The Vatican and U.S. Roman Catholic bishops are investigating the writings of a well-known American theologian who has analyzed how the Catholic faith relates to other religions.
The inquiry's focus is the Rev. Peter Phan, of Georgetown University, a Vietnamese-American priest from the Dallas diocese and former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America.
The U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine has traded correspondence with Phan since July 2005 seeking clarification on his writings, said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
According a story published in the National Catholic Reporter on Wednesday, the Vatican raised concerns that Phan's 2004 book, "Being Religious Interreligiously," is "notably confused on a number of points of Catholic doctrine and also contains serious ambiguities."
The Vatican has condemned the writings of other Catholic theologians - including the Rev. Roger Haight, an American Jesuit, and the Rev. Jon Sobrino of El Salvador, a champion of liberation theology - on similar grounds.
Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI released a document reasserting the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, reiterating themes in the 2000 Vatican document Dominus Iesus. That document states non-Christians are "in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the church, have the fullness of the means of salvation."
The issues underpinning Phan's case are causing great debate among Catholic theologians grappling with how Catholicism relates to other faiths outside a European context, said Terrence Tilley, chairman of the theology department at Fordham University and president-elect of the Catholic Theological Society of America.
"To come to judgment as the Vatican seems to be doing so quickly, before theologians have had time to work out and critique the positions ... it's just premature," Tilley said. "It's in a sense cutting off debate before the debate's started."
Editors Note: Mr. Tilley has overlooked 2000 years of debate. It is only proper that those who claim to represent the church share her teaching and uphold her beliefs.
3 comments:
What if the present emphasis of church teaching and doctrine is in conflict with the teaching of Jesus? Christ preached tolerance, and condemning other religions as "less" than Roman Catholicism contradicts that. Benedict and the church hierarchy are steering the flock down a path of separatism and elitism, all under the guise of returning to "Core beliefs." Whose Core beliefs? the ones Jesus taught or the ones Benedict and the elitist theologians interpret as best protecting the church's financial power?
I think your comment is way off base Chris Casey, I don't think the Pope or the theologians are protecting the church's financial power.
Chris:
If the any church teachings go against the teaching of Jesus then of course one should follow Jesus. I don't see that as the true in this case.
Where did Christ preach tolerance? The confronted the money changers in the temple. He say he came to bring not peace but a sword.
He also preached unity among his followers. There is but one truth. That's not separatism or elitism. In this day and age where divorce, homosexuality and basic Christian foundation are up for debate, we can not trade political correctness for the truth of 2000 years.
Post a Comment