‘The Crucified People’ in Latin American Liberation Theology: An Expression of ‘Jesuit Populism’?

Abstract

The possible relationship between Latin American populism and liberation theology has received limited scholarly attention. Loris Zanatta, an Italian scholar of populism in Latin America, has recently claimed that there is a strong connection between populism and liberation theology. All populisms in Latin America, he states, have profound links not only to Hispanic Christendom, but also, and more specifically, to the influential presence and work of the Jesuit order in the region (Zanatta 2020). For Zanatta, Latin American populisms are all variants of 'Jesuit populism' and liberation theology should be seen as a central part of this populist project in the region. The purpose of this article is to address the possible interconnection by examining the reverse direction of influence or affinity. Focusing on a particular expression coined by Jesuit liberation theologian Ignacio Ellacuría (d. 1989): 'el pueblo crucificado,' I ask to what degree this conceptualization could be seen as a 'populist' soteriology? The study identifies some apparent structural and ideational affinities. However, the closer reading of the Jesuit liberation soteriology of Ellacuría does not reveal any significant historical or conceptual populist influence. Hence, it is inferred that Zanatta's claim that Latin American liberation theology should be seen as an ideology of 'Jesuit populism' lacks substantiation.