Caritaes et Lieberatcione

Abstract

The influence of Liberation Theology within the pastoral and moral tradition of the Catholic Church has been formative to the contemporary understanding of Catholic Christianity. As a Redemptorist Missionary, the rich tradition of liberation theology is significant. The Constitution and statutes (CS) of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, the guiding document of our apostolic life, explicitly embrace the concept of liberation and the preferential option for the poor. The description of the Gospel of Salvation in article one of the the CS provides the Redemptorist missionary's understanding of the Gospel of Salvation. Article one defines how the work of evangelization is to be understood. The Constitution states: "The Congregations' mandate to evangelize the poor is directed to the liberation and salvation of the whole human person. The members have a duty to preach the Gospel explicitly and show solidarity with the poor by promoting their fundamental rights to justice and freedom." In chapter one we will examine the theory of Liberation Theology presented by Gutierrez. In that discussion, important concepts, such as theological praxis, virtue ethics and the important influence of Thomism and the legacy of virtue theory in the Catholic tradition will be presented. We will also bring into the dialogical dynamic what contemporary virtue theory brings to the context of liberation idealogy. It is through this dialogue of tradition and contemporary critique and response that we will roughly sketch the context of our theological discourse. Chapter two will engage the virtue of Charity as the foundation virtue of Gutierrez's theology of liberation. Here we will engage how Thomas Aquinas' presentation of the virtue of charity and Alphonsus Liguori's pastorally practical approach to the virtue of charity illuminate how Gutierrez engages the virtue of charity in his theology. This chapter will take these three theological points of reference to present how Gutierrez understands the onnection betwwen the virtue of charity and Christian praxis. Through this necessary connection of charity, Christian praxis we will examine Gutierrez's understanding of political charity, and how Chritistian spirituality is a constituent element of political charity and how political charity becomes an eschatological prophetic witness to the liberation of the whole person. It is through this eschatological spirit of political charity that charity becomes epistemological praxis. Chapter three will follow the structure of chapter two by dialogically engaging Aquinas, Liguori and Gutierrez's praxis of the virtue of prudence. We will also examine how prudence is reflected in scripture and how the formation of conscience in the Alphonsian tradition helps us to understand how Gutierrez's theological perspective uses the virtue of prudence through the relationship between conscientization and prudence in the context of liberation theology. The conscientization of a community is the manifestation of prudence as a social virtue. Thus, we will discuss how this dynamic demonstrates the virtue of prudence as a cultural action and a radical form of Christian praxis, which consequence is a metanoic movement of conscience through prudence. The final chapter will conclude this work by examining the implication of political charity and the heuristic praxis of conscientization of prudence, particularly in the context of the Redemptionist missionary. It is towards this end, the practical application of these theological reflections where the fruit of this theological dialogue will find value and will hopefully be an aide to the movement toward the liberation of the whole person.