Vatican Line

In your June 7-13 issue, you report that Frei Betto, a prominent figure in Liberation Theology circles, acknowledges the ascent of Opus Dei, Focolare, Communion and Liberation, and other lay movements and the decline of base communities in Latin America that were influenced by liberation theology (In Brief).

While noting that fact, Betto says he doesn't share the growing popularity of these new Christian communities' “support for the Vatican line.” The idea of a “Vatican line” makes it sound as if these groups are some kind of apologists for a government administration in power for a limited time. But under this Pope, the Vatican line cannot be interpreted to mean anything less than subscribing to 2,000 years of the fullness of our Church's tradition. You can bet these “new” groups will continue to grow as liberation theology fades to a footnote in Church history. Why? Because the philosophy and actions of groups such as Communion and Liberation and the Neocatechumenal Way are situated well within the truth of Catholic tradition—2,000 years' worth.

Whatever noble motives might have given rise to liberation theology, it didn't take long for it to take on a life of its own, spinning outside the wise confines of authentic Catholicism. The 280,000 adherents of the “new” movements who gathered in Rome recently heard Pope John Paul II's praise that they had “reached a stage of maturity.” I understand that to mean that the groups generally had resisted the temptation to “outgrow” the Church and fall prey to the belief that they were wiser than the institution from which they'd sprung.

The Pope referred to the groups as “an answer” to the secular culture, sent by the Holy Spirit. The Marxist-influenced liberation theology, even at its high point, never saw beyond improving the temporal situation of men. In placing physical needs—liberation of the body—above the more important spiritual needs, liberation theology was bound to fail from the start. That human need goes well beyond achieving material equality in society is visible in the preponderance of those of us in the West who, despite having our physical needs more than adequately met, remain thirsty for something more.

If, Frei Betto, committing to a community that puts the physical and spiritual needs into their proper order means following the “Vatican line,” count me in.

Ricardo Blume

via e-mail

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