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 professor and priest of the Catholic

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 mi ...

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 an ...

. he is teaching professor at the Opus Dei-affiliated Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.

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. 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 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 ne ...

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

Economy

In 2017, Rhonheimer criticized Pope Francis' 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 fa ...

views of entrepreneurship, 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 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 (polity), state, subsidiarity, social o ...

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. *''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