CDF publishes notification on book ‘Just Love’

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From Vatican Radio:
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has published the following notification regarding the book Just Love. A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics by Sister Margaret A. Farley, R.S.M.

Introduction

Having completed an initial examination of the book Just Love. A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics (New York: Continuum, 2006) by Sr. Margaret A. Farley, R.S.M., the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote to the author on March 29, 2010, through the good offices of Sr. Mary Waskowiak – the then President of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – enclosing a preliminary evaluation of the book and indicating the doctrinal problems present in the text. The response of Sr. Farley, dated October 28, 2010, did not clarify these problems in a satisfactory manner. Because the matter concerned doctrinal errors present in a book whose publication has been a cause of confusion among the faithful, the Congregation decided to undertake an examination following the procedure for “Examination in cases of urgency” contained in the Congregation’s Regulations for Doctrinal Examinations (cf. Chap. IV, art. 23-27).

Following an evaluation by a Commission of experts (cf. art. 24), the Ordinary Session of the Congregation confirmed on June 8, 2011, that the above-mentioned book contained erroneous propositions, the dissemination of which risks grave harm to the faithful. On July 5, 2011, a letter was sent to Sr. Waskowiak containing a list of these erroneous propositions and asking her to invite Sr. Farley to correct the unacceptable theses contained in her book (cf. art. 25-26).
If you click on the link, you can read the specific reasons why this notification was issued. In essence, Sister Farly advocates masturbation, homosexual sex, homosexual marriage, and divorce/remarriage. All of which are in direct violation of the Magisterium.
 
The greatest enemy of the Good, is the pursuit of the perfect.
 
Vatican City, Jun 4, 2012 / 09:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican has declared that a book on sexual morality written by a controversial American sister runs so contrary to Church teaching that it cannot be considered Catholic.

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith expresses profound regret that a member of an Institute of Consecrated Life, Sr. Margaret A. Farley, R.S.M., affirms positions that are in direct contradiction with Catholic teaching in the field of sexual morality,” says the notification, issued in Rome on June 4.

The decision follows a two-year audit of Sr. Farley’s book “Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics,” which argues against the Church’s teaching on masturbation, homosexual acts, homosexual unions and marriage. The Sister of Mercy and emeritus professor of Christian Ethics at Yale Divinity School published her book in 2006.

The audit found that “Just Love” did not present “a correct understanding of the role of the Church’s Magisterium as the teaching authority of the Bishops united with the Successor of Peter” but, instead, presented it as just “one opinion among others.”

It further concluded that Sr. Farley’s work rejected “the objective nature of the natural moral law,” choosing instead to argue “on the basis of conclusions selected from certain philosophical currents” or “from her own understanding of ‘contemporary experience.’”

The issuing of a notification from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is both significant and infrequent.

Highlighting some specific areas of concern, the congregation noted that Sr. Farley argued in her book that masturbation “usually does not raise any moral questions at all.”

She also suggested that homosexual acts “can be justified according to the same sexual ethic as heterosexual relationships,” while homosexual civil unions “can also be important in transforming the hatred, rejection, and stigmatization of gays and lesbians” that is reinforced by “teachings of ‘unnatural’ sex, disordered desire, and dangerous love.”

On marriage, Sr. Farley’s book proposed that re-marriage should not be prohibited “any more than the ongoing union between spouses after one of them has died prohibits a second marriage.”

Despite discussions that lasted three years, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concluded that Sr. Farley “did not adequately clarify the grave problems contained in her book,” which would have prevented the publication of today’s notification.

In response, Sr. Farley said June 4 that she “appreciated the efforts made by the Congregation and its consultants” and did “not dispute the judgment that some of the positions contained within it are not in accord with current official Catholic teaching.”

She also stated that her book “was not intended to be an expression of current official Catholic teaching” but as a way of offering “contemporary interpretations of traditional meanings for the human body, gender and sexuality.”

Her religious congregation, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, also expressed its “profound regret” at the decision against the work of “a highly respected and valued member.”

“While being faithful to her own faith tradition and commitments, her sensitivity to the varied circumstances, realities and needs of her students is the context she consistently honors,” said the order’s president, Sr. Patricia McDermott, in a June 4 statement.

Today’s ruling means that the book “cannot be used as a valid expression of Catholic teaching, either in counseling and formation,” as the dissemination of such ideas “risks grave harm to the faithful.” The book also cannot be used in ecumenical and inter-religious dialogues.

feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/catholicnewsagency/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/catholicnewsagency/dailynews/~4/s21nGSprAo4

Full article…
 
CNA_News said:
Vatican City, Jun 4, 2012 / 09:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican has declared that a book on sexual morality written by a controversial American sister runs so contrary to Church teaching that it cannot be considered Catholic.

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith expresses profound regret that a member of an Institute of Consecrated Life, Sr. Margaret A. Farley, R.S.M., affirms positions that are in direct contradiction with Catholic teaching in the field of sexual morality,” says the notification, issued in Rome on June 4.

…The issuing of a notification from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is both significant and infrequent.

Highlighting some specific areas of concern, the congregation noted that Sr. Farley argued in her book that masturbation “usually does not raise any moral questions at all.”

She also suggested that homosexual acts “can be justified according to the same sexual ethic as heterosexual relationships,” while homosexual civil unions “can also be important in transforming the hatred, rejection, and stigmatization of gays and lesbians” that is reinforced by “teachings of ‘unnatural’ sex, disordered desire, and dangerous love.”

On marriage, Sr. Farley’s book proposed that re-marriage should not be prohibited “any more than the ongoing union between spouses after one of them has died prohibits a second marriage.”

Despite discussions that lasted three years, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concluded that Sr. Farley “did not adequately clarify the grave problems contained in her book,” which would have prevented the publication of today’s notification.

In response, Sr. Farley said June 4 that she “appreciated the efforts made by the Congregation and its consultants” and did “not dispute the judgment that some of the positions contained within it are not in accord with current official Catholic teaching.”

She also stated that her book “was not intended to be an expression of current official Catholic teaching” but as a way of offering “contemporary interpretations of traditional meanings for the human body, gender and sexuality.”

Her religious congregation, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, also expressed its “profound regret” at the decision against the work of “a highly respected and valued member.”

“While being faithful to her own faith tradition and commitments, her sensitivity to the varied circumstances, realities and needs of her students is the context she consistently honors,” said the order’s president, Sr. Patricia McDermott, in a June 4 statement.

Today’s ruling means that the book “cannot be used as a valid expression of Catholic teaching, either in counseling and formation,” as the dissemination of such ideas “risks grave harm to the faithful.” The book also cannot be used in ecumenical and inter-religious dialogues.
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My question to the leaders of the RSMs:

Why is Margaret A. Farley still being housed, fed, clothed, etc., by the RSMs???

WHY?
 
…and people wonder why the Vatican is investigating the leadership of women religious…
 
Fr. John Zuhlsdorf has info on Margaret Farley:
Margaret Farley: over the years, she has taken positions favorable to abortion, same-sex “marriage,” sterilization of women, divorce and the “ordination” of women to the priesthood. Farley, who taught Christian ethics at Yale Divinity School, is well known for her radical feminist ideas and open dissent from Church teaching. In 1982, when the Sisters of Mercy sent a letter to all their hospitals recommending that tubal ligations be performed in violation of Church teaching against sterilization, Pope John Paul II gave the Sisters an ultimatum, causing them to withdraw their letter. Farley justified their “capitulation” on the ground that “material cooperation in evil for the sake of a ‘proportionate good’” was morally permissible. In other words, she declared that obedience to the Pope was tantamount to cooperation in evil, and that the Sisters were justified in doing it only because their obedience prevented “greater harm, namely the loss of the institutions that expressed the Mercy ministry.” In her presidential address to the Catholic Theological Society of America in 2000 she attacked the Vatican for its “overwhelming preoccupation” with abortion, calling its defense of babies “scandalous” and asking for an end to its “opposition to abortion” until the “credibility gap regarding women and the church” has been closed. In her book Just Love she offers a full-throated defense of homosexual relationships, including a defense of their right to marry. She admits that the Church “officially” endorses the morality of “the past,” but rejoices that moral theologians like Charles Curran and Richard McCormick embrace “pluralism” on the issues of premarital sex and homosexual acts. She says that sex and gender are “unstable, debatable categories,” which feminists like her see as “socially constructed.” She has nothing but disdain for traditional morality, as when she remarks that we already know the “dangers” and “ineffectiveness of moralism” and of “narrowly construed moral systems.”
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wdtprs.com/blog/2012/04/nuns-gone-wild-a-trip-down-memory-lane

In 1984 Marget Farley was 1 of 24 sisters who signed an ad that 'A Diversity of Opinions Regarding Abortion Exists Among Committed Catholics’
 
The Vatican criticized a popular American nun on Monday, saying her book on sexual ethics, including topics such as masturbation and homosexuality, contradicted Catholic teaching and must not be used by Catholic educators.
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The Vatican’s doctrinal department, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a stern “notification” about Sister Margaret A. Farley, a member of the Sisters of Mercy and a professor emeritus of Christian ethics at Yale University.
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The Congregation sharply criticized Farley, saying her writings manifest a “defective understanding of the objective nature of natural moral law” and pose “grave harm to the faithful.”
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Two months ago the Vatican issued a stinging report saying the umbrella body representing most American Catholic nuns promoted radical feminist ideas and sometimes challenged bishops.
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today.msnbc.msn.com/id/47677809/ns/today-books/?ocid=todmsnbc11#.T80RF9XIYug

And are we supposed to be angry about this, MSNBC?
 
A more apt title might be “Nun attacks popular Church’s 2,000 year old teaching”

Oh yes, love those MSNBC comments! :rolleyes:
 
tskrobacz said:
The greatest enemy of the Good, is the pursuit of the perfect.
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Well but …

Matthew 5:48 So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. – Jesus Christ

So maybe you should clarify further what you mean? Or adjust? I’ll admit, this challenge from Jesus is a doozy – but apparently possible with the power of the Holy Spirit.

From minute to moment we are occasionally “perfect” - so why not more and more until …

Jesus’ prayer on the evening of the Last Supper (Perfection mentioned - bold type below)

John 17:18 As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.

19 And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.

20 "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

21 so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.

22 And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one,

23 I in them and you in me, **that they may be brought to perfection as one, **that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.

Maybe being “brought to perfection” (by God) is different from the “pursuit of perfection” you mention - or maybe we SHOULD pursue perfection.

It is a good subject for us all to consider meanwhile. So, thank you.

Per relevance to this thread - it appears the book encourages IMPERFECTION as a practical matter and proposes an ethics so broad as to encompass any and all novelties, whims, urges, (and breaking of established Church teachings on sex until) - it approaches looking like a blanket dispensation under color of authority of many sinful sexual practices (if Sister’s name and order are on the cover or title page). Which is probably why the CDF recommended corrections (rather than rejecting it outright!)
 
The problem is it’s not just the women who are problematic. Many male theologians are in the same bed with the devil, as Sr Farley is.

Unless Rome also picks some of these male theologians to work with, the liberals will start framing these as a war against women. No matter how false that caricature is, words are important in contemporary American society, and it will be harder to convince the average American that it is truth that matters here, not gender.

Maybe the male theologians are less wacky (in my country, the men are more conservative than the women), or because they are more careful not to stray in as dramatic a fashion as Sr Farley, but unfortunately, our world today is more about appearances than substance.
 
While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, then the darnel appeared as well. The owner’s labourers went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?” He said to them, “Some enemy has done this.” And the labourers said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.” ’

Maybe that’s why you don’t see dissents get punished or censored in the Church.
 
CaptFun said:
Well but …

Matthew 5:48 So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. – Jesus Christ

So maybe you should clarify further what you mean? Or adjust? I’ll admit, this challenge from Jesus is a doozy – but apparently possible with the power of the Holy Spirit.

From minute to moment we are occasionally “perfect” - so why not more and more until …

Jesus’ prayer on the evening of the Last Supper (Perfection mentioned - bold type below)

John 17:18 As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.

19 And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.

20 "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

21 so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.

22 And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one,

23 I in them and you in me, **that they may be brought to perfection as one, **that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.

Maybe being “brought to perfection” (by God) is different from the “pursuit of perfection” you mention - or maybe we SHOULD pursue perfection.

It is a good subject for us all to consider meanwhile. So, thank you.

Per relevance to this thread - it appears the book encourages IMPERFECTION as a practical matter and proposes an ethics so broad as to encompass any and all novelties, whims, urges, (and breaking of established Church teachings on sex until) - it approaches looking like a blanket dispensation under color of authority of many sinful sexual practices (if Sister’s name and order are on the cover or title page). Which is probably why the CDF recommended corrections (rather than rejecting it outright!)
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Perfection is only perfect when it includes (not excludes) all that is imperfect also - as in creation itself. The mere fact that the Vatican has declared parts of it as contrary to Church teachings does not negate the fact that it also likely has something important to teach. If we make it an either/or instead of a both/and we are NOT practicing the radical love that Jesus taught.
 
I honestly just don’t understand it. Maybe one of you can make it clear for me. Here’s how I see events as happening:
  1. Nun writes a book about sex (insert giggles here)
  2. Nun advocates homosexual union and birth control (which is against church teachings)
  3. Church makes an announcement that the book is against church teachings
  4. Catholic communities are now holding prayer vigils for nun whose feelings weren’t actually hurt by church announcement (she said herself that she knew what was she writing about was against church teachings)
  5. Media announces church’s war on women
I just really don’t get why people are upset that the church censured this book. 🤷
 
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