liberation theology
Gospel meets justice
Liberation theology is a movement within Christianity, particularly Roman Catholicism, that interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ as a call to free oppressed peoples from unjust social, political, and economic conditions.
Emerging in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s, it emphasizes solidarity with the poor and views salvation not merely as spiritual deliverance but as liberation from earthly suffering and systemic injustice.
The priest's sermons reflected liberation theology's focus on economic inequality.
Critics have accused the movement of incorporating Marxist analysis.
Customary action or application
- pastoralOf countryside or clergy care
- solidarityUnity among allies
- empowermentGaining authority or confidence
- grassrootsCommon people as political base
advocacy · social justice · human rights · dignity · oppression · marginalized · poor · campesino
Colombian highland city
- PueblaMexican state and city
- Vatican IIMajor Catholic reform council
- CatholicismPapal Christian denomination
- ecclesiologyStudy of church theology
hermeneutics · exegesis · eschatology · salvation · redemption · Gospel · Kingdom of God · prophetic
Class-based revolutionary philosophy
- class struggleConflict between economic groups
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
- neocolonialismIndirect foreign domination
autonomy · self-determination · emancipation · resistance · revolution · Sandinistas · land reform · workers
Romance-speaking Western Hemisphere
- BrazilLargest South American nation
- PeruPacific coast republic
- El SalvadorTiny Pacific-coast republic
- NicaraguaCountry with capital Managua
Guatemala · Chile · Argentina · Philippines · South Africa · Global South
praxis
Customary action or application
- pastoralOf countryside or clergy care
- solidarityUnity among allies
- empowermentGaining authority or confidence
grassroots · advocacy · social justice · human rights · dignity · oppression · marginalized · poor · campesino · favela
Medellín
Colombian highland city
- PueblaMexican state and city
- Vatican IIMajor Catholic reform council
- CatholicismPapal Christian denomination
ecclesiology · hermeneutics · exegesis · eschatology · salvation · redemption · Gospel · Kingdom of God · prophetic
Marxism
Class-based revolutionary philosophy
- class struggleConflict between economic groups
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
neocolonialism · autonomy · self-determination · emancipation · resistance · revolution · Sandinistas · land reform · workers · exploitation
Latin America
Romance-speaking Western Hemisphere
- BrazilLargest South American nation
- PeruPacific coast republic
- El SalvadorTiny Pacific-coast republic
Nicaragua · Guatemala · Chile · Argentina · Philippines · South Africa · Global South
- Catholic ChurchVatican, papacy, cardinals, popes, papal
- Latin Americanatango, samba, cumbia, mariachi, bossa nova
- social causesfeminism, charity, environmentalism, volunteering, pacifism
- church historychurch history, apostles, Protestant Reformation, Christian history, baptism
- Latin American historycolonial history, independence movements, political history, indigenous history, encomienda
- Church disputesschism, Great Schism, Arian controversy, Monophysitism, iconoclasm
liberation theologyprosperity gospel
Doctrine linking faith to wealth
religious right · religious conservatism · fundamentalism · Christendom · Opus Dei
liberation theologystate religion
Government-backed official faith
deliberate, liberate, liberation, liberated, deliberately, theology, deliberation, liberator, liberating