Nothing New Here

Jesuit Jon Sobrino knows only too well the answer to that question, having received a slap-down from the Vatican last year over his writings. His new book, The Eye of the Needle, No Salvation outside the Poor: a Utopian-Prophetic Essay (Darton, Longman and Todd, £9.95) is a fierce critique of the state of the world, Sobrino lambasting the West for its uncaring ability to live as it does without thinking of the millions in need. However, he contends that there can be no salvation without these very same poor.

Rich and poor should carry each other – it is simply not enough to dictate progress developments to the impoverished, but spiritual gifts must be learnt from them in return for material wealth.

Ultimately a moving testament to the power of love, Sobrino’s work is a forceful and at times shocking polemic, which may prove its downfall in the popularity stakes. Nevertheless, despite protests to the contrary, his work does at times idealise the poor, a criticism regularly levelled at liberation theologians, among whom he is often lumped, meaning idealistic teenagers may be most moved.

Fr. Jon Sobrino, S.J. and his admonitions (here) and (here)

Link to the full Times Online article (here)