Pope Francis says goodbye to Father Gustavo Gutiérrez: ‘a great man, a man of the church’

Pope Francis sent a video message to the Archdioceses of Lima for the funeral of Father Gustavo Gutiérrez on October 24. “Today I think of Gustavo,” the Pope said, calling him “a great man, a man of the Church.”

Gutiérrez is known as the “father of liberation theology,” who rose to prominence in South America in the 1960s and 1970s as a way to respond to the needs of Latin America’s poor. He died on October 22 at the age of 96.

Francis said he was a man who “knew how to be silent when he had to be silent, who knew how to suffer when he had to suffer, and who managed to bring forth so much apostolic fruit and such a rich theology.”

The pope’s message, which was recorded during the final days of the synod on synodality in Rome, was posted on the YouTube channel of the Archdioceses of Lima on October 24.

During his homily in the Basilica of the Most Holy Rosary of the Santo Domingo Monastery in Lima, celebrated by Cardinal-designate Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, the Archbishop of Lima said that “we owe Gustavo expressions that have helped us understand how we have to move with the people. One of them is: ‘How good would we be if reality were not there.’ This sentence upsets us and reminds us that reality is constantly calling us.”

Thousands of worshipers took part in the funeral, according to Spanish Catholic news channel Religión Digital.

Castillo used Gutiérrez’s words during the sermon that “if we are not loved freely, life has no meaning,” which meant for him that God’s love is free and recognized in the lives of others, especially those who suffer. For the archbishop, Gutiérrez’s testament is his unconditional love for others.

“Gustavo, with his sensitivity and humanity, brought the preferential option for the poor into a universal dimension, although this earned him many attacks,” the Archbishop said, explaining that for him liberation theology was “the pure Gospel,” a theology that was rooted in the lives of the poor and in the understanding of God’s free love.”

Despite the criticism, the cardinal-designate said, Gutiérrez “continued his path with humility and courage, a testimony that has left a profound legacy in the Church and society.”

Born on June 8, 1928 in Lima, Gutiérrez completed his studies in philosophy at the University of Leuven in Belgium and his theological studies in Lyon, France, and at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome before returning to Peru, where he taught at the Catholic university in Lima. .

However, it was his pastoral work in a parish in Lima and as theological advisor to the meeting of Latin American bishops in Medellín, Colombia in 1968 – a regional meeting aimed at adapting the conclusions of the Second Vatican Council to the Latin -American context. that led to the development of his 1971 book, “A Theology of Liberation.”

Although liberation theology’s call for a preferential option for the poor and freedom from unjust social structures resonated with many Catholics in Latin America, its politicization—particularly among those sympathetic to Marxist ideology—was at odds with the church, especially during the reign of John Paul II. pontificate.

Gutiérrez was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Lima in 1959, but in 2001 he entered the Dominican order and soon after began teaching at the University of Notre Dame, where he held the title of John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Theology . He lived in Lima for the last years of his life.

“Father Gustavo was a beloved member of the Notre Dame community, and together with his family and fellow Dominicans, we thank God for his extraordinary life,” said university president Father Robert A. Dowd.

“His invaluable contributions as a scholar and theologian and his commitment as a priest to living out the Gospel call are an inspiration to us all,” Dowd added.

In an Oct. 23 press release, the university said Gutiérrez “called on Christians to mentor and learn from the poor among us, significantly advancing the concept known as the preferential option for the poor.”

Michael E. Lee, who graduated from Notre Dame under Gutiérrez and is now a professor of theology at Fordham University, was quoted by Notre Dame as saying: “In the way that it offers both a diagnosis of the ills of our world as a vision of how the church can help them transform, ‘A Theology of Liberation’ remains as relevant today as it was half a century ago.”

Father Rómulo Vásquez Gavidia, provincial superior of the Dominicans of Peru, said at the October 24 funeral that after joining the Dominican order, he “always remained close to his religious community, visiting the monastery and sharing moments of brotherhood with his brothers shared’.

Yolanda Díaz, a lay follower and friend of Gutiérrez, said he was a “man of active hope” who taught believers to observe reality “with eyes of faith” even in difficult times.

Díaz said Gutiérrez urged the laity to live with “one foot in the Church, listening to God who calls us from his people,” and with the other foot “in the reality” of their lives.
This duality between spirituality and social reality was key in the formation Díaz and others received from Gutiérrez, she said, according to Religión Digital.

Among those mourning the death of the late theologian was his longtime friend, German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former prefect of the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whose 2014 book “Poor for the Poor: The Mission of the Church” contains two chapters contained. written by Gutiérrez, whom he called “one of the great theologians and Catholic personalities of our time.”

“We can learn from him. And we are also aware that he is not dead, but that he lives in heaven with God, in the communion of saints, and that he prays for us and sets us a good example with his life and work,” said Müller in a telephone interview with OSV News on October 23.

Gutiérrez’s remains were buried in the 16th-century Monastery of Santo Domingo in Lima.