Martin Rhonheimer (born 1950 in Zurich,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) is a Swiss

political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...

professor and priest of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

personal prelature Personal prelature is a canonical structure of the Catholic Church which comprises a prelate, clergy and laity who undertake specific pastoral activities. The first personal prelature is Opus Dei. Personal prelatures, similar to dioceses and ...

Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work ...

. he is teaching professor at the Opus Dei-affiliated

Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Pontifical University of the Holy Cross ( la, Pontificia Universitas Sanctae Crucis, it, Pontificia Università della Santa Croce) is a Roman Catholic university under the Curial Congregation for Catholic Education, now entrusted to the Prela ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Life

Rhonheimer was born 1950 in Zurich,

into a Swiss Jewish family. He studied philosophy, history, political science and theology in Zurich and Rome. In 1974, he joined the

as a numerary member. In 1983, he was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

. he teaches at the Opus Dei-affiliated

. His main interests are in

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

, the history of

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...

Opinions

Rhonheimer's regular editorials have been published by the German FAZMartin Rhonheimer
Barmherzigkeit schafft keinen Wohlstand
FAZ, 19 February 2017'Barmherzigkeit schafft keinen Wohlstand'
kath.net, 28 February 2017 and

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ...

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 The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

.Martin Rhonheime
Töten im Namen Allahs
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 6 September 2014

Economy

In 2017, Rhonheimer criticized

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

' view that "this economy kills". He supports

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent f ...

views of entrepreneurship, for which

free market capitalism In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

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 teaching Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organizatio ...

s because there were "no exact formulations in the New Testament" and they "had always been a product of their time". ["''In the meantime, we have gotten a welfare-state church-system, because the church has become so integrated into the structures of the redistributive tax and welfare state that it is no longer free to question a system that, for example, blatantly contradicts the principle of subsidiarity and provides economically false incentives''."]

Books

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

bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, me ...

. *''Familie und Selbstverwirklichung. Alternativen zur Emanzipation''. Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, Köln 1979(German) *''Natur als Grundlage der Moral. Die personale Struktur des Naturgesetzes bei Thomas von Aquin: Eine Auseinandersetzung mit autonomer und teleologischer Ethik''. Tyrolia-Verlag, Innsbruck-Wien 1987 (German) *''La prospettiva della morale. Fondamenti dell'etica filosofica''. Armando, Roma 1994 *''La filosofia politica di Thomas Hobbes. Coerenza e contraddizioni di un paradigma''. Armando, Roma 1997 *''Etica della procreazione. Contraccezione - Fecondazione artificiale - Aborto''. Edizioni PUL-Mursia, Milano 2000 *''Natural Law and Practical Reason: A Thomist View of Moral Autonomy''. Fordham University Press, 2000, (Translation of ''Natur als Grundlage der Moral'') *''Changing the World - The Timeliness of Opus Dei.'' 152 pages, Scepter Publishers (March 9, 2009) . :(''Die Verwandlung der Welt. Zur Aktualität des Opus Dei''. Adamas Verlag, Köln 2006 (German) *''The Perspective of the Acting Person: Essays in the Renewal of Thomistic Moral Philosophy''. CUA Press, 2008, *''Vital Conflicts in Medical Ethics: A Virtue Approach to Craniotomy and Tubal Pregnancies''. Catholic University of America Press, 2009 *''The Ethics of Procreation and the Defense of Human Life: Contraception, Artificial Fertilization, and Abortion.'' 336 pages. The Catholic University of America Press (February 15, 2010) (''Abtreibung und Lebensschutz. Tötungsverbot und Recht auf Leben in der politischen und medizinischen Ethik''. Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn, 2003. (German)) *''The Perspective of Morality: Philosophical Foundations of Thomistic Virtue Ethics''. Catholic University of America Press, 2011

Articles in English available online

The Truth About Condoms.
''The Tablet'', UK, 10 July 2004 (free registration required)
The Holocaust: What Was Not Said.
''First Things'', no. 137, November 2003
Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ": A Plea for Fairness.
''Logos'', 8:I, Winter 2005 (PDF)

References

External sources

*
Rhonheimer's personal web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhonheimer, Martin 1950 births Swiss Jews 20th-century Swiss Roman Catholic priests Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Opus Dei members Living people 21st-century Swiss Roman Catholic priests Academic staff of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross