http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=90151Chavez responsible for reviving liberation theology in Latin America...
Published: Monday, April 05, 2010
Bylined to: Patrick J. O'Donoghue
VHeadline News Editor Patrick J. O'Donoghue writes: The main proponent of liberation theology in Latin America is no longer a Roman Catholic clergyman susceptible to censorship and crozier-bashing but a layman. None other than President Chavez Frias.
The President's Holy Week "Line Drives" column started off with a reflection on Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. Chavez quickly defined who Jesus Christ is for him and many Christians ... "who in our hearts and souls bear a commitment to Christ the Redeemer, the Libertarian Christ, Christ of the poor."
**The key point of Palm Sunday, the President told readers, is that Jesus entered into Jerusalem on the humble donkey, followed by the ordinary people greeting him, waving palms. The same flowering of love, Chavez meditated, would lead the Christ to confront the powerful of his time.
The dialectics of the Cross is no problem for Chavez as he contrasts those who welcomed Christ with open arms, namely "the needy of always and of today, hungry and thirsty for justice and those who did not rest until they saw him crucified ... the same then and today who never satiate their appetite for power."
The President's theological contribution to Latin America is contained very simply in the last line of his column. "In observing this sacred Sunday, we reiterate that our revolution has in Christ of the dispossessed the greatest guide in the struggle for human dignity ... we follow in his footsteps."
The faithful will not hear that message from the country's bishops but instead one of nebulous reconciliation and national unity, which is precisely the opposition's message. The bishops cannot even stop the spread of evangelism and pentecostalism in Venezuela, never mind deal with Chavez.
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