The Liberation Theology Podcast

Faiz Abimanyu Wiguna recounts the life of the philosopher, activist, and mystic Simone Weil. He presents his thesis, which offers a liberationist perspective on the rosary through Simone Weil's practice of attention.

What led Faiz Abimanyu Wiguna to liberationist Catholicism? Faiz tells his story as well as that of politics and religion in Indonesia.

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

On this bonus episode, the Liberation Theology Podcast partners with the Word in Black and Red Podcast. It's a co-released introduction to liberation theology. We discuss the meaning of liberation theology, its varieties, its methods, some key concepts, and several misconceptions.

The Word in Black and Red:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-word-in-black-and-red/id1682991552

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

To what extent and how was Jesus' message political? David discusses Juan Hernández Pico's response to this question. Then, David interviews the education professor James D. Kirylo, who has written a recent book, The Catholic Teacher, with significant influences from liberation theology and critical pedagogy.

Resources:

No sea así entre ustedes by Juan Hernández Pico
https://archive.org/details/noseaasientreust0000hern

The Catholic Teacher by James D. Kirylo
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/catholic-teacher-9781350246188/

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Liberation theology constitutes not only a rupture from Church tradition but also a creative development of this tradition. David investigates the ways that Latin American liberation theologians draw support from, and sometimes critique, the Church Fathers.

Resources:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

La foi en Jésus-Christ by Jon Sobrino
https://www.editionsducerf.fr/librairie/livre/3297/la-foi-en-jesus-christ

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Pedro Trigo, SJ, helps us answer three key questions about creation and the material world. How to believe in a God of life in a situation marked by death? How to live with God when it is demanded of us to bear the mark of the beast? What is the relationship between humanity and nature?

Resources:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Ecumenical theologian and author Stephen D. Morrison joins David to discuss common objections to liberation theology and to present a patristic, anti-capitalist Christianity. Isn’t Christianity about a change of heart and a personal relationship with God? Why turn religion into economics and politics? It’s true that early Christians abolished private property and shared their possessions, but this model did not last long because it was unrealistic. Human beings are fallen and selfish. Capitalism is the best economic model given the reality of original sin. Why repeat a failed, impossible experiment by advocating for common property today? Didn’t key figures in the early Church have a wide array of views on economics? Is there enough consensus among them to claim that their witness gives relatively clear guidelines on religion and economics? Marx was an atheist and a materialist. These starting points are not compatible with a Christian approach. Further, Marxism is responsible for the deaths of millions of people in the 20th Century. Why take Marx seriously given that his first principles are flawed and his views yielded mass murder? What is your “elevator pitch” for Christian socialism? How has liberation theology shaped your life and thought as a Christian socialist?

Resource:

All Riches Come From Injustice
https://www.sdmorrison.org/books/

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Laurel Marshall Potter and David Inczauskis present, critique, and share personal intercultural experiences related to the content of Paulo Suess' Mysterium Liberationis chapter on inculturation. How have the Catholic sacraments been abused in the process of Latin America's colonization? To what extent can we arrive at an understanding of Jesus' culture and relate it to today's cultural milieu? How have Latin American countries constructed national cultural identity, and who is marginalized in this construction? What's the connection between local culture and international struggle?

Revolutionary force does not emerge from a blank slate, from a level playing field. It is a response to systemic injustice, to repression, to a state of affairs that kills, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. Drawing from Juan Hernández Pico's ML chapter, David looks at the historical, biblical, and ecclesial sources of a liberationist approach to violence. To conclude, David presents a few key points from "Teaching Methods for Liberation: Practical Insights from Liberation Theology."

Resources:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

Ignite: A Decolonial Approach to Higher Education Through Space, Place, and Culture
https://vernonpress.com/book/1024

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Dr. Michael E. Lee joins the podcast for the first time to discuss Ignacio Ellacuría's essay "The Crucified People" in Mysterium Liberationis. The discussion covers the story of Prof. Lee's engagement with Ellacuría; the relationship among the crucifixion of contemporary people in Latin America, the crucifixion of Jesus, and salvation; the debate surrounding this landmark text; and Ellacuría's use of Karl Marx.

Resources:

Ignacio Ellacuría: Essays on History, Liberation, and Salvation edited by Michael E. Lee
https://orbisbooks.com/products/ignacio-ellacuria

Bearing the Weight of Salvation: The Soteriology of Ignacio Ellacuría by Michael E. Lee

https://www.amazon.fr/Bearing-Weight-Salvation-Soteriology-Ellacur%C3%ADa/dp/0824524217

Revolutionary Saint: The Theological Legacy of Oscar Romero by Michael E. Lee  
https://orbisbooks.com/products/n-a-3

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

María Soledad del Villar Tagle returns to speak about some of the European roots of Gutiérrez' liberation theology in the French nouvelle théologie movement. David shares the varied responses of two German theologians, Moltmann and Metz, to liberation theology, and concludes with a positive assessment of the compatibility of Catholicism and socialism as well as a refutation of the alleged natural right to private property.
 
Resources:

"The European Roots of A Theology of Liberation: Gustavo Gutiérrez and the Nouvelle Théologie" by María Soledad del Villar Tagle
https://www.academia.edu/81240675/The_European_Roots_of_A_Theology_of_Liberation_Gustavo_Guti%C3%A9rrez_and_the_Nouvelle_Th%C3%A9ologie

Photo of The Crucified God book stained by the blood of the UCA martyr Juan Ramón Moreno, S.J.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%A1rtires_de_la_UCA_-_Libro_Dios_crucificado_con_sangre_de_Juan_Ram%C3%B3n_Moreno.jpg

"Europe and Its Discontents" by Benedict XVI
https://www.firstthings.com/article/2006/01/europe-and-its-discontents

The Ideological Weapons of Death: A Theological Critique of Capitalism by Franz J. Hinkelammert
https://coleccion.uca.edu.sv/files/original/7df4fb5477c141b8c3958d22a493414ae9344dd3.pdf

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

The Spanish-to-English translator of St. Oscar Romero's diary, Dr. Irene B. Hodgson of Xavier University, joins David to discuss the archbishop's inspirational life and his understanding of his role as an ordained minister. Then, David presents three theses on ministry in the church based on José María Castillo's chapter in "Mysterium Liberationis."

Main texts:

A Shepherd's Diary by Oscar Romero, translated by Irene B. Hodgson
https://www.amazon.com/Archbishop-Oscar-Romero-Shepherds-Diary/dp/0867161701/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3FQO1J1SCG1SZ&keywords=irene+hodgson+romero&qid=1673712536&sprefix=%2Caps%2C479&sr=8-2

Through the Year with Oscar Romero, translated by Irene B. Hodgson
https://www.amazon.com/Through-Year-Oscar-Romero-Meditations/dp/1632530651/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FQO1J1SCG1SZ&keywords=irene+hodgson+romero&qid=1673712605&sprefix=%2Caps%2C479&sr=8-1

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

David presents and assesses three perspectives on the relation between ideology and Christianity from the French Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser, the German theologian Karl Rahner, SJ, and the Spanish-born Salvadoran philosopher and theologian Ignacio Ellacuría, SJ.

Main texts:

"Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses" (1970) by Louis Althusser
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1970/ideology.htm

"Is Christianity an ideology?" (1965) by Karl Rahner
https://concilium-vatican2.org/en/issues/

Ignacio Ellacuria: Essays on History, Liberation, and Salvation (2013) by Michael E. Lee
https://orbisbooks.com/products/ignacio-ellacuria

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

What exactly is ideology? How does liberation theology respond to critics who claim that liberation theology itself is ideological? And how does liberation theology engage with the prominent ideologies of our day?

Main text:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

Secondary texts:

Composer un monde en commun: Une théologie politique de l'anthropocène by Gaël Giraud
https://www.decitre.fr/livres/composer-un-monde-en-commun-9782021474404.html

"Socialism and the Churches" by Rosa Luxemburg
https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1905/misc/socialism-churches.htm

A People's Green New Deal by Max Ajl
https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745341750/a-peoples-green-new-deal/

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Jesuit scholar and priest Anthony Lusvardi introduces the sacraments as the ecclesial preservation of the embodied graces of Jesus' earthly presence and as the primary way that most Catholics engage with God and the Church. David interprets Víctor Codina's chapter on the sacraments, situates them within the project of the reign of God, and describes the sense in which liturgy should be "ugly and scandalous."

Tony's website:

https://tonylusvardisj.com/

Text:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Though many consider "evangelization" to be converting others to Christianity, in liberation theology, "evangelization" means more than sharing a creed: it means bringing glad tidings to the poor--as Jesus himself defined it. It means seeing the suffering of the oppressed, feeling compassion, and acting smartly to alleviate their present pain as well as uprooting the unjust systemic factors that produced it.

Texts:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

John Thiede, SJ, joins David to discuss liberation Christology. How have liberation theologians thought about Christ, and what difference does a liberationist understanding of Christ make in Latin America?

Texts:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

Remembering Oscar Romero and the Martyrs of El Salvador: A Cloud of Witnesses by John Thiede, SJ
https://www.amazon.com/-/es/John-Thiede-SJ/dp/1498537987

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Leonardo Boff shows how the Trinity serves as a model for a just society and how heresies against the Trinity reflect and reinforce various kinds of social oppression. David shares highlights from an interview with Chema Tojeira, SJ, on Nayib Bukele and El Salvador's crypto-financialization.

Texts:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

"El Salvador’s president made Bitcoin a national currency. A Jesuit says the project reminds him of ‘the seven deadly sins’"
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2022/01/24/nayib-bukele-bitcoin-jesuits-el-salvador-242257

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

God is not a single person but a community of three equal persons. So, as the Orthodox socialists of Russia would say, "The Trinity should be our social program." We examine the first half of Leonardo Boff's essay on the Trinity alongside commentary by Ismael Moreno, SJ, on the presidential victory of the social democrat Xiomara Castro in Honduras.

Texts:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

"Jesuit Fr. Melo on the presidential victory of Xiomara Castro in Honduras: 'We are a happy people after a long bout of sadness.'"
https://thejesuitpost.org/2021/12/jesuit-fr-melo-on-the-presidential-victory-of-xiomara-castro-in-honduras-we-are-a-happy-people-after-a-long-bout-of-sadness/

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network

Why did the Salvadoran military assassinate Ignacio Ellacuría, SJ, and his companions on Nov. 16, 1989? Ellacuría openly and emphatically emphasized this subversive dimension of the Christian faith. He claimed that Latin America is searching for “revolutionary change rather than reformist change” and that Christianity exhibits a “subversive dynamism,” which, though running the risk of Marxist co-option, can propel revolution against “the demands of capital.” A continued interpretation of Juan Luis Segundo's "Revelation, Faith, Signs of the Times" accompanies our discussion of Ellacuría.

Texts:

Mysterium liberationis
https://www.orbisbooks.com/mysterium-liberationis.html

"A sus órdenes, mi capital"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X6IFk8uIV-bTiOagivWS1Ig6RDtOGu82/view?usp=sharing

Music:

"Los molinos" by Adam Drake and Tom Jenkins
"Azure Sky" by Terry Devine-King and Adam Drake
Obtained via subscription to Audio Network