Christian Ethics and Liberation from Below: A Way of Doing Theological Ethics in Brazil

Abstract

This essay offers a Latin American perspective of theological ethics developed from the preferential option for the poor, marked by dialogue and encounter with the poor in their reality. Considering the theological diversity of the region, the author focuses on a theological ethics developed in Brazil, especially the dialogical methods of Brazilian Catholic ethicists gathered by the Brazilian Society of Moral Theology. This essay presents an account on dialogue in theological ethics as a means of creation and liberation from the encounter with the poor in their reality and with other partners in a praxis of faith and struggle for justice. Then, the author stresses their reality as a theological locus and their voices as interlocutors for developing theological ethics, showing an experience of this method from below in theological bioethics and global health challenges.