Gustavo Gutiérrez, Considered The Father Of Liberation Theology, Dies

Peruvian intellectual and priest Gustavo Gutiérrez, considered the father of Liberation Theology, a current of Christian thought centered on the dignity of the poor, died in Lima at the age of 96, the religious order to which he belonged announced.

‘The Dominican Province of San Juan Bautista del Peru regrets to inform you that today, 22 October 2024, our dear brother Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino has gone to the Father's House,’ the religious order announced on social media.

‘It is with deep sadness that we announce the death this evening of our dear friend and founder Gustavo Gutiérrez,’ confirmed the Bartolomeu de las Casas Institute, a center for the most disadvantaged founded by the priest in 1974, on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

Gustavo Gutiérrez, who became a Dominican at the age of 76, was one of the priests who denounced injustice and inequality in the American subcontinent.

He wrote the first major treatise on the subject in a book entitled ‘Liberation Theology: Perspectives’, published in 1971 and translated all over the world.

The work proposes a new spirituality based on solidarity with the poor and calls on the Church to participate in changing social and economic institutions to promote greater social justice.

Gustavo Gutiérrez has received a large number of honorary degrees and awards around the world.

In 2019, the former rector of the Fatima Shrine Luciano Guerra recognized the generosity in Liberation Theology, although he considers it ‘impossible’ to eliminate inequality between rich and poor entirely.

‘There is a part of the Church that really hasn't managed to realize that it is impossible to completely eliminate human inequality, that it exists and comes from nature itself,’ Luciano Guerra told Lusa.