Reaction within the Catholic ChurchIn 1984, it was reported that a meeting occurred between Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the CELAM bishops, during which a rift developed between Ratzinger and some of the bishops.[21] As mentioned above, Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) issued official condemnations of certain elements of liberation theology in 1984 and 1986.[25][26]
After this, and throughout the 1990s, Ratzinger, as prefect of the CDF, continued to condemn these elements in liberation theology, and prohibited dissident priests from teaching such doctrines in the Catholic Church's name. Leonardo Boff was suspended and others were censured. Tissa Balasuriya, in Sri Lanka, was excommunicated. Sebastian Kappen, an Indian theologian, was also censured for his book Jesus and Freedom.[30] Under Cardinal Ratzinger's influence, theological formation schools were forbidden from using the Catholic Church's organization and grounds to teach liberation theology in the sense of theology using unacceptable Marxist ideas, not in the broader sense.
In August, 1984 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger stated that liberation theology has a major flaw in that it attempts to apply Christ's teaching on the sermon on the mount regarding the poor to present social situations.[15] Ratzinger believes that Christ's teaching on the poor means that we will be judged when we die, and at the final judgment, with particular attention to how we personally have treated the poor.
Another aberration in liberation theology, according to Cardinal Ratzinger, is that the spiritual concept of the Church as "People of God" is transformed into a "Marxist myth." In liberation theology, the "people is the antithesis of the hierarchy, the antithesis of all institutions, which are seen as oppressive powers. Ultimately anyone who participates in the class struggle is a member of the "people"; the "Church of the people" becomes the antagonist of the hierarchical Church."[15]
