction with other people in society (that result
in the assignment of pre-determined roles with
their concomitant responsibilities, rewards and
burdens to the people who are part of the social
structures).
3. Liberation theologians for the most part accepted the
basic thesis above and referred to the reality of such
poverty-perpetuating social structures through terms
such as structural injustice, institutionalized

violence and social sin


4. Examples of social structures that systematically
benefit particular social groups at the expense of
others
> economic structure: ownership of agricultural
land concentrated in a land-owning elite which
enjoys the rental/ lease payments for the use of
the land by tenant-farmers who are mired in
subsistence levels of living
> economic structure: low market wages paid to
factory workers as a result of high levels of
unemployment/ underemployment and the
consequent inequitable distribution of income
between owners of capital and workers
> political structure: law-making, policy-setting and
regulatory powers of government used to protect
vested economic interests
> political structure: chronic corruption in use of
public funds of government (e.g. road
infrastructure projects awarded to favored
contractors who then build the roads using substandard materials)
> cultural structure: media and educational institutions that propagate values and a worldview
supportive of the dominant interests of the status quo

b. on the nature of sin (rejection of God and


Gods plan for human life; rejection of the call
to the wholeness and fullness of life which
God offers)
> sin as both personal (egoism and
selfishness of individual persons) and
social (egoism and selfishness solidified
into social arrangements/ institutions that
preserve the interests, wealth, power,
privileges of particular social groups at the
expense of others)
c. on the nature of salvation in Christ (restoration
of wholeness and fullness of life over sin and
death)

> salvation from sin and death that embraces all of


human reality:
1. from the personal and spiritual: personal
relationship with God through Christ in the
Spirit, radical re-orientation from egocenteredness to Christ-centeredness, sharing
in our calling as human beings to grow as
loving persons, sharing in the mission of Christ
and His Paschal Mystery and the promise of
wholeness and fullness of life even beyond
physical death in the life to come
2. to the social and temporal: transformation of
dehumanizing social structures, providing for
the material necessities of life and widening
participation in Gods gift of human life in its
fullness in this world meant for all

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