Black Liberation Theology And Black Catholics: A Critical Conversation

Theological Studies, Dec, 2000 by James H. Cone

It seems that there is nothing Black people can say or do that will wake White theologians out of their slumber. But we must keep trying to shake them out of their indifference to "one of the most shameful scandals of modern Christianity."(14) Racism is a profound contradiction of the gospel. No one, absolutely no one can be a representative of Jesus and treat others as subhuman. There can be no compromise on this point. Any theology that does not fight White supremacy with all its intellectual strength cancels its Christian identity. This is where I stand. I invite Black Catholic theologians (and Whites too) to let the world know where they stand theologically. I am sure we could have a very fruitful dialogue.

Black and Catholic

(2) If there is no critical engagement of the meaning of the Christian faith, no constructive theology is likely. Black Catholic theologians say that there is no conflict between being Black and being Catholic. That may be true. But how can they be so sure if they have not gone "beyond the edges of Catholic doctrinal teachings?"(15) Merely rejecting "the imputation of the patently false dichotomy between black and Catholic"(16) and pointing to Blacks who have been Catholics for centuries do not settle the issue theologically. Constructive theology begins with critique, a clearing away of unnecessary theological debris. When the garbage is cleared, one can retrieve the best in one's tradition and move in new theological directions. Neo-Orthodoxy critiqued liberal theology and affirmed God's radical transcendence. Third world liberation theologies criticized first world academic theologies and identified social analysis and praxis as the first step in doing theology. Black theology attacked White theology and identified God's revelation with the liberation of the poor, particularly among Blacks struggling for justice in a land defined by White supremacy. Feminist, womanist, and mujerista theologies condemned patriarchal theologies as misogynistic and dualistic, and affirmed women's experience as sacred. Gay men and lesbian theologies impugned traditional theologies as antibody and identified God's presence as erotic power. What theologies are Black Catholics critiquing? What is absent from Catholic theology that they think essential for the right understanding of the Christian faith? What is found in Catholic theology or Black theology that is detrimental to a correct perspective on the faith?

Following the critique, theology moves toward construction, knowing that the new construct will always need to be continually evaluated. When people move into uncharted theological waters, overemphasis and mistakes are to be expected. Critical responses to a new theological proposal come in many forms from people with a variety of motives. Among the responses may be people who label the new theological proposal as heretical--one that appears to be Christian but is not. Others may disagree with certain points of the perspective but will lend support to the major emphasis. Still others will dismiss the new alternative as not worth acknowledging as a serious theological proposal.