The following article is interesting:
"Clodovis and Leonardo Boff, Separated Brethren"

My brief response to the article:

I absolutely agree with Clodovis Boff that a fundamental flaw in Latin Liberation Theology is found in its reduction of Theology from one of divine revelation to a socio-economic reality as its starting premise. I think that when theological thinking is based on a human need/concern rather than on how God has revealed Himself, it leads to eventual bankruptcy even if it may seem to provide some "solutions" for the human condition in the shorter term.

Ultimately, all theology must begin with God's revelation of Himself as its starting premise. But this does not mean that theology will remain separated from the human condition. There will always be a point at which God - in His revelation - shows Himself to be One Who meets the human predicament. It is at this point that theology becomes truly liberating. It may not be liberation theology, but it will be nevertheless liberating.

If you notice a trend (which is present even here in Malaysia), many liberationists who engage in activism on behalf of the marginalised and the poor invariably seem to find themselves functioning apart from the Church. In their identification with the plight of the marginalised, they come up against the Church and accuse the Church of not standing with the marginalised. Very often, the comment that I hear is, "The Church is not doing anything, so we have to do something about it". What they usually means by this statement is that the Church is not addressing the problem in the way they think the Church should. This anti-ecclesial statement is not only untrue, but also goes against the very nature of the Church. The Christ Who instituted the Church and Who is the Head of the Body is the Christ for the poor and of the poor. As long as we remember the nature of the Church in Christ, we will not detract from this concern for the plight of the marginalised.

But there are two realities we must reckon with as well:

1) No matter how hard we work to alleviate poverty, we will always have the poor among us. Even Jesus Himself said this.

2) We can never help the marginalised perfectly. Our efforts will always fall short of perfection while we are on this side of heaven.

Whilst liberationists think that their revolutionary efforts would more effectively serve the betterment of humankind, poverty still remains a global reality and a vast many poor still remains beyond their reach. And worse still, such a brand of liberation has rendered the Church beyond the reach of the poor by attempting to serve Christ but condemning the Church, His Body.

The Church, we must always remember, is more than a mere sociological reality. We are a divine reality. Poverty came about because humankind fell away from God. There is a greater healing that humankind needs beyond economic healing (even though economic healing does constitute a part of this holistic healing). To seek economic healing alone without the means for holistic healing which God has given to humankind through His Church is to shortchange our neighbours.