a priest's musings on the journey
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Can the Pope stop the Roman Church in Brazil from ministering to the poor?
“Morality in Jesus' mind means social morality, solidarity, responsibility, ethics – that is morality. And you cannot go to communion on Sunday, and on Monday destroy the forest. It is against the law of God.” Fr Edilberto Sena
"The opposite of poverty is not wealth – it is justice… And the objective of liberation theology is to create a more just society, not necessarily a wealthier one. And the great question is, how do we do this?" Leonardo Boff
When Pope Benedict XVI arrives this week in Brazil, he will no doubt recall the stir he made in the world's largest Roman Catholic country two decades ago.
Then, as Cardinal Ratzinger, the Defender of the Doctrine of the Faith, he clashed with Brazil's leading liberation theologian, Leonardo Boff. Ratzinger warned that his teachings conflated Christ's mission with Marxism, which drained Jesus of his divinity and unique role as the Son of God. .
Ratzinger ordered Boff to be silent for one year in1985. When the church went after the ordained Franciscan a second time for addressing the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, Boff told Rome: "The first time I accepted punishment out of humility. Now it is humiliation. That is a sin, and I won't do it."
Boff quit the priesthood but remained a Catholic, pressing for what the 68-year-old theologian, philosopher and author calls the central tenet of liberation theology.
"The opposite of poverty is not wealth – it is justice," he says. "And the objective of liberation theology is to create a more just society, not necessarily a wealthier one. And the great question is, how do we do this?"
The rest of the story is here.
Although I do not agree with all of his theology, I aspire to be the kind of priest that Boff is (well would be had he not been forced to walk away from ordained priesthood by Ratzinger him out of the Church). He gives me hope and encouragement that the work of the Gospel, the continuation of Jesus’ liberating action, not only must continue, but will continue, whether or not the Church wants to participate in it or not.
"The opposite of poverty is not wealth – it is justice… And the objective of liberation theology is to create a more just society, not necessarily a wealthier one. And the great question is, how do we do this?" Leonardo Boff
When Pope Benedict XVI arrives this week in Brazil, he will no doubt recall the stir he made in the world's largest Roman Catholic country two decades ago.
Then, as Cardinal Ratzinger, the Defender of the Doctrine of the Faith, he clashed with Brazil's leading liberation theologian, Leonardo Boff. Ratzinger warned that his teachings conflated Christ's mission with Marxism, which drained Jesus of his divinity and unique role as the Son of God. .
Ratzinger ordered Boff to be silent for one year in1985. When the church went after the ordained Franciscan a second time for addressing the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, Boff told Rome: "The first time I accepted punishment out of humility. Now it is humiliation. That is a sin, and I won't do it."
Boff quit the priesthood but remained a Catholic, pressing for what the 68-year-old theologian, philosopher and author calls the central tenet of liberation theology.
"The opposite of poverty is not wealth – it is justice," he says. "And the objective of liberation theology is to create a more just society, not necessarily a wealthier one. And the great question is, how do we do this?"
The rest of the story is here.
Although I do not agree with all of his theology, I aspire to be the kind of priest that Boff is (well would be had he not been forced to walk away from ordained priesthood by Ratzinger him out of the Church). He gives me hope and encouragement that the work of the Gospel, the continuation of Jesus’ liberating action, not only must continue, but will continue, whether or not the Church wants to participate in it or not.
:: posted by Padre Rob+, 6:30 PM
1 Comments:
It will be interesting to see what the Pope does and says in Brazil! Keep on aspiring Rob!
