Liberation theology is a Christian theology in which the salvation brought by Jesus Christ is understood in terms of a liberation from unjust political, economic, or social conditions. Infuenced by Marxist social theory, its theologians consider "structural sin" to be a root cause of poverty and oppression, and consider the primary responsibility of the Church to be its "option for the poor". Although liberation theology has grown into an international and inter-denominational movement, it began as a movement within the Roman Catholic church in Latin America of the 1950s - 1970s. It arose principally as a moral reaction to widespread poverty caused by social injustice in that region. It had a widespread influence in Latin America, although its influence diminished after liberation theologians using Marxist concepts were admonished by the Catholic church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1984 and 1986.

--Courtesy of the Catholic Encyclopedia--