The Preferential Option for the Poor and the Social Doctrine of the Church. 50 years after the emergence of Gustavo Gutiérrez's Liberation Theology

Abstract

This article presents an investigation about the 50 years since the publication of the book “Liberation Theology. Perspectives” by renowned Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez. The text mainly analyzes the issue of the preferential option for the poor, (OPP) central to the theology of Liberation (TdL) and its relationship with the social doctrine of the church (DSI). A dissonant and not always harmonious relationship, especially in the first moments of the TdL. This article seeks to understand how the OPP becomes a turning point and meeting point between liberation theology and DSI. From the qualitative method (review and analysis of texts) of the most relevant documents of the DSI and the TdL, the consolidation process of the OPP is described, its presence in the Latin American teaching profession and its inclusion in the DSI, especially in the teaching profession. of Pope Francis. It concludes by affirming that the OPP, as a contribution of the Latin American Church to the theological reflection of the universal church, offers the necessary concretion to the social teaching of the church, this has allowed it to change its view of the poor and rediscover that they are not only subjects of help, but can be agents of their own destiny. At the same time, it allows him to freely assume that the OPP is a theological and Christocentric category, announcing it in this way can help awaken Christian awareness of the need to transform reality, from the poor and with the poor.