Gustavo Gutiérrez quotes

Gustavo Gutiérrez is a Peruvian theologian and Catholic priest, considered one of the founders of liberation theology. His works focus on the relationship between faith and social justice, especially the struggles of the poor in Latin America. He has significantly influenced modern Christian thought and advocacy for the marginalized. Here are 32 of his quotes:

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 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 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