Liberation theology is a synthesis of Christian theology and Marxist socio-economic analyses that emphasizes social concern for the poor and the political liberation for oppressed peoples. In the 1950s and the 1960s, liberation theology was the political praxis of Latin American theologians, such as Gustavo Gutiérrez of Peru, Leonardo Boff of Brazil, Juan Luis Segundo of Uruguay, and Jon Sobrino of Spain, who popularized the phrase "Preferential option for the poor".
Giovanni Battista Re is an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church whose service has been primarily in the Roman Curia. He was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2001. He is the Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Bishops, having retired on 30 June 2010. As the senior Cardinal-Bishop to attend the March 2013 conclave to elect Pope Benedict XVI's successor, he chaired the conclave. Pope Francis approved his election as Sub-Dean of the College of Cardinals on 10 June 2017.
Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, the first to visit the Arabian Peninsula, and the first pope from outside Europe since the Syrian Gregory III, who reigned in the 8th century.
Geraldo Majella Agnelo is a Brazilian Roman Catholic Cardinal. He is Archbishop Emeritus of São Salvador da Bahia and Primate Emeritus of Brazil.
Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa is a Chilean prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Santiago from 1998 to 2010. He has been a cardinal since 2001 and was a member of Pope Francis' Council of Cardinal Advisers from its creation in 2013 until his departure in 2018.
Our Lady of Aparecida a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the traditional form associated with the Immaculate Conception associated with a clay statue bearing the same title. The image is widely venerated by Brazilian Catholics, who consider her as the principal patroness of Brazil. Historical accounts state that the statue was originally found by three fishermen who miraculously caught many fish after invoking the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Conference of Latin American Bishops was a bishops' conference held in 1968 in Medellín, Colombia. In this conference, the bishops agreed that the church should take "a preferential option for the poor." The bishops decided to form Christian "base communities" in which they would teach the poor how to read by using the Bible. The goal of the bishops was to liberate the people from the "institutionalized violence" of poverty. They informed the people that poverty and hunger were preventable.
Jorge (Liberato) Urosa is a Venezuelan Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Caracas from 2005 to 2018. He was made a cardinal in 2006.
Paolo Romeo STL JCD is a Cardinal and Archbishop emeritus of Palermo. He was appointed to the see of Palermo by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 December 2006.
The Cathedral Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida is a prominent Roman Rite Catholic basilica in Aparecida, Brazil. It is dedicated to Our Lady of Aparecida, as the principal Patroness of Brazil. Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida roughly translates to Our Lady of Conception Who Appeared. It is the second largest church in the world, after St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
Juan de la Caridad Garcia Rodriguez is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed Archbishop of Havana on 26 April 2016. He previously served as an Auxiliary Bishop of Camagüey from 1997 to 2002 and then as Archbishop of that diocese from 2002 to 2016. He is a past president of the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Jesús Rubén Darío Salazar Gómez is Cardinal, and current Archbishop of Bogotá since his installation on 13 August 2010.
Raymundo Damasceno Assis is a Brazilian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Auxiliary Bishop of Brasília from 1986 to 2004 and Archbishop of Aparecida from 2004 to 2016.
Sérgio da Rocha is a Roman Catholic prelate who has been the Archbishop of Brasília since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 15 June 2011. He previously served as Archbishop of Teresina.
The papal conclave of 2013 was convened to elect a pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI following his resignation on 28 February 2013. After the 115 participating cardinal-electors gathered, they set 12 March 2013 as the beginning of the conclave. On the fifth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ, Archbishop of Buenos Aires. He took the pontifical name of Francis.
Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as auxiliary bishop of São Salvador da Bahia from 1998 till 2004, when he became archbishop of Belo Horizonte. In 2010 he also became bishop for the Brazilian ordinariate for the faithful of eastern rite. In May 2019 he became head of the Brazilian Bishops conference.
Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano is a Nicaraguan Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Managua. He was previously bishop of Matagalpa.
José Luis Mollaghan is an Argentinian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Since 2014 he has been an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He previously held positions in Argentina, including Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires and Archbishop of Rosario.
Carlos Aguiar Retes is a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the Archbishop of Tlalnepantla, and previously served as the Bishop of Texcoco. He was elevated to the rank of Cardinal on 19 November 2016. He was appointed Archbishop of Mexico City on 7 December 2017 and installed on 5 February 2018. He has served as an officer of the Mexican Episcopal Conference and the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) and been president of both. He helped draft the landmark mission statement CELAM issued at the close of its 2007 conference in Aparecida. He has been called a "longtime ally" of Pope Francis who combines "intellectual finesse with a pastoral passion".
