The Development of Latin American Theology: in Light of the Preferential Option for the Poor in the Last Thirty Years

The Theology of the preferential option for the poor is an academic and prophetic movement, which has already made a great doctrinal contribution to the universal Catholic Church, in its fundamental mission of solidarity and choice for human beings plunged into the most extreme poverty. According to Latin American bishops and Catholic theologians, the big questions are: how to talk about the love of Christ to those who lack the most essential to live with dignity? How to proclaim the gospel of dignity in a context of exploitation in which the gap between rich and poor grows every day by leaps and bounds? How to end the spiral of violence? How can I tell you that God loves those who do not have food, decent housing, access to education, etc.? Opting for the poor means discovering in them the suffering faces of Christ. This work is a reflection on the phenomenon of poverty and exploitation in light of the values of the gospel of Christ.