Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo (born 8 September 1942) is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church who was Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences from 1998 to 2022. He was made a bishop in 2001. Having authored many publications in the sciences, he received several honors, including the Légion d’Honneur of France in 2000.

Life

Born in Buenos Aires on 8 September 1942, he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires on 7 December 1968. At the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum of Rome he was awarded a Ph.D. in sacred theology, the highest level of Church postgraduate studies, with the maximum possible grade of summa cum laude (1978) with the dissertation La gracia como participación de la naturaleza divina según Santo Tomás de Aquino. In 1976 he graduated summa cum laude in philosophy at Perugia University. From 1976 to 1998 he was lecturer in the history of philosophy at the Lateran University in Rome where from 1982 on he was full professor in the same discipline. He was dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the same university for three consecutive terms from 1987 to 1996. From 1998 to 2014 he was full professor of the history of philosophy at the Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta (Rome) and in the same year was appointed president of the degree course in science of education. On 5 October 1998 he was appointed Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. In March 1999, he was also appointed Secretary Prelate of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. On 19 March 2001, Pope John Paul II consecrated him a bishop as titular bishop of Vescovio. On 19 July 2011, Pope Benedict XVI made him a member of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In 2018, he declared that "those who are best implementing the social doctrine of the Church are the Chinese", praising China's emphasis on "the common good". He said: "China is evolving very well.... you can not think that the China of today is the China of John Paul II or the Russia of the Cold War". He contrasted its efforts with the Western world where the concept of the common good is little valued. His comments were widely criticized. Father Bernardo Cervellera, in an editorial in AsiaNews, wrote: "The bishop does not seem to see the slums of Beijing and Shanghai, the expulsion of migrants, the oppression of religious freedom. Appreciation for the Paris climate agreements, but silence on the links between wealth, corruption and pollution. An ideological approach that makes the Church a laughingstock." On 4 April 2022, Pope Francis named Cardinal Peter Turkson to replace him as chancellor of both pontifical academies, and on 5 May, noting he had accepted Sánchez Sorondo's resignation, set Turkson's starting date as 6 June.

Decorations and honours

He was decorated as Cavaliere di Gran Croce of the Italian Republic (1999), official of honour of the Légion d’Honneur of France (2000), Grão Mestre da Ordem de Rio Branco of Brazil (2004), official of Austria (2004) and knight of Chile (2006). He was appointed Chaplain Grand Cross of Merit of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George in 2006 by Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria and Vice-Grand Prior of the Order in 2008.

Main publications