Reasons for Our Hope: Honoring the Theological Legacy of Gustavo Gutiérrez, O.P.

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Celebrating the launch of a fifty-year digital archive of Father Gutiérrez’s theological conferences and the publication of Vivir y pensar el Dios de los pobres

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This symposium honors the life and work of Father Gustavo Gutiérrez and announces the joint opening of the new Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, O.P. Collection—a fifty-year digital archive of his theological conferences—at the Hesburgh Libraries of Notre Dame, the Instituto Bartolomé de las Casas (Lima), and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Lima).

The gathering also celebrates the posthumous publication of Gutiérrez’s Vivir y pensar el Dios de los pobres and the Cushwa Center’s launch of its Gutiérrez Research Awards.

A Peruvian priest and pioneer of liberation theology, Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, O.P. (1928–2024) taught at the University of Notre Dame from 2001 to 2018. Gutiérrez’s landmark Teología de la liberación (1971) and many other writings, translated into more than a dozen languages, have left an indelible mark on Christian theology globally. He was named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002, and received more than 30 honorary degrees.


Schedule

1:00 – 2:30 pm | “Más que la palabra escrita”: A Half-Century Audio Archive of Gustavo Gutiérrez Doing Theology

Friends, colleagues, and collaborators of Father Gutiérrez will reflect on his legacy and introduce the digital materials newly available to researchers at the Hesburgh Libraries’ University of Notre Dame Archives thanks to a partnership with the Instituto Bartolomé de las Casas and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. The digital archives provide access to a half-century of little-known theological conferences given by Gutiérrez in Perú from 1971 to 2020.

2:30 – 3:00 pm | Coffee Break

3:00 – 4:00 pm | Book Discussion: Vivir y pensar el Dios de los pobres

Leo Guardado and David Lantigua will discuss Father Gutiérrez’s posthumous book, Vivir y pensar el Dios de los pobres (Centro de Estudios y Publicaciones, 2025), edited by Guardado with a preface by Pope Francis. The conversation will consider the contemporary legacy of Gutiérrez’s way of doing theology from a world of poverty after Pope Francis.

Notre Dame students who register to attend will be eligible to receive a free copy of the book while supplies last.

4:00 pm | Reception

Following the book discussion, all are welcome for a light reception in the Scholars Lounge (106 Hesburgh Library).

This symposium, cosponsored by the Hesburgh Libraries, the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, the Department of Theology, and the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, is free and open to all. Registration is requested but not required.

Speakers

• Carmen Lora de Ames
  Instituto Bartolomé de las Casas
• Juan Miguel Espinoza Portocarrero
  Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
• Rev. Daniel G. Groody, C.S.C.
  University of Notre Dame
• Leo Guardado
  Fordham University
• Mary Catherine Hilkert, O.P.
  University of Notre Dame
• Erika Hosselkus
  University of Notre Dame
• David Lantigua
  University of Notre Dame
• Timothy Matovina
  University of Notre Dame