Mary and Human Liberation: The Story and the Text

For two thousand years the submissive figure of Mary, the mother of Jesus, has influenced the church's attitude toward women. Yet in the Gospels, Mary has a radical and challenging message for the powers that be. As a result, the study of Mary is of central importance for feminist and other liberation theologians.In 1990, Sri Lankan theologian and social activist, Tissa Balasuriya OMI, published his controversial and original Mary and Human Liberation. In January 1997 he was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church for his refusal to recant on the theological assumptions the book contains, and to sign a profession of faith delivered to him by the Committee for the Doctrine of the Faith.His excommunication has caused a storm of controversy in Christian and secular circles, mainly because of the lack of any public debate about the issues. In this book, the public debate takes place at last. Here Mary and Human Liberation is published for the first time in North America. Introduced by radical Catholic theologian Edmund Hill OP, edited by mariologist Helen Stanton, it sets out what happened, as well as the full correspondence between Balasuriya and the Vatican, some of it never published before. Tiss Balasuriya is a Roman Catholic priest and a member of the Order of Mary Immaculate. His is Director of the Centre for Society and Religion in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where his work for poor people has achieved world recognition. He is a founding member of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians.