A WORLD CIVIL SOCIETY IS ARISING

Interview with Leonardo Boff

The Great Importance of Porto Alegre and Liberation Theology is the Interweaving of Movements

[This interview published in: die tageszeitung, 2/2/2005 is translated from the German on the World Wide Web, http://www.taz.de.]



taz: Mr. Boff, the 2001 World Social Forum arose as a counterpoint to the World Economic Forum. When we consider the world today, doesn’t Davos clearly have the upper hand over Porto Alegre?

Leonardo Boff: In Davos, material values were central. In Porto Alegre, spiritual, human and ethical values were central. Uniting both would be ideal. Then we could work out a holistic vision of humanity. The question is: Where is hope? Everyone senses that we are on a wrong way since we don’t have a social contract any more. This wrong way only leads to wars as in Iraq. There is only the military, economic and ideological hegemony of the US maintained with force. Relying on force as a means for any kind of world order is a very dangerous course. The system cannot gain acceptance with arguments any more.

What does Porto Alegre represent?

The alternatives are not clear for anyone. However a world civil society is gradually arising in Porto Alegre with the consciousness that we are dissatisfied with the situation of the world and must change ourselves, from persons to communities. New ways of thinking open up and new ideas arise through the interweaving of all possible movements. Energies are released. Gradually we reach convergences that could exert political pressure.

What will be the concrete results?

We have already achieved tangible results as in the water question. A common decision about water is possible. We should demand a global social agreement on fresh water and the option against war. Bush has declared endless war against terror. For me, this means the US is a terrorist state. The US acts violently, tramples on human rights and tortures Americans and foreigners. As humanity, we stand at a crossroads. Reflections and utopias as in Porto Alegre are the humus in which things ferment. Perhaps measures will arise showing a direction for the future.

A five-day “World Forum for Theology and Liberation” took place here before the World Social Forum. Are we witnessing a renaissance of liberation theology?

Liberation theology has always existed but is no longer very visible since it is not as polemical as in the past. Now we have again the great interweaving of theologians that was completely destroyed by the Vatican. The milieu of the World Social Forum, a secular space, was ideal for meeting without any oppression from Rome or elsewhere. We spoke of the necessity of another society and a different world order. Thus there is a great kinship between liberation theology and the World Social Forum.

How has the discourse of liberation theology developed in the last 30 years?

Liberation theology arose from the concrete economic situation, from the cry of the poor. In the eighties we discovered the different faces of poverty, of Indians, black persons and women. In the nineties people realized that the water, forests and animals cry, not only the poor. The earth is oppressed by the vast devastation that modern industrial society and consumerism inflict. Ecology must be included in an integrated theology. The globalization problematic, massive exclusion of people and genetic manipulation in agriculture are all questions that are now discussed.

The Vatican excluded you and you later abandoned your priesthood. Do you sometimes feel misunderstood or isolated in the church?

No. Rome would certainly have been glad if I became a Coca-Cola manager in Rio. But I had the possibility of continuing to work as a theologian, supported by most bishops and invited to lectures, courses and spiritual exercises for priests and nuns. I have not changed or developed a victim’s mentality and feel no desires for revenge or disappointment. The church as an authoritarian system is condemned to condemn others. That is part of its logic. When one understands this, one feels liberated and nevertheless recognizes that the inheritance of Jesus Christ is avoided. At the same time, alternatives exist, the 100,000 base communities. We already have a new model of the church, a shared or communal model different from the hierarchical model.