Adolf Daens is a forerunner of liberation theology, but fully fleshed out this concept even before this movement adopted it. The Roman Catholic priest lived in Belgium at the end of the 19th century. It was the time of industrialization and this also passed Belgium by. Many Roman Catholic workers, including children, worked long hours in the factories. It involved long hours, an unsafe situation and little pay. The Belgian priest wants to alleviate the situation of the workers and tries to emancipate the worker through his preaching and work in the church. At the same time, he calls for political attention, including through his brother’s newspaper, to do something about the inhumane situations in the factories. The film Daens shows that the elite put pressure on the church to have Daens stop his activities, or at least change his tone. However, Daens, who is inspired by the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum, shows no sign of stopping and even gets to the point where he is removed from office. The battle does not end there. As a representative of the Christian People’s Party, which he founded himself, he continues to stand up for the workers and strives for more democratization and freedom within the Catholic party.
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a school that is mainly known within the Roman Catholic Church. The emphasis is on standing up and bringing justice to the poor and oppressed. This should mainly come through political activism. Poverty is considered the basis for sin and poverty must therefore be fought. Theology often goes hand in hand with sociological and economic models.
Liberation theology as a concept only really became known after the Second Vatican Council. Particularly in South America, the movement has gained much prominence in the resistance of the church and individual Christians against oppressive powers and systems.
A difference with the West is that the emphasis is on the salvation of the entire group instead of the emphasis on the fact that the individual or individual needs to be saved. The concept of salvation also often has a partly different connotation. Salvation is not a remission of sins, but a release from social circumstances. Liberation theology is based on texts by Jesus himself from, among others, Matthew (10:34, 26:51-52), but also identifies with the prophets in ancient Israel in their struggle against social injustice. There is also a lot of criticism of the movement
from the Roman Catholic Church. This is expressed as saying that the movement has gone too far. For example, many Marxist elements committed a mortal sin in the 1970s and the movement identifies too much with revolutionaries. Pope John Paul II, but also Benedict, the current pope, have strongly condemned the movement.
Daens
It is not very difficult to fit Adolf Daens into liberation theology. There is much overlap between him and contemporary practitioners of liberation theology. In itself, I think he has done a lot of good, or at least sent a strong signal in his resistance to injustice. With Daens there is the same danger that he goes too far and that he adapts Jesus too much to put him like a horse before his own cart. However, that danger is always present. This discussion can already be found in James where it is about that some believers must show their faith through their faith. Even today there is still a tension between doing social justice and doing missions. Ideally, these two should go hand in hand, but depending on the situation, the emphasis can shift. In the case of Daens that happened, but in our opinion it was necessary.