Vatican: Pope Benedict XVI draws from Karl Marx's theory of alienation in his forthcoming book on Jesus Christ to illustrate his point that the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan is still relevant today.
The reference to the 19th-Century German philosopher and founder of modern communism is found in chapter seven of Jesus of Nazareth, extracts of which were published Wednesday by Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
"Karl Marx describes man's alienation in a drastic way; although by limiting his reasoning to the material sphere he fails to reach the true depths of alienation, he nevertheless provides a clear image of the man who falls victim to the robbers," Joseph Ratzinger writes.
In his book, the pope sees the biblical account of the Samaritan who rescues and cares for a stranger who has been robbed and beaten while on his way to Jericho as a metaphor that should teach modern day Catholics to care for their neighbours, whether they are a drug addict or an African whose country has been "looted and robbed" by colonialists.
"Is it not true that man ... during the full course of his history, finds himself alienated, mangled, abused?" the pope writes.
The book, his first since his election as pope two years ago, is due to be published on April 16, the day of his 80th birthday, in Italian, German and Polish.
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