Word: boff
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...Brazil, a mild-mannered Franciscan friar awaits a ruling from Rome over possible "theological errors" in his latest book, Church: Charism and Power, published in 1981. In the book, Theologian Leonardo Boff attacks the "monarchic and pyramidic" structure of the Catholic Church, which, he says, inevitably aligns the church with the rich. Father Boff wants the pyramid of power turned upside down, so that "the church would be, not for the poor, but by the poor...
When a Roman Catholic theologian is summoned to Rome, he is wise to come prepared with cogent arguments, a respectful mien and, when possible, influential friends. Franciscan Father Leonardo Boff, 45, arrived in the Eternal City from Brazil with all three, but especially with friends. A leading exponent of liberation theology, a movement that often combines Marxist concepts with calls for social justice, Boff was asked by the Vatican to reply to a notification that his teachings were "considered dangerous," particularly in their appeal for a less authoritarian church. For support, Boff brought along two important Brazilian Cardinals, Paulo Evaristo...
Last week, five days after his congregation issued a warning against liberation theology, the Vatican's top doctrinal watchdog, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, met with Boff to explore the priest's views. At the four-hour interrogation, attended in part by Cardinals Arns and Lorscheider, Boff presented a 50-page reply to the charges against him. By all accounts the meeting was most amiable, and Boff will return to Brazil this week. In Rome a high-level committee will mull over his responses. The likely outcome: a statement that will announce no disciplinary action against Boff, but will criticize...
...decree is bound to disappoint and anger the leftist fringe of Roman Catholicism, especially in Latin America. It comes in the very week that Brazil's leading spokesman for liberation theology, Father Leonardo Boff, is due in Rome to undergo interrogation on his writings. The Vatican also faces a decision on what to do about the liberation-minded priests in Nicaragua, including Father Cardenal, who last week defied a church deadline for quitting government posts. The unusual haste with which the document was printed also indicates that John Paul wants to clear the air before next month, when...
...Boff, who teaches at a Franciscan institute in Petropolis, claims backing from the progressive majority of Brazil's bishops and reports that 30 have already sent him letters of support. Aloisio Cardinal Lorscheider of Fortaleza, former president of the Latin America-wide bishops conference, may even sit at the defense table in Rome. But not all the Brazilian bishops are so sympathetic. Eugenio Cardinal de Araújo Sales of Rio de Janeiro, a leading conservative, warns that liberation theology "constitutes one of the gravest risks to the unity of pastors and the faithful...