Father Gustavo Gutiérrez to speak on poverty and human dignity | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Father Gustavo Gutiérrez to speak on poverty and human dignity Father Gustavo Gutiérrez to speak on poverty and human dignity Published: October 24, 2013 Author: Michael O. Garvey Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, O.P., the University of Notre Dame’s John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Theology, will deliver the 2013 Annual Human Dignity Lecture on “Poverty and Human Dignity” Wednesday (Oct. 30) at 7:30 p.m. in the McKenna Hall auditorium. “Gustavo Gutiérrez’ influence on the last 40 years of Catholic theology has been profound and fundamental,” said John C. Cavadini, director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Church Life (ICL). “He has nurtured two generations of Catholic theologians on the idea and meaning of the preferential option of the poor, so much so that the idea has appeared in the encyclicals and apostolic exhortations of the last two popes, in the Compendium of Catholic Social Teaching, and in the imagination of almost any person of faith who has meditated seriously on the place of the poor in the economy of salvation proclaimed in the Bible. I can’t think of anyone whose witness has been more consistent, or influence more fundamental, among any living theologians.” Father Gutiérrez, a member of the Notre Dame faculty since 2001, is widely credited as the author of the foundational text for liberation theology, “A Theology of Liberation.” The movement launched by his work grew rapidly in a Latin America plagued by the military dictatorships of the 1960s and 1970s and became one of the most influential in contemporary theology by calling attention to the Church’s vocation to resist the oppression of the poor. Other books Father Gutiérrez has written, which similarly concern theology, spirituality and Latin American history, include “We Drink From Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of a People,” “On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent,” “The Truth Shall Make You Free,” “The God of Life,” and “Las Casas: In Search of the Poor of Jesus Christ.” Last month, Father Gutiérrez went to Rome for what the Vatican described as “a strictly private visit” with Pope Francis. The event was nevertheless reported by L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s semi-official newspaper, in a story that included the observation that the election of a pope from Latin America has brought liberation theology out of “the shadows to which it has been relegated for some years, at least in Europe.” The Human Dignity lectures are sponsored by the University Life Initiatives, a collaborative effort of the ICL and Notre Dame’s Office of the President. Contact: Jessica Keating, 574-631-9781, jkeatin2@nd.edu Posted In: Faith Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related October 03, 2022 dCEC to Award 2023 ND Evangelium Vitae Medal to Robert P. George September 22, 2022 In memoriam: Rev. Richard Warner, C.S.C., longtime leader for Notre Dame, Congregation of Holy Cross September 15, 2022 In new book on global Catholicism, Provost John McGreevy explores modern history, current challenges of the Church September 15, 2022 Death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean to speak at Notre Dame September 14, 2022 Apostolic nuncio to Great Britain to deliver the 2022 Keeley Vatican Lecture For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn