Liberation Theology, Muslims & Hail Mary

TIA,

Does Pope Francis subscribe to liberation theology or has he in the past? In one of his taped interviews, Malachi Martin described an incident in which Latin American clergy who practiced liberation theology once walked on a crucifix (somewhere in Brazil I believe) to demonstrate their preference for social justice over salvation. I wanted to know if Pope Francis was one of the LT walkers back before he became pope.

Your article about Leonardo Boff also reminded me of the comment Pope Francis made recently to the international news media about “Who am I to judge?” A friend of mine quickly defended the pope as not having said anything that was against church teaching. But, to me, it was more a matter of the message the pope was sending to the world by when, where, how, and to whom he spoke. Just as he could have easily had someone get him a copy of Boff’s book instead of making the request, through a friend, to Boff personally, Pope Francis could have made his statement other than the way he did.

Thanks for any information you can provide.

     G.L.


TIA responds:

G.L.,

In Liberation Theology, its name can be distinguished from its essence. Regarding the name, it seems that indeed Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio was linked with an Argentine version of Liberation Theology, as Leonardo Boff explained in Guimarães’ article you mentioned.

Regarding the essence of LT, which is to promote the social struggle of the poor against the rich and the abolition of any inequality and manifestation of pomp and ceremony, either in the Church or civil society, Archbishop Bergoglio was a clear partisan of it.

In the past, he strongly promoted the “slum priests,” as explained by Patrick Odou in an article posted yesterday. These priests are essentially allies of LT, even when they do not use the name.

At present he has destroyed as much as he can of papal pomp and ceremony in the four months he has been Pope.

We hope this answer gives you some elements to discuss the topic with your friends.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

TIA,

The pictures below were taken in New York City on Madison Avenue – not France, Yemen, Kenya or the Middle East.

A Christian Nation does not allow a Christmas scene of the baby Jesus to be put up in a public place, but the Muslims can stop normal traffic every Friday afternoon by worshiping in the streets... Something is happening today in America that is reminiscent of what is happening in Europe. This is Political Correctness gone crazy... Scary! Isn't it?

Is there a message here? Yes, there is, which is that they are claiming America for Allah. If we don't wake up soon, we are going to "politically correct" ourselves right out of our own country!

     L.C.

TIA,

This is an actual bank robbery in Detroit. Absolutely Priceless!

Detroit is ranked the most dangerous city in the US, but not for bank robbers!

The 34 second video is here.

You can’t make this stuff up!!

     R.B.

A little six-year-old Protestant boy had often heard his Catholic companions reciting the “Hail Mary” Prayer. He liked it so much that he copied it, memorized it and would recite it every day. “Look, Mommy, what a beautiful prayer,” he said to his mother one day.

“Never again say it,” answered the mother. “It is a superstitious prayer of Catholics who adore idols and think Mary is a goddess. After all, she is a woman like any other. Come on, take this Bible and read it. It contains everything that we are bound to do and have to do.”

From that day on the little boy discontinued his daily “Hail Mary” and gave himself more time to reading the Bible instead.

One day, while reading the Gospel, he came across the passage about the Annunciation of the Angel to Our Lady. Full of joy, the little boy ran to his mother and said: “Mommy, I have found the ‘Hail Mary’ in the Bible, which says, ‘Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women.’ Why do you call it a superstitious prayer?”

On another occasion he found that beautiful Salutation of St. Elizabeth to the Virgin Mary and the wonderful canticle of the Magnificat in which Mary foretold that “generations would call her blessed.”

He said no more about it to his mother but started to recite the “Hail Mary” every day as before. He felt pleasure in addressing those charming words to the Mother of Jesus, our Savior.

When he was fourteen, he one day heard a discussion on Our Lady among the members of his family. Every one said that Mary was a common woman like any other woman. The boy, after listening to their erroneous reasoning could not bear it any longer, and, full of indignation, he interrupted them, saying:

“Mary is not like any other child of Adam, stained with sin. No! The Angel called her full of grace and blessed amongst women. Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ and consequently the Mother of God. There is no higher dignity to which a creature can be raised. The Gospel says that the generations will proclaim her blessed and you are trying to despise her and look down on her. Your spirit is not the spirit of the Gospel or of the Bible which you proclaim to be the foundation of the Christian religion.”

So deep was the impression which the boy’s speech had made that his mother often cried out sorrowfully: “Oh my God! I fear that this son of mine will one day join the Catholic religion, the religion of Popes!” And indeed, not very long afterwards, having made a serious study of both Protestantism and Catholicism, the boy found the latter to be the only true religion and embraced it and became one of its most ardent apostles.

Some time after his conversion, he met his married sister who rebuked him and said indignantly: “You little know how much I love my children. Should any one of them desire to become a Catholic, I would sooner pierce his heart with a dagger than allow him to embrace the religion of the Popes!”

Her anger and temper were as furious as those of St. Paul before his conversion. However, she would change her ways, just as St. Paul did on his way to Damascus. It so happened that one of her sons fell dangerously ill and the doctors gave up hope of recovery. Her brother then approached her and spoke to her affectionately, saying:

“My dear sister, you naturally wish to have your child cured. Very well, then, do what I ask you to do. Follow me, let us pray one ‘Hail Mary’ and promise God that, if your son recovers his health, you will seriously study the Catholic doctrine, and should you come to the conclusion that Catholicism is the only true religion, you will embrace it no matter what the sacrifices may be.”

His sister was somewhat reluctant at the beginning, but as she wished for her son’s recovery, she accepted her brother’s proposal and recited the “Hail Mary” together with him. The next day her son was completely cured. The mother fulfilled her promise and she studied the Catholic doctrine. After long preparation she received Baptism together with her whole family, thanking her brother for being an apostle to her.

This story was related during a sermon given by the Rev. Fr. Tuckwell. “Brethren,” he went on and said, “the boy who became a Catholic and converted his sister to Catholicism dedicated his whole life to the service of God. He is the priest who is speaking to you now! What I am I owe to Our Lady. You, too, my dear brethren, be entirely dedicated also to Our Lady and never let a day pass without saying the beautiful prayer, ‘Hail Mary,’ and your Rosary. Ask her to enlighten the minds of Protestants who are separated from the true Church of Christ founded on the Rock (Peter) and ‘against whom the gates of hell shall never prevail.’”