Ebook: Pastor in the Shadow of Violence. Gustavo Gutiérez as a Public Pastoral Theologian in Peru en 1980s adn 1990s

This dissertation is a study of the role of Gustavo Gutiérrez as a public pastor in the 1980s and
1990s in Peru. His collaboration with the Lima newspaper La República from the early 1980s gave
him a figurative pulpit from which he addressed the Peruvian public on specific occasions. The
fundamental question in the dissertation is: How did Gutiérrez respond as pastor to the Peruvian
public and how did he express his pastoral concern?
The study analyses materials that has not been object for previous studies, such as theological
essays and articles in newspapers and periodicals. With inspiration from discourse analysis four
discourses have been identified in Gutiérrez’ texts. These discourses interact and through this
interaction Gutiérrez formulates his pastoral message.
For the socio-political analysis two political discourses are used, the radical and the liberal. The
radical political discourse deals with justice for the poor and liberation from oppression as a condition for peace and harmony in society, which are in focus for the liberal political discourse. With
the Catholic theological discourse Gutiérrez sets the socio-political analysis in relation to Catholic
doctrine and through the pastoral theological discourse he gives reason for hope and inspiration to
action. As an advocate for a theology of life, Gutiérrez urges those who read and listen to him to
break the pattern of death and opt for this theology of life. In his role as pastor, Gutiérrez speaks
words of comfort and encouragement but also words of admonition and warning to those in power
who have the capacity to transform society.
Keywords: Bartolomé de Las Casas, CELAM, discourse analysis, Christian hope, God of life,
Gustavo Gutiérrez, hermeneutic of hope, human rights, institutionalised violence, La República,
liberation theology, pastoral theology, political theology, political violence, preferential option for
the poor, reconciliation, resurrection, theology of life, Roman Catholicism in Peru, Sendero Luminoso, social movements, Truth and Reconciliation Commission.