Pope must show solidarity with the poor

31st May 2007

Derek Wall challenges Pope Benedict XVI

Green Party Principal Speaker Dr Derek Wall has challenged the Pope to speak out for the poor and indigenous in Latin America and to lift a controversial ruling against El Salvadorian Priest Father Jon Sobrino.

The Pope caused controversy during a recent visit to Latin America when he claimed that prior to the Spanish conquest indigenous people had been 'secretly longing for Christianity'.

Earlier this year, at the apparent urging of the right wing Opus Dei Archbishop of San Salvador Fernando Saenz Lacalle, the Papacy condemned the writings of Sobrino. Sobrino's most recent book 'Christ the Liberator' argues that Christians should follow the example of Christ work for the poor and oppose 'the accumulation of riches'.

Dr. Wall said: "The Catholic Church must argue for freedom and liberty. Forced conversion during the 16th century brought huge violence to the Americas, however progressive Christians have a record of standing up for the poor. The pope must show that he is a progressive and lift his condemnation of Father Sobrino and he must clearly speak up for the indigenous peoples of Latin America. Latin America was for decades the home of right wing death squads, backed by the US, who killed thousands of peasants. The Catholic church produced both collaborators and martyrs like Sobrino's friend Archbishop Oscar Romero murdered during mass in 1980. The choice is clear.

"I would like to repeat Sobrino's own word, 'When Jesus ate with the poorest, they called him a drunkard. When he made friends with sinners and prostitutes, he was despised and scorned. Whenever someone exposes the hypocritical conduct of the powerful, he is insulted, defamed and sometimes killed.' "

An interview with Priest Father Sobrino can be read at: http:// portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/12/277516.shtml

Details of the Vatican's decision to formally condemn elements of Sobrino's most important writings as "erroneous or dangerous can be found at: www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/ www.vatican.va]documentsrc_con_cfaith_doc_20061126_notification-sobrino_en.html