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189

De-Homogenizing Liberation 
Theologies in the Catalog and on 
the Shelves
Déborah Ortiz-Rivera, Bilingual Reference and Acquisitions Librarian, Pitts 
Theology Library, Emory University
Brinna Michael, Cataloging and Metadata Librarian, Pitts Theology Library, 
Emory University

ABSTR AC T: Liberation theologies are not monolithic, varying widely 
across geography and denominations. That rich diversity, however, 
is rarely reflected in the catalog with subject headings, or on the 
shelves with limited classification options. This paper discusses a 
project undertaken by the authors to address significant gaps in the 
representation of Liberation Theology in the catalog and stacks. First, 
the authors supplemented existing subject headings with geographic, 
denominational, and historical context to improve the search, discovery, 
and assessment experience for patrons within the catalog. Second, 
they developed a local expansion of the official Library of Congress 
Classification for Liberation theology (BT83.57) with subclassifications, 
including General works (.A1), General Catholic works (.A2), General 
Protestant works (.A3), and By region or country (.A4-Z). In the conclu-
sion, the authors reflect on the challenges of the project, future steps, 
and methods of applying this process to other areas of theological study. 

INTRODUCTION

In February 2024, it was brought to the attention of Bilingual 
Reference and Acquisitions Librarian, Déborah Ortiz-Rivera, that 
researchers at Pitts Theology Library were having issues assessing 
whether the resources they were finding on Liberation Theology 
were appropriate for their work. Determined to uncover the cause, 
Ortiz-Rivera began a survey of the catalog records for core works 
of Liberation Theology and quickly realized that there was some-
thing lacking. For almost every record she came across, the subject 
analysis failed to provide any additional context for the geographic, 



190    ATL A 2024 PROCEEDINGS

denominational, and/or historical situation in which the material 
was being presented.

Liberation Theology originally manifested in the works of Catholic 
priests and theologians across Latin America during the 1970s and 
1980s. Its application and processes were deeply entrenched in the 
contextual socio-political realities of each country and their effects 
on Christian praxis. Although the Catholic bishops formed a united 
front in presenting their ideas to the Catholic Church and the world, 
their individual work kept the context of their own ministries at 
the center. For example, the work of Gustavo Gutiérrez reflected 
the challenges of extreme poverty that pervaded the lives of his 
parishioners in Peru. The martyrdom of five Jesuit priests and the 
two women that served their house in El Salvador impacted Jon 
Sobrino’s meditations on Christology. 

As it is classified now, Liberation Theology is stripped of much 
of that important context, particularly in relation to neighboring 
theologies. Hispanic American Theology originated in the United 
States during the 1970s, coinciding with the first works of Liberation 
Theology in Latin America.1 Even when there was collaboration and 
exchange of ideas, each theology developed its own methodology 
and approach to the problem of oppression. Still, some works that 
belong in one category are classified in the other and vice versa.

The denominational lens of the theologians is particularly impor-
tant for contextualizing works of Liberation Theology. While Catholic 
theologians drove the development of Liberation Theology, Protestants 
pastors and theologians, such as Methodist José Míguez Bonino in 
Chile (1924-2012), and Presbyterian Rubem Alves in Brazil (1933-
2014) made important contributions as well. Their ecumenical 
work was remarkable considering the historic differences among 
Catholics and Protestants in Latin America. The denominational/
confessional approach of the authors mark important divergences, 
and clearly differentiating the contributions of Catholic, Protestant, 
and Pentecostal writers is a key element to adequately describe the 
resources.  

In the same way that denomination plays an important role in 
understanding works about Liberation Theology, the historical and 
geographical contexts are also critical. History plays a major role 
in how liberation theologians define oppression and poverty, often 



Listen and Learn Sessions    191

stressing the history of colonization with its consequences in Latin 
America. Additionally, the socio-political history of each country is 
important to consider, such as the wars and guerrilla operations in 
El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Colombia. These events are 
often interpreted through the lens of the struggle for liberation and 
should be included as subjects in the description of works that are 
influenced by or were created in response to them. 

To address the shortcomings of the existing catalog records for 
works on Liberation Theology, Ortiz-Rivera partnered with the 
Cataloging and Metadata Librarian, Brinna Michael, to implement two 
changes. First, the subject analysis in relevant bibliographic records 
would be assessed and updated to include clear information about 
the geographic, denominational, and historical context of the work 
in question, providing a more robust description for users who are 
interested in Liberation Theology. Second, Michael would develop 
an expansion of the existing Library of Congress Classification (LCC) 
for Liberation Theology (BT83.57) to include subclassifications that 
reflect denominational and geographic variation more definitively 
in the stacks. To realize these goals, a review of library holdings 
was necessary.

REVIEW PROCESS

The first step in reviewing the Liberation Theology holdings was to 
generate a report using Alma Analytics. Works were identified by 
the inclusion of Liberation theology as a subject in a 650 field in the 
bibliographic record, AND/OR the permanent call number in the 
holding record being either BT83.57 (Liberation theology), BT83.575 
(Hispanic American theology), or BT83.583 (Mujerista theology). 
By including all records that have the Liberation theology subject, 
materials that would show up in a keyword or subject search in 
the catalog would be included in the report. Additionally, works 
from the Hispanic American theology and Mujerista theology clas-
sifications were included as they often have significant thematic 
and geographic overlap with the works of Liberation Theology. The 
final report included 851 bibliographic records from 322 different 
classifications. To facilitate assessment, the report included the local 
unique identifier (MSS Id), title(s), author(s) and contributor(s), all 



192    AT L A 2024 PROCEEDINGS

subjects (65X fields), publisher, publication date, place of publica-
tion, ISBN, notes (500 field), and summary (520 field).

Between February and June 2024, 153 of the 851 records were 
rigorously reviewed using an intensive process of, for all intents 
and purposes, completely reassessing the subject analysis of each 
individual work. This process included reviewing each work with a 
copy in hand or using a version found through Google Books or on 
Internet Archive, assessing the contributor(s) and subject coverage, 
and making detailed notes of what critical contextual information 
was missing from the current record. The result of this process was 
that 124 of the identified records had suggestions for contextual 
subjects to be added. Additionally, five categories became evident 
which could be used to inform future review.

The first of these categories is seminal works of Liberation 
Theology. These include the core publications of notable theolo-
gians and philosophers who worked to originally develop Liberation 
Theology. Some examples include the works of Gustavo Gutiérrez, 
Leonardo Boff, Jon Sobrino, and Juan Luis Segundo. These men, 
among others, are considered fathers of the movement and their 
writings inspired further development of the core tenets of Liberation 
Theology as it grew beyond the Catholic and Latin American contexts.

Non-Latin American works which contextualize, critique, or 
expand on Liberation Theology make up the second category. This 
category includes works which apply the concepts of Liberation 
Theology to geographic and socio-political regions outside of the 
Latin American context, as well as works by theologians and authors 
responding to the tenets of Liberation Theology. An example would 
be some works by German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, who adapted 
the ideas of Liberation Theology in developing his “theology of hope.”

Additionally, works such as Leave the Temple: Indian Paths to 
Human Liberation, edited by Felix Wilfred, fit into this category on 
the grounds that they apply the concepts of Liberation Theology in 
a different geographic context—in this case, India.

The third category consists of works which explore the history 
and development of Liberation Theology. Hanging on and Rising 
Up: Renewing, Re-envisioning, and Rebuilding the Cross from the 
“Marginalized,” by Patricia Cuyatti Chávez, is included in this category 



Listen and Learn Sessions    193

on the basis that Chávez’s work explores the historical context that 
gave rise to the development of Gustavo Gutiérrez’s Liberation 
Theology. This category is for works which frame the context, history, 
and development of Liberation Theology, rather than investigating 
the concepts and ideas of Liberation Theology.

Works focusing on the lives and work of notable contributors to the 
development of Liberation Theology constitute the fourth category. 
This might include biographies, historical reviews of the theology 
of a particular contributor, and/or reflections on the involvement 
of a contributor’s theology to a broader movement or context. This 
category distinguishes between works about a particular theologian 
or philosopher as a person, rather than the conceptual work of a 
specific theologian or philosopher.

Finally, the fifth category includes works on other theologies 
which incorporate, were influenced by, or expand upon Liberation 
Theology. This includes works on Black Theology, Postcolonial 
Theology, Feminist Theology, and more, which might address the 
impact or influence of Liberation Theology, but are primarily about 
a different theological tradition. An example of such a work is Faith 
in the Face of Militarization: Indigenous, Feminist, and Interreligious 
Voices, edited by Jude Lal Fernando, which includes essays which 
draw on Liberation Theology concepts, but focus on a broader range 
of theological responses to militarization.

SUBJECT UPDATES

Based on the categories and initial subject suggestions, the authors 
determined guidelines for supplementing and/or updating existing 
subject headings. All the categories will have at least one geographic 
subject or subdivision added if none is already present. In some cases, 
multiple geographic headings may be appropriate. For records that 
already have one or more geographic subjects, additional headings 
may be added for specificity or refinement. Additionally, all the 
categories will have a denominational subject added if none is pres-
ent. This is particularly important for delineating between Catholic 
and broadly Protestant works, however more specific Protestant 
denominations may be added if relevant. One example of this may 



194    ATL A 2024 PROCEEDINGS

be the Pentecostal or Holiness denomination(s), which have seen a 
recent increase in application of Liberation Theology ideas.

In addition to these overarching guidelines, several of the catego-
ries were determined to need additional subject adjustments. For 
seminal works, the authors identified the importance of historical 
context to the development and understanding of these burgeoning 
theological ideas. Therefore, subjects will be added, as necessary, to 
provide clear and relevant historical context. For example, a work 
that was written in response to the Second Lateran Council would 
include the heading, Vatican Council (Second): 1962–1965: Basilica di 
San Pietro in Vaticano), and a work produced during the civil war in 
El Salvador would include the heading, El Salvador—History—Civil 
War, 1979–1992.

Works in the second and fifth categories (Non-Latin American 
works and works on other theologies) will either have the existing 
Liberation theology subject modified, or have a new subject added 
as Liberation theology—Latin America—Influence. This change will 
make it clear that these works are not necessarily part of the core, 
seminal works that make up the “canon” of Liberation Theology, but 
rather incorporate, reinterpret, criticize, and/or expand on those 
ideas. Making this distinction clear in the subject coverage means 
that users searching the catalog will have an easier time making 
informed decisions on the applicability of a work to their research.

For works in the fourth category (contributors to Liberation 
Theology), the authors determined that it was important to modify 
the existing Liberation theology heading, or add one as Liberation 
theology—Contributors, thereby clarifying the specific role Liberation 
Theology plays in the work as a theme. To expand on this, the geo-
graphic subject, whether it was being added anew or already existed, 
would be adapted to use Theologians—[country], which places the 
emphasis on the person while providing the geographic context of 
their contribution. As mentioned in relation to previous additions 
and modifications, by specifically identifying that certain works are 
focused on a person, rather than the ideas and concepts that make 
up Liberation Theology, a user can quickly ascertain if a resource 
is relevant to their search.



Listen and Learn Sessions    195

(RE)CLASSIFICATION

The first step in addressing the limitations of classification was 
to establish a local expansion of the existing LC classification for 
Liberation Theology. Currently, there is a single number (BT83.57) 
under which all works about Liberation Theology are classed, despite 
the discipline’s complexity and multi-faceted nature. For this project’s 
purposes, the authors determined that following existing practice 
within the LCC schedules for subclassifications would serve them 
best. The first rendition of this expansion included three categories 
of subclassification that were largely focused on creating organiza-
tional structure on the shelves through geographic divisions (see 
table 1). After further review of works and the development of the 
five categories, this initial expansion was revised to allow for both 
denominational and geographic organization (see table 1). 

Table 1: Subclassification Expansion to Liberation Theology (BT83.57)
INITIAL EXPANSION BT83.57.A-Z

    BT83.57.A1
    BT83.57.A2
    BT83.57.A3-Z

Liberation theology
   General works
   General special
   By region or country, A-Z

FINAL EXPANSION BT83.57.A-Z
    BT83.57.A1
    BT83.57.A2
    BT83.57.A3
    BT83.57.A4-Z

Liberation theology
   General works
   General Catholic works
   General Protestant works
   By region or country, A-Z

Once the final expansion of subclassifications was established, 
the authors identified guidelines for reclassifying or applying new 
classifications to works based on their placement in the five core 
categories previously identified (see table 2). 

Table 2: Reclassification Guidelines by Category
CATEGORY RECOMMENDED CLASSIFICATION

Seminal works (1) BT83.57.A-Z

Non-Latin American works (2) BT83.57.A4-Z
BT83.A2-3 
    (only if denominational focus is more critical)

History and development of Liberation Theology (3) BT83.57.A1-3
BT83.57.A4-Z 
    (only if geographic focus is more critical)

Contributors to Liberation Theology (4) Class under the individual
    (e.g., Leonardo Boff --> BX4668.3.B64)

Theologies related to Liberation Theology (5) Class under the theology
    (e.g., Postcolonial theology --> BT83.593)



196    ATL A 2024 PROCEEDINGS

The authors tested these guidelines on the first 153 reviewed 
bibliographic records. By default, all works that had been classified 
under BT83.57 were reclassified into the appropriate subclassifica-
tion or moved to a different classification, if relevant. The results 
of this process were that 68 of the 153 records were reclassified, 53 
of which were placed in the new BT83.57 subclassification system 
(see table 3).

Table 3: Reclassification Results
CLASSIFICATION # OF RECORDS

Liberation Theology 53

 General works 19

 General Catholic works 10

 General Protestant works 1

 By region or country 23

Non-Liberation Theology classifications 15

Not reclassified 85

An example of a work that was assigned to the “General works” 
subclassification is Proclaiming the Acceptable Year, edited by Justo 
L. González. This work constitutes a collection of sermons which 
draw on both Catholic and Protestant approaches to Liberation 
Theology and were written by authors representing a wide array 
of geographical regions. As such, it could not be classified into any 
of the more specific subdivisions.

One example of a work assigned to the Catholic subdivision is 
Theology and the Church: A Response to Cardinal Ratzinger and a 
Warning to the Whole Church, by Juan Luis Segundo. In this book, 
Segundo specifically responds to established Catholic doctrine, 
addressing the work of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as well as the 
decisions made during the Second Vatican Council. Meanwhile, 
an example of a work assigned to the Protestant subdivision is A 
Preference for the Poor: Latin American Liberation Theology from a 
Protestant Perspective, by Manfred K. Bahmann. This is more straight-
forward, as the title itself indicates that, while the work is a response 
to Catholic ideas, it is presented from the Protestant perspective.

Most works assigned within the new classification structure 
were classed by geographic subdivision. One example is Liberation 



Listen and Learn Sessions    197

Theology: Oppression, Politics, Poverty & the Nigerian Church, edited 
by Frank Stanislous, which was assigned the Cutter .N54 for Nigeria, 
which is the geographic focus of the work. At the same time, several 
works were reclassified outside of Liberation Theology entirely to 
better represent the contents. For example, Jesus Christus und das 
Gekreuzigte Volk: Christologie der Nachfolge und des Martyriums 
bei Jon Sobrino, by Nancy Elizabeth Bedford, was reclassified under 
Christology (BT202) because the core of the work is Christology, 
despite the specific focus on responding to notable Liberation theo-
logian Jon Sobrino’s Christology.

CONCLUSION

The project to make subject changes and reclassify works is ongoing, 
and as work progresses, many challenges have arisen. As with most 
large-scale projects, there are significant limitations on both staff 
skills and time. These materials represent a variety of languages, 
including English, Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese, making 
assessment more time-consuming for those in languages that the 
authors do not know. Additionally, there is the challenge of consid-
ering the use of “Hispanic American theology” as a subject and the 
overlap with Liberation Theology. Hispanic American Theology is 
distinct from Liberation Theology, tending towards a more ecumeni-
cal focus. However, there are quite a few materials that cover both 
theologies, and determining a method for accurately and helpfully 
representing those works in the catalog and on the shelves still 
needs to be explored.

As the project moves forward, the focus of the work will be on 
completing the review of all 851 identified bibliographic records. 
Once the review is completed, the process of formatting and add-
ing the new subjects, updating existing subjects, and assessing any 
reclassification needs can begin. The authors are exploring meth-
ods to undergo some of that work with batch processing methods, 
although some will likely need to be completed by hand. Any mate-
rials that are determined to need reclassification will also need to 
be pulled from the shelves, marked with the new call numbers, and 
reshelved. Throughout this process, the authors intend to diligently 
document all the processes for internal record and to share with 
others interested in doing similar projects.



198    ATL A 2024 PROCEEDINGS

Reflecting on this project-in-progress, there are significant pos-
sibilities of recreating these processes for other areas of the catalog 
as needed, particularly with other theologies that are similarly 
complex and nuanced. Black theology (BT82.7), Postcolonial theol-
ogy (BT83.593), and Feminist theology (BT83.55) stand out as subject 
areas of great interest to seminary students, faculty, and researchers. 
Each of these theologies’ classifications could be expanded to reflect 
unique contextual needs, and subject reanalysis and remediation 
could be leveraged to support search and discovery more effectively. 
Regardless, responding to the needs of users is key.



Listen and Learn Sessions    199

ENDNOTES

1  This refers specifically to the publication of works identified as Hispanic 
American Theology. 




