Martin Rhonheimer

Martin Rhonheimer (born 1950 in Zurich, Switzerland) is a Swiss political philosophy professor and priest of the Catholic personal prelature Opus Dei. As of July 2017 he is teaching professor at the Opus Dei-affiliated Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.

Life

Rhonheimer was born 1950 in Zurich, Switzerland into a Swiss Jewish family.[1] He studied philosophy, history, political science and theology in Zurich and Rome.

In 1974, he joined the personal prelature Opus Dei as a numerary member. In 1983, he was ordained a priest.

As of July 2017 he teaches at the Opus Dei-affiliated Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. His main interests are in political philosophy, ethics, the history of liberalism.

Opinions

Rhonheimer´s regular editorials have been published by the German FAZ[2][3] and Neue Züricher Zeitung.

Islam

In 2014, Rhonheimer wrote in the Neue Züricher Zeitung, that the Islamic State was no heresy, but "a recurring pattern in the history of violent expansion. The model is Muhammad himself", and that Islamic State was legitimized in the Koran and the Sharia, that "no arguments within Muslim theology that can be used to condemn Islamic State’s behavior as un-Islamic" can be found.[4][5]

Rhonheimer claimed, that Islam is more than a religion, but a cult with political and social rules, uniting religion and and political and social order in one, and that "it has always been violent." He wrote that "Islam’s central problem is the warlike, expansionist Islam from Medina, the legitimacy of killing for Allah’s honor and a violent Muhammad."[4][5]

Separation of church and state

In 2014, Rhonheimer wrote that a foundational element of Christianity was the separation of church and politics, which could be understood as synonymous to separation of church and state.[5]

Economy

In 2017, Rhonheimer criticized Pope Francis´ view that "this economy kills". He supports neoliberal views of enterpreneurship, for which free market capitalism is "necessary". He says that "seeking profits is good per se and in a free and lawfully ordered market system it creates wellbeing for everyone". He criticizes Catholic social teachings because there were "no exact formulations in the New Testament" and they "had always been a product of their time".[2] "Inzwischen haben wir ein Sozialstaatskirchensystem bekommen, weil sich die Kirche in die Strukturen des umverteilenden Steuer- und Sozialstaates derart eingebunden hat, dass sie nicht mehr frei ist, ein System in Frage zu stellen, das zum Beispiel dem Subsidiaritätsprinzip eklatant widerspricht und ökonomisch falsche Anreize setzt."[2]

Books

Rhonheimer has published a dozen books on topics concerning the philosophy of moral action, virtue, natural law, Aquinas, Aristotle, the ethics of sexuality and bioethics.

(Die Verwandlung der Welt. Zur Aktualität des Opus Dei. Adamas Verlag, Köln 2006 (German)

Articles in English available online

References

  1. ↑ Die Tagespost, March 22, 2003
  2. 1 2 3 Martin Rhonheimer.Barmherzigkeit schafft keinen Wohlstand FAZ, 19 February 2017
  3. ↑ 'Barmherzigkeit schafft keinen Wohlstand' kath.net 28 February 2017
  4. 1 2 Professor at Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome: Islamic State not un-Islamic, “model is Muhammad himself” October 6, 2014 Jihadwatch.org
  5. 1 2 3 Martin Rhonheimer Töten im Namen Allahs Neue Züricher Zeitung, 6 September 2014

External sources

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