لاهوت التحرير
In 1984 through "Instruction on Certain Aspects of the 'Theology of Liberation,'" and similar documents employing the voice of Cardinal Ratzinger, leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, John Paul II officially articulated his reservations about some forms of Liberation theology supplanting traditional Catholic doctrine. Liberation theology had many followers in South America. Óscar Romero's attempt, during his visit to Europe, to obtain a Vatican condemnation of El Salvador's regime, denounced for violations of human rights and its support of death squads, was a failure. In his travel to Managua, Nicaragua in 1983, John Paul II harshly condemned what he dubbed the "popular Church" (i.e. "ecclesial base communities" (CEBs) supported by the CELAM), and the Nicaraguan clergy's tendencies to support the leftist Sandinistas, reminding the clergy of their duties of obedience to the Holy See.