Vatican newspaper says Jesuit was right to apply Gospel to injustice

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican newspaper said Jesuit Father Jon Sobrino, whose work was recently criticized by doctrinal authorities, was right in trying to apply the truth of the Gospel to concrete situations of global injustice.

Where Father Sobrino risks going astray, the newspaper said, is in proposing a new type of Christology that seems to prefer the "Jesus of history" to the "Christ of faith" and downplays his transcendent nature.

The article, published in L'Osservatore Romano March 24, came 10 days after the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published a note warning of "erroneous or dangerous propositions" in the work of Father Sobrino, a leading proponent of liberation theology.
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The article said Father Sobrino begins with a "very just" application of theology to the concrete situations of extreme poverty and injustice in Latin America and other parts of the world.

It said Father Sobrino rightly believes that the Christian faith cannot act as a "sedative" in the face of such injustice, which affects millions of people.