Liberation Christology and Ethics in Global Health: The Pursuit of Ethical Coherence in Global Health Initiatives
Alexandre Martins, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
In the United States, liberation theology is often perceived as a specialized theological discipline in its own right. However, this conception can limit our understanding, particularly in recognizing the broad scope of liberation theology as a new way of doing theology, as suggested by Gustavo Gutiérrez, Leonardo Boff, Ivone Gebara and numerous other Latin American liberation theologians. In this new way of doing theology, theologians develop their reflection on faith from the concrete experience of communities that embody their faith in a historical journey. In doing theology, a liberation theologian begins from the experience of oppressed community engaged in a struggle for liberation rooted in faith. Therefore, liberation theology, understood as a new way of doing theology, poses a challenge to every theological field of study from systematics to ethics, to biblical studies, to the history of Christianity.
In this paper, I will employ a liberating theology approach derived from a liberation Christology to examine ethical challenges in global health. Drawing inspiration from Latin American liberation theology, which began to be articulated in the 1960s, I propose a personification of Jesus Christ who stands with the poor and the oppressed, an incarnate God who respects local cultures in a healthy process of inculturation, and who provides spiritual strength in a historical pilgrimage toward a life with full dignity. This offers a bottom-up approach for addressing challenges in global health and its complexities of delivering health care in local impoverished communities, characterized by cultural diversity and experiences of oppression and suffering.
The pursuit global health demands coherence between the goal of promoting population health and the historical and cultural reality of local communities. Most of these communities have been shaped by experiences that do not conform to the Western worldview but are marked by Western movements of oppression, such as colonization and intellectual and economic dominance. Without this coherence, global health initiatives may involuntarily exacerbate the very problems that advocates and activists aim to address, solidifying underdevelopment, international dependency, and exploitative structures that perpetuate poverty.
The Christological perspective developed in this paper offers a contribution to field global health to move forward in its in pursuit of the great coherence through health professionals, advocates, and activists who engage in local communities. This engagement should embrace a process of incarnation that is open to learning from those who are poor and oppressed.
Although global health is primarily a secular arena, it cannot ignore the role of religion and theology, as religious experiences and beliefs are integral to most communities where global health initiatives take place. The approach offers in this paper calls for a collaboration between a theological liberation ethics – from one tradition, the Christian one – and those involved in global health. This collaboration creates pathways to include the participation of the poor as agents of health promotion and social development.
The promotion of health and wellbeing requires a combination of medical care and efforts to build justice. This is achieved by liberating the oppressed and raising the poor from poverty to attain the common good.
In this paper, I will employ a liberating theology approach derived from a liberation Christology to examine ethical challenges in global health. Drawing inspiration from Latin American liberation theology, which began to be articulated in the 1960s, I propose a personification of Jesus Christ who stands with the poor and the oppressed, an incarnate God who respects local cultures in a healthy process of inculturation, and who provides spiritual strength in a historical pilgrimage toward a life with full dignity. This offers a bottom-up approach for addressing challenges in global health and its complexities of delivering health care in local impoverished communities, characterized by cultural diversity and experiences of oppression and suffering.
The pursuit global health demands coherence between the goal of promoting population health and the historical and cultural reality of local communities. Most of these communities have been shaped by experiences that do not conform to the Western worldview but are marked by Western movements of oppression, such as colonization and intellectual and economic dominance. Without this coherence, global health initiatives may involuntarily exacerbate the very problems that advocates and activists aim to address, solidifying underdevelopment, international dependency, and exploitative structures that perpetuate poverty.
The Christological perspective developed in this paper offers a contribution to field global health to move forward in its in pursuit of the great coherence through health professionals, advocates, and activists who engage in local communities. This engagement should embrace a process of incarnation that is open to learning from those who are poor and oppressed.
Although global health is primarily a secular arena, it cannot ignore the role of religion and theology, as religious experiences and beliefs are integral to most communities where global health initiatives take place. The approach offers in this paper calls for a collaboration between a theological liberation ethics – from one tradition, the Christian one – and those involved in global health. This collaboration creates pathways to include the participation of the poor as agents of health promotion and social development.
The promotion of health and wellbeing requires a combination of medical care and efforts to build justice. This is achieved by liberating the oppressed and raising the poor from poverty to attain the common good.