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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 May 2019
Throughout history there have been theological tensions between official church teachers and church theologians, creating at times a divide between both the magisterium and theologians and also between theologians of different methodological approaches. We offer as examples of tension the declarations by the USCCB's Committee on Doctrine (CD) on the “inadequacies in the theological methodology and conclusions” of our book and of the books of three other contemporary theologians. These examples afford us the opportunity both to consider the theological tensions in general and to propose a solution to them. We establish some ecclesial context for dialogue with the CD, calling attention to four factors in this context: first, recent patterns of discourse between theologians and the magisterium in statements issued against particular theologians; second, an important change in the Catholic concept of church; third, an equally important change in how Catholic theologians set about doing theological ethics; and fourth, the reaffirmation of the importance of conscience by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and, more recently, by Pope Francis.
Together they have recently published Introduction to Catholic Theological Ethics: Foundations and Applications (Orbis, 2019), Virtue and Theological Ethics: Toward a Renewed Ethical Method (Orbis, 2018), The Church in the Modern World: Gaudium et Spes Then and Now (Liturgical Press, 2014), Sexual Ethics: A Theological Introduction (Georgetown University Press, 2012), “Amoris Laetitia: Toward an Anthropological and Methodological Integration of Catholic Social and Sexual Ethics,” Theological Studies 79 (2018), “Gaudium et Spes and Dignitatis Humanae on Conscience: A Forgotten Concept of Vatican II,” Louvain Studies 40 (2017), “Catholic Doctrine on Divorce and Remarriage: A Practical Theological Examination,” Theological Studies 78 (2017), and “Vatican II and Sexual Ethics: Past, Present, Future,” Toronto Journal of Theology 32 (2016).
1 Salzman, Todd A. and Lawler, Michael G., The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Anthropology (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2008)Google Scholar; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on Doctrine, “Inadequacies in the Theological Methodology and Conclusions of The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Anthropology by Todd A. Salzman and Michael G. Lawler,” September 15, 2010, 1.
2 See Salzman, Todd A. and Lawler, Michael G., “Theologians and the Magisterium: A Proposal for a Complementarity of Charisms through Dialogue,” Horizons 36, no. 1 (2009): 7–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
3 Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia, §139, March 19, 2016, https://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf.
4 Hinze, Bradford, Practices of Dialogue in the Roman Catholic Church: Aims and Obstacles, Lessons and Laments (New York: Continuum, 2006)Google Scholar.
5 Ibid., 8; emphasis in original.
6 Pope John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, §31, May 25, 1995, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25051995_ut-unum-sint.html.
7 Ibid., 28.
8 Ibid., 29, emphasis in original.
9 Speech at the conclusion of the 2014 Synod on Marriage and the Family (October 18, 2014), at https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/documents/papa-francesco_20141018_conclusione-sinodo-dei-vescovi.html.
10 The word “synod” is meaningful here. It derives from the Greek sun, meaning together, and hodos, meaning journey. It literally means, therefore, journeying together.
11 This is a small sampling of theologians investigated by doctrinal committees of episcopal conferences. For a detailed list, see Hinze, Bradford E., “A Decade of Disciplining Theologians,” in When the Magisterium Intervenes: The Magisterium and Theologians in Today's Church, ed. Gaillardetz, Richard (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2012), 3–39Google Scholar.
12 Phan, Peter C., The Joy of Religious Pluralism: A Personal Journey (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2017), 1–2Google Scholar.
13 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on Doctrine (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2007), http://www.usccb.org/about/doctrine/publications/upload/statement-on-being-religious-interreligiouly.pdf.
14 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on Doctrine (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2011).
15 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on Doctrine (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2011). The entire Johnson dossier is available in When the Magisterium Intervenes: The Magisterium and Theologians in Today's Church, ed. Gaillardetz, Richard (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2012)Google Scholar. Citations of the CD and her response will refer to pages in this text.
16 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Rome: 2012), http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20120330_nota-farley_en.html.
17 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Doctrinal Responsibilities: Approaches to Promoting Cooperation and Resolving Misunderstandings between Bishops and Theologians (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, June 17, 1989)Google Scholar.
18 Ibid., 4. See also Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA), “Response of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Theological Society of America to the Statement on ‘Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God,’ by Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson,” issued March 24, 2011 (April 8, 2011),” https://ctsa-online.org/resources/BoardStatements/BoardStatement.TheLivingGod.ElizabethJohnson.USCCBCommitteeDoctrine.4.8.11.pdf.
19 James Martin, SJ, “Elizabeth Johnson's Response,” America, March 31, 2011, https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/elizabeth-johnsons-response.
20 Johnson, Elizabeth, “Statement of Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ,” in When the Magisterium Intervenes: The Magisterium and Theologians in Today's Church, ed. Gaillardetz, Richard (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2012), 273Google Scholar.
21 Phan, The Joy of Religious Pluralism, 1–4.
22 Farley's case did represent a dialogue of sorts, in terms of back-and-forth requests by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and responses to those requests by Farley. However, there was a lack of transparency in that dialogue and secrecy on the part of the CDF concerning the “commission of experts” judging that Farley's responses “did not adequately clarify the grave problems contained in her book” and the basis for that judgment. CDF, “Notification on the Book Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics by Sr. Margaret A. Farley, RSM,” Introduction, 1, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20120330_nota-farley_en.html.
23 Rush, Ormond, “The Prophetic Office in the Church: Pneumatological Perspectives on the Sensus Fidelium-Theology-Magisterium Relationship,” in When the Magisterium Intervenes: The Magisterium and Theologians in Today's Church, ed. Gaillardetz, Richard (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2012), 90–95Google Scholar.
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25 Johnson, “Statement of Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ,” 274, 283, 286.
26 Gerard O'Connell, “‘Amoris Laetitia’ Represents an Organic Development of Doctrine, ‘Not a Rupture,’” America, April 8, 2016.
27 Phan, The Joy of Religious Pluralism, 23.
28 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on Doctrine, “Statement on Quest for the Living God,” March 24, 2011, available at United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on Doctrine, “Statement on Quest for the Living God,” March 24, 2011.
29 Committee on Doctrine, “Statement on Quest,” in When the Magisterium Intervenes: The Magisterium and Theologians in Today's Church, ed. Gaillardetz, Richard (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2012), 199Google Scholar, emphases added.
30 Phan, The Joy of Religious Pluralism, 24–25.
31 John L. Allen, “Why Is Fr. Peter Phan under Investigation?” National Catholic Reporter, September 14, 2007, https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/why-fr-peter-phan-under-investigation.
32 Margaret Farley, “Statement by Mercy Sister Margaret A. Farley,” National Catholic Reporter, June 4, 2012, https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/statement-mercy-sister-margaret-farley.
33 Johnson, Elizabeth, “To Speak Rightly of the Living God: Observations by Dr. Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, on the Statement of the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops about Her Book Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God,” in When the Magisterium Intervenes: The Magisterium and Theologians in Today's Church, ed. Gaillardetz, Richard (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2012), 213–51Google Scholar.
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35 Catechism, 2358, http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm.
36 Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World), December 7, 1965, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html.
37 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian,” Origins 20/8 (1990): 117–26Google Scholar. All translations from the documents of the Second Vatican Council in the article are taken from Abbott, Walter M., ed., The Documents of Vatican II (El Monte, CA: New Win, 1966)Google Scholar.
38 For an explanation of why this is so, see Salzman and Lawler, The Sexual Person, 53–54.
39 Pope Francis, “Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to Participants in the World Congress of the ‘Schola Occurrentes’ Pontifical Foundation,” May 29, 2016, https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2016/may/documents/papa-francesco_20160529_scholas-occurrentes.html.
40 See Gaudium et Spes, 16; Dignitatis Humanae (Declaration on Religious Freedom), http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html, 3, and Amoris Laetitia, 37, 267, 303, 307. See also Lawler, Michael G. and Salzman, Todd A., “Conscience and Experience: Choosing the True and the Good,” Irish Theological Quarterly 81 (2016): 34–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
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42 Dignitatis Humanae, 2.
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51 Thomas Aquinas, In IV Sent., dist. 38, q. 2, art. 4; translation by authors.
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54 Salzman and Lawler, The Sexual Person, 232.
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87 John Paul II, Ut Unum Sint, May 25, 1995, 31, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25051995_ut-unum-sint.html; emphasis in original.
88 Ibid., 29, emphasis added.
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