Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, the Peruvian Dominican priest considered the “father” of liberation theology, died Oct. 22 at the age of 96.
The Dominican Province of St. John the Baptist of Peru announced the death of Gutiérrez, noting he was the author of the influential 1971 book “A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation.”
The theology of liberation is a school of thought that explored dimensions of liberation from the standpoint of Catholic social teaching. In some of its radical expressions, in particular in Latin America, liberation theology embraced many elements of Marxist theory and advocated for social change through various forms of revolution. At times, it also cast Christ as a form of revolutionary figure. Its more orthodox expressions emphasized a closeness with the poor and the suffering and called for authentic liberation in Christ.
Born on June 8, 1928, Gutiérrez was ordained a priest in 1959 and joined the Dominican order in 2001. He studied medicine and literature at the National University of San Marcos while participating in Catholic Action. He later studied theology at the University of Louvain in Belgium and the Institut Catholique of Lyon in France. Gutiérrez served as the John Cardinal O’Hara Endowed professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. His books have been translated into multiple languages.
One of Gutiérrez’s last international appearances was in Rome in October 2019 at a congress held at the Jesuit General Curia. There, at the invitation of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (CAL), he delivered a lecture on “The Preferential Option for the Poor.”