Sobrino condemnation to revitalise "Marxist" theology: Boff

Published: 19 March 2007

Former Franciscan priest, Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff has
predicted that the Vatican's "condemnation" of the theology of Spanish
Jesuit Jon Sobrino will only serve to revitalise Marxist theology in
Latin America.

Boff,
who left the priesthood and the Franciscan order several years ago
after his own liberation theology writings were condemned by the Holy
See, told AFP newsagency that Fr Sobrino "is one of the most serious,
most evangelical, and I would say one of the holiest theologians that
we have."

"For this reason, the condemnation against him is especially grave," Boff said, according to a Catholic News Agency report.

"I
think a condemnation such as this cheats many of the poor, because Jon
Sobrino was always an ally of the poor. And the Church may be able to
disappoint the rich, but she cannot betray the poor," Boff said during
a visit to the capital of Costa Rica for the opening of a special
course of the University of Costa Rica.

According to Boff,
"liberation theology is alive and well in Latin America, Asia and
Africa, although the controversy surrounding its tenets has lessened in
recent years."

"The theologians of liberation theology continue
to work", he said, adding that the censure of Jon Sobrino "may life the
spirits of those Christians who are followers of liberation theology".

Historian blasted Pope over Sacramentum Caritatis

Meanwhile, Catholic World News
reports that noted Vatican II historian Guiseppe Alberigo has denounced
the opposition of the Catholic Church to the legal recognition of (same
sex) civil unions, and blasted Pope Benedict as "worse than Pius XII".

Professor Alberigo told the Corriere della Sera
that Pope Benedict is afraid of modernity "like a child who during the
night is afraid of a ghost - when in reality there is no ghost, but
only a shadow".

Accusing the pope of rolling back Vatican II, Alberigo described the Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis as "a restoration that cancels a century of Church history".

"It is difficult to find cohesion between magisterial documents and the spirit of the Second Vatican Council," he said.