Peruvian theologian the Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, father of influential liberation theology, has died

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian theologian the Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, the father of the social justice-centered liberation theology that the Vatican once criticized for its Marxist undercurrents, has died. He was 96. The Dominican Order in Peru announced on social media that the Catholic priest died Tuesday night at a convent in Lima. It did not give a cause of death. Gutiérrez’s liberation theology placed the poor as its priority and exerted great influence on doctrine and the history of the church in Latin America. But the Vatican severely criticized its ideals and spent decades disciplining some of its most vocal supporters.