“We are deeply saddened to share the passing of Union’s beloved Henry W. Luce Visiting Professor of World Christianity from 1976-1977, the Rev. Dr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, also known across the world as the “father of liberation theology.” His passing represents a tremendous loss for our community and the broader universe. Dr. Gutierrez’s incredible legacy lives on at Union and beyond through the many lives he continues to touch through his pioneering vision for the empowerment of the world’s most marginalized and oppressed communities,” shared the Rev. Dr. Serene Jones President of Union Theological Seminary (UTS) and Johnston Family Professor for Religion & Democracy.
“‘The most important book overall of its time’ is what Time Magazine deemed Gustavo Gutiérrez’s A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation.
“Today, the world has lost a giant in the true Christian faith. Born in Lima, Peru, with one leg shorter than the other, Gutiérrez spent his early years in the hospital fighting to survive. In his living of over 96 years, he would become a Dominican priest and the first theologian in the world to use the term Liberation Theology to contextualize the experiences of the poor, downtrodden, and oppressed. The late great James Cone, Bill & Judith Moyers Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at UTS, notes how Black Liberation Theology is a continuation of the conversations Gutiérrez began.
“Gutiérrez prophetically called us to see how capitalism is lethal to people around the world and carrying a preferential option for the poor is where we will find God and God’s people. With his passing during the times we are currently in, I am encouraged to hold his words even more true and continue his prophetic legacy,” said UTS Associate Professor of Religion & Society, the Rev. Dr. Sam Cruz.
“In 1977, a student in Gustavo’s seminar at Union asked him how it felt to have “started a new theological movement.” Gustavo squinted at the student. Two students rephrased the question, guessing that the English language was impeding communication. Finally Gustavo spoke, not needing to paraphrase: “Is not a question I can answer. I start nothing.” He paused again: “Some of you have learned about theology of liberation through my writings, but I did not start this theology. I only express what I learn from others, especially the poor.” He was a conduit of the faith and struggles of poor people, as he often said, not the founder of liberation theology. But we revered him as a founder of liberation theology,” shared the Rev. Dr. Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at UTS.
“Earlier this month, UTS faculty, Rev. Dr. Gary Dorrien spoke about one of my dad’s heroes at chapel – Gustavo Gutiérrez. And my entire being jumped as I heard that this incredible theologian, whose accent sounds so familiar, whose theology resembles my dad’s, whose words have been dancing around me my entire life taught at Union. “Of course he did,” I thought, as I proudly told my family. As a marginalized poor houseless boy, my dad, Rev. Dr. Alejandro S. Montes, remembers those who embodied the gospel for him, and when he read Gutiérrez’s Teología de la liberación while he was in seminary, he vowed to vivir en la liberación and preach liberation to all. May all Rev. Dr. Gustavo Gutiérrez embodied on earth, on paper, on video, in lectures, in sermons, and beyond penetrate into our souls as we live liberation,” said UTS Dean of Chapel, Dr. Sandra Teresa Soledad Montes Vela.
“Gustavo Gutiérrez and all the first generation of liberation theologians gave me the language to survive. Liberation theology, for me, was a matter of life and death, not only a choice of a theological discourse. It was a way of protecting me in this voracious world of exclusion, giving me worth, to sustain my community, a way of keeping myself in relation, alive,” said UTS Professor of Worship – Practical Theology, Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes.
Read Rev. Dr. Gustavo Gutiérrez’s full obituary in the Catholic News Agency here: