Spanish politicians and other personalities on Friday paid tribute to Vicente Ferrer, a former Jesuit who died in India after dedicating his life to helping more than 2 million poor people there. Ferrer passed away Friday at age 89 in Anantapur, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Born in Barcelona, Ferrer participated in the Spanish Civil War without firing a single shot, and later abandoned law studies to become a Jesuit. He arrived in Mumbai in 1952. "I never spoke to (the poor) about God. There were other priorities," Ferrer once said. Such ideas contributed to his expulsion from the Society of Jesus later on.Ferrer also had problems with the Indian authorities, which expelled him in 1968. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in favour of his staying in India, and he was allowed to return the following year.
Link (here)
An interview of Vincente Ferrer at a Spanish blog En profundidad , translated with Google translate.
Question: You were Jesuit (1950 to 1969) and left them to become involved in social problems.
Answer: All men have an original vocation to do good to others. The priesthood is the profession they choose, for excellence, be a brother of the other. I wanted the original priesthood and discovered that before the liturgical vocation, had a humanistic.
Answer: All men have an original vocation to do good to others. The priesthood is the profession they choose, for excellence, be a brother of the other. I wanted the original priesthood and discovered that before the liturgical vocation, had a humanistic.
Question: That sounds very close to socialism or communism.
Answer: No. They are approaching us. Its principles contain all these values of brotherhood. Though Christianity and Buddhism, for love, do not have sisters to humanity, communism, by force, either. Therefore, we must return to the former.
Link (here) to the original in Spanish
Blogger Note: A reader has done a great job transcribing the original Spanish, that transcription is in the comments section.
Answer: No. They are approaching us. Its principles contain all these values of brotherhood. Though Christianity and Buddhism, for love, do not have sisters to humanity, communism, by force, either. Therefore, we must return to the former.
Link (here) to the original in Spanish
Blogger Note: A reader has done a great job transcribing the original Spanish, that transcription is in the comments section.
4 comments:
Edited:
Question: You were a Jesuit (1950 to 1969) and left to become involved in social problems.
Answer: All men have an original vocation to do good to others. The priesthood is the profession par excellence of being a brother to others. I wanted that original priesthood and discovered that prior to its liturgical vocation, it had a humanistic one.
Question: That sounds very close to socialism or communism.
Answer: No. They are approaching us. Its principles contain all these values of brotherhood. Although Christianity like Buddhism, for love, have not accomplished linking humanity in brotherhood, communism, by force, hasn't either. Therefore, we must return to the former.
Enrique,
Thank you for the better translation.
A lot more insight into why he was expelled from the Jesuits.
JMJ
Joe
The original Spanish has grammatical errors probably because it was transcribed as spoken in an interview, not originally written.
I was caught in one of these and here's the correction:
Although Christianity like Buddhism, for love, HAS not accomplished linking humanity in brotherhood, communism, by force, hasn't either.
...............
Anyhow, he sounds a lot like Jon Sobrino, another Jesuit. When I first read his works he had me convinced. After all, the gospels advocate for the poor repeatedly. After Benedict XVI censured Sobrino and a conflict broke out, I began reading a variety of Latin American liberation theologians' arguments more closely. Then I realized that they often, but not consistently, tended to diminish or even deny Christ's divinity, His real presence in the Holy Eucharist, etc. I'm not sure where Jon Sobrino stands on these matters at this point but not few other LT advocates clearly have abandoned our Catholic faith.
Latins and other minorities are specially vulnerable to their arguments given the poverty they often witness or personally confront in the face of other Catholics' wealth. Accordingly, LT can't just be swept under for there is a susbtantive basis for much of what its advocates argue, as Benedict XVI has recognized. The matter needs to be addressed economically and spiritually like Luke and Matthew respectively attempted (and also Paul).
LT raises complex questions for while poverty or true detachment from wealth is required according to the gospels, it cannot be an excuse for hate and class war, but neither can the crippling (and much worst) poverty of others be dismissed as 'good for their souls'.
Joseph, I thank you very much for your enormously informative and edifying blog.
Thank you, Enrique.
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