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Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J. in Dialogue with Asian Theologians: What Can They Learn from each Other?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 March 2013
Abstract
As liberation theology spread across the globe in the seventh and eighth decades of the twentieth century, the need was felt for mutual learning and teaching among its proponents in various continents. The Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) was founded at Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1976 to facilitate such a dialogue. This article explores the ways in which the thought of Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J., (a Spanish philosopher and theologian who was murdered in El Salvador in 1989) and Asian liberation theology can enrich each other.
After situating Ellacuría, especially his activities as rector of the Jesuit University of Central America, in the context of political and military conflicts of El Salvador, the essay expounds Ellacuría's philosophy of realidad historica, his theology of the People of God as el pueblo crucificado, and his understanding of a Catholic university as a “social force,” and shows how these three ideas can enrich Asian liberation theology. The essay then presents Asian liberation theology in the socio-political and religious contexts of Asia and explains how it can enrich Ellacuría's thought and by extension Latin American liberation theology in three areas: theological method, through the use of non-Christian religious sources, especially popular religion; theology of liberation, by attending to the efforts of non-Christian activists for justice and peace; and a new way of being church, through a triple dialogue: dialogue with the Asian people, especially their poor; dialogue with Asian cultures; and dialogue with Asian religions.
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References
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33 The present essay originated as the inaugural lecture for the Ignacio Ellacuría Chair in Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University on March 3, 2004. The choice of Ignacio Ellacuría for the name of the Chair in Catholic Social Thought to honor and celebrate the life and work of the Jesuit and with him the others who were brutally murdered by members of the El Salvador army on November 16, 1989 could not be more inspired. The people who ordered the soldiers to shoot him and his companions at close range and blow out their brains with U.S.-issued M-16 rifles on the university lawn hoped to silence their voice on behalf of the poor and erase their witness to truth and justice. Ignacio Ellacuría first came to the United States in 1986 to attend a conference at Georgetown University alongside the Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa and there he met Jeanne Kirkpatrick. Now, nineteen years later, he comes back to us in the form of an endowed chair named in his honor, with his passion for truth, his witness for justice, his philosophy of realidad historica, his liberation theology, his love for the crucified people, and above all as a Jesuit martyr. In naming the Chair in Catholic Social Thought after him, Georgetown University proclaims unambiguously that Ellacuría's and his colleagues' martyrdom was not in vain, that their voice for the voiceless will continue to resound down the ages, and that their witness to truth and justice unto death will remain a permanent source of inspiration for the whole church. I should like to thank the two anonymous reviewers who read my manuscript with great care. They will see that all their helpful suggestions have been taken into account.