POPE John Paul II will attempt to blast liberation theology from the shores of Latin America when the continent's bishops meet in the Dominican Republic next week.
"Only in Jesus Christ is it possible to attain full liberation," the Pope is expected to say at the opening of the long-awaited Conference of the Latin American Episcopate on October 12.
Pope John Paul will reiterate his oft-repeated view that liberation can be achieved only by the "humanising " of political and economic systems, rather than through ideologies that can lend themselves to manipulation by political activists.
Liberation theology first took root among the Latin American hierarchy at their historic meeting at Medellin, Colombia, in 1968. At that time the bishops hoped that their advocacy of the rights of the poor would lead to a fairer society across the continent.