Gustavo Gutiérrez quotes

In the Bible poverty is a scandalous condition inimical to human dignity and therefore contrary to the will of God. (Gustavo Gutiérrez)
Liberation from every form of exploitation, the possibility of a more human and dignified life, the creation of a new humankind - all pass through this struggle.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
The future of history belongs to the poor and exploited.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Once causes are determined, then there is talk of "social injustice" and the privileged begin to resist.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
The building of a just society means overcoming every obstacle to the creation of authentic peace.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Although until recently the Church was closely linked to the established order, it is beginning to take a different attitude regarding the exploitation, oppression, and alienation which prevails in Latin America. This has caused concern among the beneficiaries and defenders of capitalist society, who no longer can depend on what used to be - whether consciously or unconsciously - one of their mainstays.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Is the Church fulfilling a purely religious role when by its silence or friendly relationships it lends legitimacy to dictatorial and oppressive government?
Gustavo Gutiérrez
To hope does not mean to know the future, but rather to be open, in an attitude of spiritual childhood, to accepting it as a gift.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Human history is in truth nothing but the history of the slow, uncertain, and surprising fulfillment of the Promise.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Christendom is not primarily a mental construct. It is above all a fact, indeed the longest historical experience the Church has had. Hence the deep impact it has made on its life and thought.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
The world today is experiencing a profound and rapid socio-cultural transformation. But the changes do not occur at a uniform pace, and the discrepancies in the change process have differentiated the various countries and regions of our planet. (Gustavo Gutiérrez)
The imbalance between developed and underdeveloped countries - caused by the relationships of dependence - becomes more acute if the cultural point of view is taken into consideration.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
As we progress, various shades of meaning and deeper levels of understanding will complement this initial effort.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Through the persons who explicitly accept his Word, the Lord reveals the world to itself.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Reason has, especially today, many other manifestations than philosophical ones.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
The complete encounter with the Lord will mark an end to history, but it will take place in history.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
If there is no friendship with them [the poor] and no sharing of the life of the poor, then there is no authentic commitment to liberation, because love exists only among equals.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
[Neighbor is] not he whom I find in my path, but rather he in whose path I place myself, he whom I approach and actively seek.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
The Church cannot be a prophet in our day if she herself is not turned to Christ.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
It has become ever clearer that underdevelopment is the end result of a process. Therefore, it must be studied from a historical perspective, that is, in relationship to the development and expansion of the great capitalist countries. The underdevelopment of the poor countries, as an overall social fact, appears in its true light: as the historical by-product of the development of other countries. The dynamics of the capitalist economy lead to the establishment of a center and a periphery, simultaneously generating progress and growing wealth for the few and social imbalances, political tensions, and poverty for the many.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Theology as critical reflection thus fulfills a liberating function for man and the Christian community, preserving them from fetishism and idolatry, as well as from a pernicious and belittling narcissism. (Gustavo Gutiérrez)
Theology thus understood, that is to say as linked to praxis, fulfills a prophetic function insofar as it interprets historical events with the intention of revealing and proclaiming their profound meaning.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
By keeping historical events in their proper perspective, theology helps safeguard society and the Church from regarding as permanent what is only temporary. Critical reflection thus always plays the inverse role of an ideology which rationalizes and justifies a given social and ecclesial order.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
The liberation of our continent means more than overcoming economic, social, and political dependence. It means, in a deeper sense, to see the becoming of mankind as a process of the emancipation of man in history. It is to see man in search of a qualitatively different society in which he will be free from all servitude, in which he will be the artisan of his own destiny.
Gustavo Gutiérrez
Faced with the urgency of the Latin American situation, the Church denounces as insufficient those partial and limited measures which amount only to palliatives and in the long run actually consolidate an exploitative system.
Gustavo Gutiérrez