Jon Sobrino: Let's not look for salvation outside the poor.

Fick en artikel om jesuiten Jon Sobrino, som var den enda som överlevde en massaker där sex av hans medbröder, samt deras hushållerska och hennes dotter, mördades. De som gjorde detta fick sin utbildning på den skola som Fr. Roy Bourgeois länge har kämpat för att stänga.

I helgen var Jon Sobrino inbjuden för att tala på det möte som Fr. Roy Bourgeois ledde. Jon Sobrino har p.g.a. sina skriverier om de fattiga åthutats av Vatikanen (det låter för mig ganska obegripligt - men förmodligen är det p.g.a. befrielseteologin, som förre Påven vände sig emot).

Mötet förmörkades av nyheterna från Vatikanen om exkommuniceringen av Fr. Roy, men på något sätt var det profetiskt. Två personer som trots kyrkliga sanktioner vågar stå upp för sin övertygelse (kontroversiell på olika sätt), befann sig på samma plats.

Lyssna noga till vad han har att säga...

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"Born and raised in Spain, Jon moved to El Salvador in 1958 and has lived there ever since, teaching theology at the UCA, the Jesuit university.

He directs the Oscar Romero Pastoral Center, located on the site where the six Jesuits were assassinated. His many books include Christology at the Crossroads, Companions of Jesus, Jesus the Liberator, Christ the Liberator, Spirituality of Liberation, The True Church and the Poor, and Archbishop Romero. Reprimanded by the Vatican, he carries on urging us through his books to side with the poor, to defend and advocate for them, and in the process, to understand that God places them at the heart of reality.

On Friday night, in the packed ballroom of the Howard Johnson Hotel, Pax Christi awarded him with its annual book award for his latest, No Salvation Outside the Poor: Prophetic-Utopian Essays (Orbis Books).

The book speaks poignantly about our Jesuit brother Ignacio Ellacuria, the theologian and university president killed in 1989.

"When Ellacuria 'took hold of the reality' of the Third World, he grasped it in an important way as a 'crucified people'... Ellacuria said that the crucified people are one of the main features of our time, not merely something factual that we may consider, but something central that must be considered, without which we do not have a full grasp of reality."

Sobrino made several addresses in Columbus.

I feel joy being here with you all. We have to say No to the SOA, but that is not my last word. We also have to say Yes to the love of great people -- the six Jesuit martyrs, their co-workers Julia Elba and Celina, the four churchwomen, Archbishop Romero and all the martyrs.

They were always on the side of the oppressed, even when it was dangerous. To have known that great love is to say Yes. Behind the hatred on this planet, there is great love, which makes people work for justice. So the last word is not No but Yes.

There is a way out of this mess, a way which is way beyond elections. There have been thousands of elections but the world is still worse. Let's not look for salvation outside the poor.

What happens to us when we exclude millions of poor people from existence? The most forgotten crisis in the world is the Congo. Four million people have been killed there in the last few years. This is a failure of humanity. Hunger can be eliminated, but we don't want to do it. Every few seconds a child dies. We should say instead, every few seconds a child is assassinated.

We need to remember the martyrs. The martyrs were people of great love and love is a rare commodity in the world. They practiced compassion to the end. We need to thank them, because they are saving us from our total inhumanity."

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Och här är ytterligare en artikel om Fr. Roy.