In the early 1970s, Gutiérrez gave a controversial lecture in
Córdoba, Argentina upon being invited by the
Movement of Priests for the Third World.
[33] He refused to speak unless Father
Jerónimo Podestá - a fellow liberation theologian who, unlike Gutiérrez, fought for the
right of priests to marry - left the room.
[33]Years after, Podestá's widow and fellow critic of
mandatory celibacywithin the church,
Clelia Luro deemed Guiterrez's attitude towards the issue to be discriminatory, criticizing him in the following letter:
Dear Gustavo,
I am Clelia Luro, the partner of Jerónimo Podestá, if you remember? You came to Córdoba for a Movement of Priests for the
Third World talk. Jerónimo had been invited for the first time by Marimichi. He went to Córdoba very happy, this having been the first time the Priests invited him. The next day Jerónimo came back home. I asked him what happened, and he answered "Gustavo didn’t want to start if I was in the room", without hiding any pain. I thought, "liberation Theology, what liberation did he offer?” The clerical liberation of false values? And I pitied you. I know you also behaved the same way towards
Leonardo Boff, the best theologian the Church has today. Last Saturday
Francis called me, and I reminded him of that incident, and he replied that he remembered because I had already told him back when he was still our Cardinal Bergoglio. Gustavo, if liberation theology leads us to judge our brothers, we would have to liberate ourselves from that theology.
Clelia Luro
[33]
In 1984, the
Holy See - under
Pope John Paul II - criticised aspects of liberation theology, taking particular issue with its use of Marxist economic theory. Then-Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger asked Peruvian bishops to examine Guiterrez's writings,
[17]voicing concerns that Gutierrez's arguments embodied a concerning "idealization of faith".
[17] As a result, he and liberation theology were the subjects of 36-page Vatican report, which declared Marxism to be incompatible with Catholic teachings.
[17] The Catholic Church in Peru then held a vote to rebuke Gutiérrez's ordination within the group, which ended in a tie.
[17]
According to Arthur McGovern, controversy regarding Gutiérrez and liberation theology was not limited to the Catholic Church: the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal printed full-scale advertisements warning readers of a potential communist state in Mexico, arguing that "liberation theology… [would] install Communism in the name of Christianity" and encourage acts of terrorism.
[28]
Gustavo Gutiérrez - Wikipedia
