| The 3 March 2001 issue of
the Tablet contains a devastating indictment of the procedures used
by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In light
of the charges of grievous errors against the Catholic faith brought three
years ago against Fr Jacques Dupuis and his 1997 book, Toward a Christian
Theology of Religious Pluralism, the anonymous Tablet commentator
first acknowledges the relatively mild censure in the final text of the
official notification which even includes a reference to Dupuis'concern
for remaining faithful to the Catholic doctrine. However, the Tablet
commentator charges the CDF both with arbitrary, unjust procedures and
with an unconscionable act of tampering with evidence by inserting a passage
into the notification without Fr. Dupuis' knowledge and prior agreement
after Fr. Dupuis had signed the document. This is a dishonest act
indicative of autocratic police state tactics and not worthy of an institution
that claims to represent Christian values in the secular world. Here is
the relevant paragraph:
[T]he Dupuis case once again
highlights the need for a radical reform of the congregation's procedures.
Instead of waiting for his views to be thoroughly sifted and evaluated
by his theological peers, as was happening -- through reviews and conferences,
the congregation initiated proceedings against his book within a year of
its publication. Their Star Chamber methods turn prosecutors into judge
and jury. The secretive approach they favour fails to allow the persons
concerned to be properly heard and defended right from the outset, and
does not match the norms of civil law and the Church's own canon law. In
such a situation abuse is almost inbuilt: thus one passage in the notification,
committing Jacques Dupuis to include this text in future editions of his
books, was added without his knowledge after he had signed.
Documentation
pertaining to the case of Fr. Jacques Dupuis, S.J. on the NCR website |
