Witnessing the Seeds of Liberation: Immigrant Detention and Pedagogical Encounter
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 2021
Publisher
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Abstract
Having first learned about liberation theology in college, I arrived at Harvard Divinity School in the mid 1990s with a desire to deepen my understanding of this historic movement. Through a class with theologian Harvey Cox, I was introduced to an insightful little primer by renowned Brazilian liberation theologians (and brothers), Leonardo and Clodovis Boff. The Boffs describe three levels through which liberation can be realized: the professional, the pastoral and the popular. As they explain, these levels are distinguished by their logic and language. While popular theology “will be expressed in everyday speech, with spontaneity and feeling,” professional theology “adopts a more scholarly language, with the structure and restraint proper to it” (1987). Residing in between the two, pastoral theology bridges these different languages through careful listening and earnest dialogue.
Recommended Citation
Tirres, C. D. (2021). Witnessing the Seeds of Liberation: Immigrant Detention and Pedagogical Encounter. ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America, vol. xx #2.
