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Gustavo Gutiérrez Quotes (1928-2024)
Theologian
About Gustavo Gutiérrez
Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino (8 June 1928 – 22 October 2024) was a Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest regarded as the founder of Liberation theology. He was professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a visiting professor at many major universities in North America and Europe.
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“Reason has, especially today, many other manifestations than philosophical ones.”
“Through the persons who explicitly accept his Word, the Lord reveals the world to itself.”
“Once causes are determined, then there is talk of "social injustice" and the privileged begin to resist.”
“As we progress, various shades of meaning and deeper levels of understanding will complement this initial effort.”
“In the Bible poverty is a scandalous condition inimical to human dignity and therefore contrary to the will of God.”
“Human history is in truth nothing but the history of the slow, uncertain, and surprising fulfillment of the Promise.”
“Is the Church fulfilling a purely religious role when by its silence or friendly relationships it lends legitimacy to dictatorial and oppressive government?”
“Liberation from every form of exploitation, the possibility of a more human and dignified life, the creation of a new humankind - all pass through this struggle.”
“The theologian ... will be engaged where nations, social classes, people struggle to free themselves from domination and oppression by other nations, classes, and people.”
“The imbalance between developed and underdeveloped countries - caused by the relationships of dependence - becomes more acute if the cultural point of view is taken into consideration.”
“The building of a just society means overcoming every obstacle to the creation of authentic peace.”
“The Christian community ... is faced ever more clearly with the dilemma now confronting the whole continent: to be for or against the system, or more subtly, to be for reform or revolution.”
“Christendom is not primarily a mental construct. It is above all a fact, indeed the longest historical experience the Church has had. Hence the deep impact it has made on its life and thought.”
“Theology as critical reflection thus fulfills a liberating function for man and the Christian community, preserving them from fetishism and idolatry, as well as from a pernicious and belittling narcissism.”
“Theology thus understood, that is to say as linked to praxis, fulfills a prophetic function insofar as it interprets historical events with the intention of revealing and proclaiming their profound meaning.”
“A theology which has as its points of reference only "truths" which have been established once and for all—and not the Truth which is also the Way—can only be static and, in the long run, sterile.”
“Theology must be man's critical reflection on himself, on his own basic principles. Only with this approach will theology be a serious discourse, aware of itself, in full possession of its conceptual elements.”
“Faced with the urgency of the Latin American situation, the Church denounces as insufficient those partial and limited measures which amount only to palliatives and in the long run actually consolidate an exploitative system.”
“The world today is experiencing a profound and rapid socio-cultural transformation. But the changes do not occur at a uniform pace, and the discrepancies in the change process have differentiated the various countries and regions of our planet.”
“The world today is experiencing a profound and rapid socio-cultural transformation. But the changes do not occur at a uniform pace, and the discrepancies in the change process have differentiated the various countries and regions of our planet.”
“By keeping historical events in their proper perspective, theology helps safeguard society and the Church from regarding as permanent what is only temporary. Critical reflection thus always plays the inverse role of an ideology which rationalizes and justifies a given social and ecclesial order.”
Gustavo Gutiérrez Quotes by Topic
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Gustavo Gutiérrez on Poverty
“In the Bible poverty is a scandalous condition inimical to human dignity and therefore contrary to the will of God.”
Gustavo Gutiérrez on Theology
“Theology must be man's critical reflection on himself, on his own basic principles. Only with this approach will theology be a serious discourse, aware of itself, in full possession of its conceptual elements.”
Gustavo Gutiérrez on Contemplation
“About the twelfth century the possibility of sharing contemplation by means of preaching and other forms of apostolic activity began to be considered. This point of view was exemplified in the mixed life (contemplative and active) of the mendicant orders and was expressed in the formula: contemplata aliis tradere ("to transmit to others the fruits of contemplation").”
Gustavo Gutiérrez on Liberation theology
“The liberation of our continent means more than overcoming economic, social, and political dependence. It means, in a deeper sense, to see the becoming of mankind as a process of the emancipation of man in history. It is to see man in search of a qualitatively different society in which he will be free from all servitude, in which he will be the artisan of his own destiny.”
Gustavo Gutiérrez on Reform
“Contemporary man has begun to lose his naiveté as ... the deep causes of the situation in which he finds himself are becoming clearer. He realizes that to attack these deep causes is the indispensable prerequisite for radical change. And so he has gradually abandoned a simple reformist attitude regarding the existing social order, for, by its very shallowness this reformism perpetuates the existing system.”
About Gustavo Gutiérrez
Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino (8 June 1928 – 22 October 2024) was a Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest regarded as the founder of Liberation theology. He was professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a visiting professor at many major universities in North America and Europe.