LAS CASAS Gustavo Gutierrez · LAS CASAS In Search of the Poor of Jesus Christ Gustavo Gutierrez ORBIS/ISBN 0-88344-838-6 "Christ did not die for Gold." -Las Casas In this passionate work, the pioneering author of A Theology of Liberation delves into the life, thought, and contemporary meaning of Bartolome de Las Casas, six teenth-century Dominican priest, prophet, m and "Defender of the Indians" the New World. Writing against the backdrop of the fifth centenary of the conquest of the Amer icas, Gutierrez seeks in the remarkable fig ure of Las Casas the roots of a different history and a gospel uncontaminated by force and exploitation. Las Casas, who arrived in the New World in 1502, underwent a conversion after wit nessing the injustices inflicted on the Indi ans. Proclaiming that Jesus Christ was being crucified in the poor, he went on to spend a lifetime challenging the Church and the Empire of his day. His voluminous writings, along with those of his numerous adversaries, provide the substance for Gutierrez's reflections. What emerges is both a prophet of unques tioned courage and a theologian of remark able depth, whose vision continues to set in relief the challenge of the gospel in a world of injustice. Not only did Las Casas point the way to such contemporary themes as the church's "preferential option for the poor" and the denunciation of "social sin,'' but he anticipated by centuries the princi ples of religious freedom, the rights of con science, and the salvation of non Christians, articulated at Vatican II. By affirming the full humanity of the Indian, Las Casas set himself in passionate oppo sition to the wars of conquest and the brutal exploitation of the encomienda system. These were supposedly justified by the Indians' inferiority as well as the need to force their submission to the Christian faith. Las Casas charged that the Indians were human beings, entitled to full human rights; going further, he identified them with the poor of the Gospel, and ultimately Christ himself. Arguing that persuasion and dia logue were the only legitimate way of spreading the gospel, he regarded as scan dalous and sacrilegious any effort to extend Christianity through force or coercion. As salvation in Christ was strictly bound up with the establishment of social justice, Las Casas charged that it was the salvation of the Spanish Christians, rather than of these "infidels,'' that was in peril. Through the poor of his time, Las Casas was moved to rediscover the radical chal lenge of the gospel. Gutierrez writes from a similar location and with a similar pathos. Far from a dry exercise in historical retrieval, Las Casas represents the author's most recent effort to articulate the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our own world and time, now as then marked by oppression as well as the struggle for liberation. Gustavo Gutierrez, a native of Lima, Peru, was educated in Lima, Chile, and Europe and was ordained in 1959. In his work, Gutierrez's theological training is joined with his experience of living and working among the poor of Rimac, a Lima slum, where he also founded and directs the Bar tolome de Las Casas Center. He is profes sor of theology at the Catholic University in Lima and advisor to the National Union of Catholic Students. His books include the classic A Theology of Liberation, The Power of the Poor in History, We Drink from Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of a Peo ple, On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent, and The God of Life. Cover design by Brian Germain Cover art by Robert Lentz DRBISOBOOKS Maryknoll, New York 10545 "Las Casas saw in the Indian, in this "other," this one-different-from-the Westerner, the poor one of the·gospel, and ultimately Christ himself. This is without a doubt the very key to the_L ascasian spirituality and theology ... The right to life and liberty, the right to be different, the perspective .o f the poor - these are intimately connected notions in the experience our friar has of the God of Jesus Christ, in whom he believes with all his strength . . . Despite the obvious distance between historical contexts, Bartolome's commitment constitutes a challenge for us today ... "We have no intention of positing facile equations between eras endowed each with its own coordinates and personality. But neither must we fail to perceive the points of contact between them or the teachings that we can gather from the past ... "Part of this memory means acknowiedging our responsibility in what the poor have always had to suffer. The Christian manner of assuming this responsibility is to beg humble forgiveness from God and the victims of history for our complicity, explicit, or tacit, past and present, as indi viduals and as a church. To ask to be forgiven expresses a will to change in our behavior and reasserts the obligation of being an efficacious sign in the history of the Reign of love and justice. It is not a fixation on the past. It is a step toward the future." - Gustavo Gutierrez ISBN 0~88344-838-6 90000> 9 780883 448380 0 - =~ tll 0 , . ..r trJ · n > trJ > trJ 0 = -~ f,I) • LAS CASAS +----- LAS CA SAS IN SEARCH OF THE POOR OF JESUS CHRIST Gustavo Gutierrez Translated by Robert R. Barr ORBIS BOOKS Maryknoll, New York 10545 The Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll) recruits and trains people for overseas rnissionary service. Through Orbis Books, Mary knoll aims to foster the international dialogue that is essential to mission. The books published, huweve1~ reßect the opinions of their uuthors und arc not meant to represent the official position of the society. Originally published as En Busca de los Pobres de jesucristo, copyright © 1992 by the Jnstituto Bartolomc de las Casas-Rimac, Ricardu Bt!uliu 763, Aparlado 3090, Lima 25, Peru, and the Centro de Estudios y Publicaciones (CEP), Lampa 808, Of. 601, Apartado 6118, Lima, Peru. English translation copyright © 1993 by Orbis Books Published in the United States by Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY 10545 Manufactured in the United Stales of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Queries regarding rights and permissions should be addresscd to: Orbis Books, P.O. Box 308, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0308 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gutierrez, Gustavo, 1928- [En busca de los pobres de Jesucristo. English] Las Casas : in search of the poor of Jesus Christ / Gustavo Gutierrez ; translated by Robert R. Barr. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-88344-838-6 1. Casas, Bartolome de las, 1474-1566. 2. Indians, Treatment of Latin America. 3. Missions-Latin America-History. 4. Spain Colonies-Latll1 America. 5. Liberation theology. 1. Titlc. F1411.G97913 1993 282'.092-dc20 93-42517 CIP