Catholic Studies

Never could I have envisioned during my early years in the priesthood what would eventually be taken from me, I would be silenced by the Vatican and that my dearest friends would become my greatest adversaries. None of that matters now, I am still working towards the same goal, I just "changed trenches to continue the same fight"(Boff, September 22, 2006). Although I am not one to boast, and even my opponents would agree that I am not one to think of the self over the whole, (they call me a socialist, like it's a bad thing!), I will reflect on my contribution to Catholic Culture be it good or bad. My life's purpose is working with the poor and oppressed, to create the kingdom of God here on earth, by liberating the marginalized and consequently, trying to bring the Catholic Church into a new and unique era but failing in this respect, for now. During my early experience with Liberation Theology, I still identified with the Church and believed that it could change in my lifetime. With the passage of time, I recognized that Liberation Theology transcends Catholic Orthodoxy and only if this is recognized by the Church, can it grow along with this new movement. Eventually, after mine and others' schisms with the institutionalized Catholic Church, I began to see Liberal Christianity as autonomous from the Church but not from the Kingdom, and that eventually, as in history, the Church would catch up with the times.

At an early stage in my life, I recognized the need for change within the Church, due to my life in turbulent Brazil and my studies abroad, during the first wave of Liberation Theology in Europe. Brazilian socioeconomic strife, political dissention and overall injustice towards the poor of Latin America lead to my passion for Liberation Theology. Brazil, one of the richest countries in natural resource and potential, has 75 percent of the population living in economic marginalization, 43 percent work for the minimum salary necessary for survival, 40 percent are plagued by chronic hunger (Charism & Power, 22). These are just some of the not only alarming statistics but also mind-bending, in that such human potential is obviously being greatly stifled. Thus, I could not stand by and allow this cycle of oppression to continue, I began to be influenced and influence Liberation Theology. I recognized that the capacity to change has to come from the people, not some benevolent and yet, uninvolved force. By empowering the people, the cycle of poverty and static, unchanging aid from richer countries can cease, " the long-range Christian strategy is to achieve a liberation that guarantees a self-sustained development that meets the needs of the people" (Church & Charism, 7). Based on this philosophy, I subscribed to a new model for the Church that could not only modernize and aid it in becoming more accessible and community driven, but also help it to become a dynamic force in poverty stricken countries. A model that called for base ecclesiastical communities of lay people, strengthening the faith of small sectors of poverty stricken groups came about. Eventually, as these communities grew in number, they become more influential both religiously and politically as they gained understanding of the structures and institutions that oppressed them (Charism & Power, 8). Although the Church responded with suspicion to this new theology, I still believed it could break through its dogma to the fundamentals of Jesus' teachings.

As my knowledge and practice of Liberation Theology expanded and with the popularity and success of this movement in Latin America, I began to view the Church as part of the problem and started to dismiss the idea of guiding the Church into the future as a solution. I believed the Church had assimilated and aligned itself with the wealthy and powerful too long and had forgotten the basic teachings of God and Jesus. Rome had become power hungry and masked this greed and corruption with a seemingly charitable character and nature, that was in truth insincere and unwilling to change. The Church had forgotten "the living God sides with the oppressed against the pharaohs of this world" (Introducing Liberation, 50). As a result, the traditional orthodoxy of the Church was holding the people back in developing their faith and improving their circumstances. An important example of The Church as a power drunk institution is their policy concerning laicized priests; any laicized priest cannot gain access to faculties, institutes, or schools any way related to religion or teach anything remotely connected to theology (Charism & Power, 35). It is evident through this example that The Church is blocking one's personal development of faith and consequently, the education of others through this person (Charism & Power, 35-36). Therefore, I saw Liberation Theology as transcending the pettiness and triviality of the traditional Church and practicing God's message more authentically. The Church was beginning to stagnate with the predictable position it always followed in the face of change and controversy. The people were starting to recognize "the terrible distance that separates the church from its roots in the gospel and its lack of harmony with the real world of Latin America" (Nordstokke, 69). The Church, which had success for centuries aiding the prominent countries in marginalizing the poor and keeping them in a constant spiral of poverty, had become pompous and no longer represented the values of an emerging social movement.

Instead of recognizing the faults within the