Catholic Authorities Seeking to Stifle Their Own Theologians

A new article in U.S.A. Today reports how the Vatican is clamping down on ideas presented by its own theologians. In this case their ire is leveled at Rev. Peter Van of Georgetown University.

Phan explored salvation and other themes in his 2004 book, Being Religious Interreligiously, the focus of the Vatican inquiry. The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the book is "notably confused on a number of points of Catholic doctrine and also contains serious ambiguities," according to the National Catholic Reporter.

Among the chief concerns, said the independent Catholic weekly: that Phan's writings could be interpreted as saying non-Christian faiths "have a positive role in salvation history in their own right, and are not merely a preparation for the Christian Gospel." A committee of U.S. bishops is conducting a separate inquiry into Phan's work.

This seems to be in opposition to the new Popes way of thinking.

Earlier this year, Benedict 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."

"You can boil it down pretty simply," Fessio said. "Who has the final say in on what Catholics must believe? The answer is, 'not the theologians.'"

Yet the Jesuits have sprung to his defense.

Phan has declined comment on the investigation. Officials at Georgetown, the nation's oldest Catholic university, issued a statement saying the Jesuit school "embraces academic freedom and supports the free exchange of ideas in order to foster dialogue on critical issues of the day, especially those related to faith, ethics and international affairs."

The Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown, said the Vatican too often views the Catholic theologian as working in an echo chamber, repeating back church teachings and documents.

The process of debating theology can be messy, but better to endure the messiness than stifle thought, said Reese, who was forced to resign as editor of America magazine after it published articles challenging church teaching.

"If you knew a company where the executive leadership was not on speaking terms with the research division, would you invest in that company?" Reese said. "That's what we have in the Catholic church today. The hierarchy is very suspicious of the theologians and the theologians are very suspicious of the hierarchy. And that's a very unhealthy situation."