1 Which liberation theology?

The proliferation of liberation theologies requires specificity when using the term 'liberation theology.' Is it Latin American, Black, Latino, Latinx, Mujerista, African, LGBTQ+, or something else? Even this list is incomplete because each generation applies liberation in new and creative ways. Juan Luis Segundo writes, "Liberation theology is closely bound up with the keys . to unlock the meaning of the historical Jesus and Paul's Christology."1 Luke's Jesus quotes Isaiah 61.1 and proclaims freedom for the captives (4.18). Regardless of the type, liberation theology seeks to liberate people from the chains of oppression, and it is as relevant in the twenty-first century as when first articulated in the 1960s and 70s. The book you are holding follows the progression of thought through one Uruguayan thinker as he tried to understand Jesus in his context. This meant following the lead of Luke's Jesus and seeking freedom for oppressed people. Yet he did not invent this idea. His theology of liberation was born in his culture and training in existential philosophy.

Latin American liberation theology introduced a new way of approaching theology, beginning in the years immediately following Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) in the late 1960s. Generally, Latin American liberation theologians were led by social analysis to critically view traditional theological formulations. As this critique was most often within the Roman Catholic Church, it meant taking a critical attitude toward Church dogma and adopting practical positions that, in effect, appeared to others as 'socialist.' In the half-century since its inception, liberation theology has taken many different forms. Among Latin American liberation theologians, Juan Luis Segundo represents one of its most significant voices. He was a prolific writer who scholars often referenced in secondary works about liberation theology. His original approach prompted many student dissertations, yet no substantial study has focused on the role existential philosophy plays within liberation theology. Segundo is frustratingly reluctant to organize his thought in a systematic way. He rarely provides an overarching thesis in his works. Instead, he writes as if he is in an imaginary conversation. His undergraduate thesis Existencialismo develops his coursework as he seems to argue with his teachers. Teología de la liberación reveals his interlocutor in the subtitle: Respuesta al Cardenal Ratzinger. And, in Dogma, he writes as if he is in a conversation with fellow Latin American priests. These three examples illustrate something that will come up again and again throughout this work. Segundo resists an overarching thesis. Therefore, this book will follow a chronological sequence as I attempt to trace the thread of existentialism in Segundo's thought.

Most prominent Latin American liberation theologians were educated in Europe and North America. Leonardo Boff (b. Concórdia, Brazil) studied in Munich, Germany. After studying engineering in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, Jon Sobrino (b. Barcelona, Spain) studied theology in Frankfurt, Germany. Clodovis Boff (b. Concórdia, Brazil) and Gustavo Gutiérrez (b. Lima, Peru) studied in Leuven. Juan Luis Segundo (b. Montevideo, Uruguay) also studied in Leuven before completing his doctoral work in France at the Université Paris-Sorbonne. Before going back to Latin America and making their contribution to liberation theology, each of these thinkers became steeped in European and North American thought. While scholars have given much attention to the development and analysis of liberation theology and people have looked at the product and potential future of liberation theology, very little attention has been given to specific influences from outside Latin America on the development of liberation theology. Thus, I am going to focus on Segundo and the role of European existentialism in his thought.

Uruguayan Juan Luis Segundo was born on October 31, 1925. He attended the Jesuit-run Colegio del Sagrado Corazón in Montevideo for primary and secondary school. At sixteen years old, in 1941, he joined the Society of Jesus and began the first steps of his training in Córdoba, Argentina. He studied philosophy at San Miguel in Buenos Aires, Argentina and graduated in 1948 with his thesis Existencialismo, filosofía, y poesía, which was published in that same year in Madrid.2 This short book is the primary source for chapter 2 below. In 1949, he returned to Colegio del Sagrado Corazón and taught philosophy and literature. A mimeographed copy of his lecture notes from 1953 is held in a private collection in Montevideo.3

In 1953, Segundo began studying theology with the Jesuits in Egenhoven, near Leuven, Belgium. While in Egenhoven, he took a course given by Léopold Malevez, whom Segundo references in an unpublished, undated document about Heidegger.4 José Irureta5 found the document among Segundo's papers after he died, and placed it in a box with Segundo's other papers at Manresa Retreat Centre, Montevideo, Uruguay . Other than Irureta, Segundo's closest colleagues were unaware of the existence of this document, and Irureta never read it.6 It is the primary source for Chapter 6 and reproduced in its entirety in Appendix III with my translation.

In 1955, Segundo was ordained as a priest in the Society of Jesus. He graduated from Egenhoven in 1956 with the thesis "Christianity: A Utopia?" This thesis was later published in Spanish in Uruguay by a group Segundo organized called Cursos de Complementación Cristian (Courses for Christian Growth).7 In it, he writes, "From the approach that appears in the Second Council of Orange in 529, and later in the documents of Vatican II: God 's grace is always implicit in human nature. Therefore, one should not compartmentalize the sacred and the secular."8 This thought is consistent with his later writings. For example, in LT, he writes about one grace throughout history, not two separate orders-i.e., a natural order within history (this life) and a supernatural order outside of history (the afterlife).9 As we shall see in the next chapter, this idea was also already present in his earlier 1948 work Existencialismo in what he calls intermedios). However, he fails to articulate a systematic correlation between the sacred and the secular. The best his readers can do is follow the streams of similarities in the various theses in his works.

After his ordination, he returned to Uruguay.

In a 1994 interview, Segundo said that after teaching for six months in 1956 at the diocesan seminary in Montevideo, Uruguay, he felt he needed a state degree that would be recognized by the university in Uruguay, rather than a degree that is only recognized by the church . Accordingly, he moved to Paris to do further graduate work under the supervision of Maurice de Gandillac. He hoped to earn a state, or secular, degree in philosophy, but he started his work under the Institut Catholique, with de Gandillac supervising his work.10 Segundo wrote about the Russian philosopher Nicolas Berdyaev, and he described how de Gandillac had been personal friends with Berdyaev and helped him structure his dissertation proposal so that he would not need to learn Russian. Thus, he relied on French translations of Berdyaev.11 There is no evidence to indicate Segundo knew Russian.

When he submitted an early draft of his dissertation, de Gandillac suggested that he complete a state doctorate, so Segundo arranged a meeting with Paul Ricoeur in order to transfer to the secular faculty.12 He submitted an early version of Christianity, a Utopia? to Ricoeur13 and Ricoeur accepted him as a student. Segundo defended his dissertation in 1962 and published it in French one year later as Berdiaeff: une réflexion Chrétienne sur la personne.14

Upon his return to Uruguay, Segundo began leading seminars, teaching small groups, providing occasional lectures, and publishing articles, reviews, editorials, and books. He lived a quiet life, never held a university post, and was an introvert who preferred the company of books over people.15 This brief biographical sketch describes the milieu of a man whose acumen can continue to contribute to theological discourse for readers who take the time to wade through his prolific body of works.

1.1 Why write this?

There are four primary reasons for engaging with liberation theology, in general, and for writing this book, in particular: (1) the continuing existence of poverty and oppression; (2) the continuing interest in liberation theology; (3) a misunderstanding of various liberation theologies; and (4) the omission of existentialism as a dimension of Segundo's liberation theology and in accounts of his thought.

The last point is the most significant. Segundo defines existentialism in EC as: "To know myself, then, as far as what I have that is opposite to all other objects, to know myself as I am for my fundamental sensibility, to know and describe my experiences inasmuch as they are mine, subjective, this is existentialism."16 His definition follows...