When the Vatican issued its Instruction on Certain Aspects of the “Theology of Liberation,” many people misunderstood the intent of this document. They properly saw it as a critique of some Liberation Theologians. However, they mistakenly thought this meant that the Vatican, in its criticism of an improper use of Marxist thought in some Theologies of Liberation, that the Vatican opposed the guiding principles which established Liberation Theology. Understanding categories of social and economic thought in a binary fashion, they believed that if the Vatican is opposed to Marxism (and thus socialism), this meant that the Vatican put its foot forward in support of capitalism. Of course, the consistent flow of documents from the Vatican and statements of the Popes to the contrary often do not get heard, and so many people accept this interpretation of the Vatican’s social doctrine. When confronted with the error of this line of thought, the response tends to be, “Well, what would you have? Capitalism or socialism? There is no other choice.” There certainly are other choices and other ways of thinking; but first one must understand that the problems behind Marxist rhetoric which the Church rightfully criticizes can be seen as the same problems behind capitalistic rhetoric: both offer a humanly-created utopian vision of the future. However, neither can provide for this utopia; people get caught up in a vision which is perfectly secular, practically atheistic, and completely materialistic. They do not know how to live and be at peace; they do not know there is a better way, one which totally rejects this secular perfectionism. The path we should follow is the way of the Beatitudes. It begins with an understanding that we must die to the self, we must become poor (in spirit), totally open to God, totally humble and meek, capable of finding satisfaction and happiness only in the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of man.
This explains why, even in its criticism of Liberation Theology, the core reasons which established Liberation Theology are affirmed by the Vatican: we must follow and give a preferential option for the poor; we must give them their rightful voice, and do what we can to comfort and nourish them. Thus, the Vatican said in its clarity: “This warning should in no way be interpreted as a disavowal of all those who want to respond generously and with an authentic evangelical spirit to the “preferential option for the poor.” It should not at all serve as an excuse for those who maintain the attitude of neutrality and indifference in the face of the tragic and pressing problems of human misery and injustice. It is, on the contrary, dictated by the certitude that the serious ideological deviations which it points out tends inevitably to betray the cause of the poor,” Instruction on Certain Aspects of the “Theology of Liberation”, introduction.
The problem is that only some manifestations of the poor are heard, some plights of the poor are heard, but the greater context, the greater need, is neglected: the poor need to be fed, indeed; they need to be nourished, indeed; but they need more than bread, they need the very Word of God. The need for social reorganization, which will never be perfect, does not diminish the spiritual need of the poor; indeed, the spiritual need has to be met in order to help everyone so there is no bitterness from the poor nor the rich. One of the problems of a revolutionary spirit is that the spirit might have a good in sight, but it is an imbalanced good which does not know all that is needed to bring about a better, more just society; those who were on the bottom take leadership positions, and just repeat what was done before. This is what we must work against, and to do that requires an understanding of the spiritual dimensions of society.We must come to understand how a nation with an impoverished spiritual life eventually becomes a nation with an impoverished, brutally abused underclass.
It must be remembered, in reality, we are all among the poor: the world is not ours, our life is not ours: they are all God’s, and we are but stewards of God’s property. Those who are materially rich are not to be seen in opposition to them poor; indeed, numbered among the rich are some of the greatest Saints of all. It is not by being poor or rich that we find the problem or solution to the soul’s yearning, but our relationship with money and the material world can cause us agony or relief depending if it is proper or not. The rich can be open and charitable, the poor can be closed-minded and greedy. Thus while the poor are indeed blessed, it is because in their material poverty they represent the spiritual poverty of all. The poor are blessed because they are representations and images of what we all are in relation to God. Moreover, they become images of the Son of God, who came among us as one of the poor, so that when we help the poor, we are helping Christ who is in solidarity with them.
Interestingly enough, Pope Benedict in his book, Jesus of Nazareth, provides to us some rather wise words which shows that, just as he rejects a purely Marxist system, he rejects a purely capitalistic one as well:
Knowing now from experience how brutally totalitarian regimes have trampled upon human beings and despised, enslaved, and struck down the weak, we have also gained a new appreciation of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; we have rediscovered the soul of those who mourn and their right to be comforted. As we witness the abuse of economic power, as we witness the cruelties of a capitalism that degrades man to the level of merchandise, we have also realized the perils of wealth, and we have gained a new appreciation of what Jesus meant when he warned of riches, of the man-destroying divinity Mammon, which grips large parts of the world in a cruel stronghold. Yes indeed, the Beatitudes stand opposed to our spontaneous sense of existence, our hunger and thirst for life. They demand ‘conversion’ – that we inwardly turn around to go in the opposite direction from the one we should spontaneously like to go in. But this U-turn brings what is pure and noble to the fore and gives a proper ordering to our lives.
Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth. Trans. Adrian J. Walker (New York: Doubleday, 2007), 98.
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