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Posted by G lib on 2005-04-04 21:02:47 +0000

I find liberation theology (and most other 60s and 70s liberal movements in general) pretty fascinating. I have a ton I'd like to say about this, but a lot of it is unformulated as of yet. Just 2 points to get us started in this discussion: . 1. Latin Americans LOVED JP2. He visited there all the time, they loved him and felt like he was speaking for them. And I'm talking about the poor and middle class there, not the rich totalitarian or communist totalitarian regime leaders. Dawn, I'm sure you'd be able to find a few people who hated him, but the majority of people adored him, and felt like he loved them back. . 2. What I understand about Liberation Theology is that it was formulated around Vatican 2 time (maybe after?) by liberal priests and nuns who either voluntarily or forcibly were moved to South and Central America as either a punishment or a bonus for being too liberal for the US Catholic Church. The most liberal left the clergy. They had agitated for vatican 2, but for a much more radical version of it, and became disgruntled with the church's conservatism. Many of these who moved worked to try to empower people to overthrow governments, not necessarily in peaceful ways, and developed liberation theology as a result of this. . TGL said: "poor a view the Vatican had of those religious & laity working with the poor against totalitarian regimes in South America". . As far as I'm aware, the Vatican approves of peace(*). The militant overthrow of a government (no matter how bad it is) that involves a lot of death is a gray area for the church(*). And also, having people from the outside going in and drumming up support for reform is not actually the most effective method-- agitation and support coming from the people IS. The Pope knew that from his WW2 Polish background as an agitator. . However, I'm going to have to do some digging and see if my views are all based in fact, or just opinions of my (very) liberal Catholic family, who knew a few of the priests exiled to South and Central America, and were sad to see this liberal element to the Catholic Church go away-- perhaps things (i.e. abuse scandal) would have been different if they hadn't gotten rid of so many dissident voices? . *Disclaimer-- Put (er, now) in all of those brackets. My point-- don't jump down my throat about the Catholic Church's past, I understand that this was not always the case. That being said, JP2 apologized for the church's help in the holocaust, spoke out against the Iraqi war, have a stance against the death penalty, etc. etc. They are against killing AT ALL at the moment, although I understand that historically, this wasn't always the case. ________________ "Hardcore Stricken Fagan at the Wad caused dance party Total Kenobi." Rory_Stark

Posted by G lib on 2005-04-04 21:03:20 +0000

Maybe I don't have any more to say than that. ________________ "Hardcore Stricken Fagan at the Wad caused dance party Total Kenobi." Rory_Stark

Posted by dawnbixtler on 2005-04-04 22:29:04 +0000

--JP2 was very clear in not apologizing for the church's help in the holocaust. He called it a tragedy repeatedly and labeled anti-semitism a sin, but never apologized. --I would argue that the majority of Latin America Catholics liked the Pope, but few adored him. They did adore Oscar Romero, and felt betrayed when the Pope scolded him for sympathizing with socialists, militants and pacifists alike. That said, a certain slice of the Catholic religion is to "have faith" in the Pope, no matter who he is. He could have been Stalin's bastard son, and some people would still have loved him.

Posted by frame609 on 2005-04-04 23:43:03 +0000

He did apologize for the Catholic Church's treatment of the Jews over the years, but never apologized directly regarding the Holocaust.