The following comes from a June 16 story in Commonweal magazine.
The annual gathering of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) took place last week in sunny San Diego, but there were storm clouds gathering around the meeting’s agenda (see here and here and here). As I continue to ponder Duke Professor Paul Griffiths’s plenary address to the society, Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady persistently pops into my head—and not just because of Griffiths’s charming English accent. Harrison’s Dr. Henry Higgins famously asked, “Why Can’t a Woman Be More Like a Man?” In the end, I think Griffiths’s talk amounted to the question, “Why Can’t the CTSA be more like the Academy of Catholic Theology (ACT)?” The answer to that question, I think, properly shapes the response to another, more pressing matter that arose at the CTSA this year: what can or should the organization do to be more welcoming to “conservative” theologians? To the extent that advanced theological education helps to shape the larger debates within American Catholicism, this is not merely an academic question.
What would it mean, concretely, for the CTSA to be more like ACT? Griffiths suggested that the task had both positive and negative aspects. He argued that certain theological topics should be nurtured and supported by the CTSA but others actively “discouraged.” My worry here is that this narrowing of focus is actually inconsistent with the mission of CTSA, which seeks to encourage a more free-wheeling discussion then does ACT. In fact, if you look at their respective membership rosters, mission statements, and conference programs, it is clear that the two groups operate with different understandings not only of what theology is, but also of the purposes of their own meetings.
Over thirteen hundred scholars and teachers belong to the CTSA, which was founded in 1946. More than four hundred members normally attend the annual meetings, which include wide-ranging plenary addresses as well as more specialized sessions on disparate topics. Themes are generally broad, meant to spark discussion in a wide range of sub-disciplines, from moral theology to systematics to sacramental theology. For example, the 2014 theme was “Identity and Difference: Unity and Fragmentation.”
In 2015 the theme will be “Sensus Fidelium” (.pdf). Most significantly, the CTSA’s official mission is capacious: “Our purpose, within the context of the Roman Catholic tradition, is to promote studies and research in theology, to relate theological science to current problems, and to foster a more effective theological education, by providing a forum for an exchange of views among theologians and with scholars in other disciplines.” Despite the claims of some, there is no ideological test for membership: anyone can join who possesses the appropriate academic qualifications, normally a doctorate in theology or related studies.
In contrast, ACT is a much smaller and narrowly focused organization. Founded in 2007, it has about a hundred members. ACT conferences tend to take up very specific themes, such as “Catholic Thought in the Wake of the Enlightenment” (2013); “Faith Theologically and Philosophically Considered” (2011); and “Blessed is She Who Believed: The Role of Mary in Catholic Faith” (2008). Membership is closely regulated; prospective members are nominated for election by current members, who vote (in a closed ballot) at the annual meeting.
The tight control over membership reflects the mission of the organization: “The Academy of Catholic Theology’s principal purpose is to foster theological work of the highest intellectual standard that is faithful in the Spirit to the Revelation of God in Christ, as that Revelation has been handed on in Scripture and Tradition, and authoritatively interpreted by the Magisterium.” While the larger Catholic tradition in fact provides a nuanced account of magisterial authority, and endorses certain forms of theological critique, the members of ACT seem to place a high value on avoiding any sort of conflict with the magisterium….
To read the entire article, click here.
We don’t need these guys to tell us to read the Bible and the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”.
This is not only the sense of the Faith, it is the Doctrine of the Faith.
They can do whatever they want, but if it does not conform to the CCC, they should stand alone out in the cold.
I don’t appreciate these people trying to tell the rest of us what we must believe.
“ The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I approved … and the publication of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic Authority, is a statement of the Church’s faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church’s Magisterium. ” – Saint Pope John Paul II (CCC pg 5).
__________________________
There will be no UNITY within the Church until –
1) Literate Laity read the Bible, and the CCC.
2) Bishops do their jobs of teaching, correcting, and disciplining when necessary.
3) Bishops correct public Scandal by Catholics – publically.
Thank you MAC
When you get a group of academics together especially theologians, there are going to be differences. Heck, the 2,000 years of Church history are filled with policy changes, shifts in worship, new truths and understandings about God, the Holy Spirit, the Mass, Mary, the sacraments, schisms, Reformations, whatever. The only constant in our Catholic Faith is change. Remember, yesterdays rebels are today’s conservatives, and today’s rebels will be tomorrow’s conservatives, and so on, a cycle that will probably repeat itself until the end of time..
ACT seeks to explain Catholic theology, CTSA does not.
ACT is Catholic, CTSA is not!
“Why should Catholic theologians try to be faithful to Magisterium?”
Can’t think of a reason, besides their salvation.
“The only constant in our Catholic Faith is change.”
by ‘Anonymous’ (at least one of the many, although one can wish they were fewer)
RONG RONG RONG!
The Undying Constant in our Catholic Faith is Jesus – who IS The CHRIST”
One reason why there has been a Return to saying the Apostle’s Creed at Mass, is that it puts us All on the Same Page, and states clearly the Truth of the Church.
At lest get that much right.
For a Catholic thinker to question the Church’s holy Magisterium, is a sign of profound moral and spiritual weakness!! Perhaps such people should just leave the Faith, or be excommunicated! Without acceptance of Truth, there is no such thing as “babyish freedom!” And intellectual “freedom,” proudly prized by academics, is usually a JOKE, for babies to play, play, play with– and end up NOWHERE!! Intellectuals, with intellectual pride, before God– are the very WORST!! Best to put the human BRAIN at God’s service! Not man’s!! Our religion is abut both Reason and Faith!! In the end–little mankind’s brain, so tiny, and a created thing– cannot possibly understand God, in His totality!! The brain only functions, in the human body, for a brief time– and then, is gone, at death, or even before, with dementia, or Alzheimer’s, in some sad cases!! We must, while in this brief life, bow humbly before our Church’s holy Faith, seeking truly the Life of Christ in our Church’s sacraments and teachings, and seek truly to be good, practicing Catholics, lifelong, faithful to Christ!! Then to hope, by the grace of God, to die in a state of grace, serving Our Lord to life’s end, and beyond!!
DISOBEDIENCE IS THE ROOT OF ALL OF THE CHURCH’S PROBLEMS!
Think about it, had the Magisterium taken strong stands to correct the modernist errors, instead of sitting on its haunches with tsk tsk. If They had stated in no uncertain terms that some matters are not up for debate and stuck to their guns, where would we be today. For one thing, women would still be showing proper respect to Our Lord and His Mother by covering their heads at least at Mass, and men likewise would be uncovering their heads.
When the New York and L.A. Times both printed false stories about the Curia just discussing the Paulene directions and not abandoning that requirement, had the Curia came out and forcefully stated the truth instead of demanding and receiving retractions that were in no way the equivalent of the false stories, but instead they said tsk. tsk. and that error grew and grew.
Had Pope John Paul II strongly stated that he never approved of Altar Girls, we might not have them today and we might have many more vocations
Just some food for thought and contemplation!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika and His Church!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founding Director
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc
“Why should Catholic theologians try to be faithful to Magisterium?”
Because if they are not Faithful, they are Heretics and/or Schismatics.
“Why should Catholic theologians try to be faithful to Magisterium?”
Well, they wont get much press coverage nor invitations to be keynote speakers at catechetical congresses, if they do so. Besides, its boring to teach the Faith: why not be a celebrity, like Rahner and Congar @ Vat2, and achieve earthly immortality?