Editing Pope John Paul II (section)

=== Liberation theology ===
In 1984 and 1986, through Cardinal Ratzinger (future [[Pope Benedict XVI]]) as [[Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]], John Paul II officially condemned aspects of [[liberation theology]], which had many followers in Latin America.<ref name="Miami" />

Visiting Europe, Salvadoran Archbishop [[Óscar Romero]] unsuccessfully advocated for the Vatican to condemn the right-wing military regime of [[El Salvador]], for violations of human rights during the [[Salvadoran Civil War]] and the support of [[death squads]]. Though Romero expressed his frustration at working with clergy who cooperated with the government, John Paul II encouraged him to maintain episcopal unity as a top priority.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Beatification of Óscar Romero |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-beatification-of-oscar-romero |magazine=The New Yorker |date=19 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=What Óscar Romero's Canonization Says About Pope Francis |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/11/the-martyr-and-the-pope/570835/ |work=The Atlantic |date=November 2018}}</ref>

In his travel to [[Managua]], Nicaragua in 1983, John Paul II harshly condemned what he dubbed the "popular Church",<ref name="Miami" /> referencing the [[ecclesial base communities]] supported by the [[Latin American Episcopal Conference]], and the Nicaraguan clergy's tendencies to support the leftist [[Sandinistas]], reminding the clergy of their duties of obedience to the [[Holy See]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Pope says taking sides in Nicaragua is peril to church |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/05/world/pope-says-taking-sides-in-nicaragua-is-peril-to-church.html |work=The New York Times |date=5 March 1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Their Will Be Done |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1983/07/their-will-be-done/ |work=Mother Jones |date=1983}}</ref><ref name="Miami" /> During that visit [[Ernesto Cardenal]], a priest and minister in the Sandinista government, knelt to kiss his hand. John Paul withdrew it, wagged his finger in Cardenal's face, and told him, "You must straighten out your position with the church."<ref name="Religion: Berating Marxism's False Hopes" />

However, in March 1986, the Vatican published an Instruction on the subject in which, while warning against reducing "the salvific dimension of liberation to the socio-ethical dimension which is a consequence of it," it supported "[[Option for the poor|the special option for the poor]]" favored by the liberation theologians, and described the Basic Christian Communities which they had promoted as "a source of great hope for the church." A few weeks later, the pope himself seemed to endorse the movement when he wrote to the Brazilian bishops that as long as it is in harmony with the teaching of the Church, "we are convinced, we and you, that the theology of liberation is not only timely but useful and necessary. It should constitute a new state-- in close connection with the former ones—of theological reflection."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sigmund |first=Paul E. |title=Liberation Theology: An Historical Evaluation}}</ref>