Doctrinal congregation head finds his work mostly behind the scenes

[didymus]

tinyurl.com/2pvca8

**Doctrinal congregation head finds his work mostly behind the scenes

** By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2005, U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada has found that most of his work is behind the scenes.

The recent action against Jesuit Father Jon Sobrino was an exception: He was the first theologian to be publicly censured during Cardinal Levada’s tenure, and the case immediately brought the doctrinal congregation into the media spotlight.

Although some critics described the Vatican’s action against Father Sobrino as authoritarian, for Cardinal Levada it was an example of how carefully and cooperatively the doctrinal congregation operates.

“I think we work in a more collegial fashion than in most instances in the church,” Cardinal Levada told Catholic News Service in a wide-ranging interview in mid-March.

It’s worth reading the entire interview.

 

[Dale_M]

“The congregation works very slowly in reviewing a theologian’s work, perhaps too slowly in many respects. It attempts to guarantee fairness for the theologian and put aside any idea that somebody is being railroaded,” the cardinal said.

Theologians under review can have their own theological or canonical adviser. Any critique is based not on anonymous accusations but on the theologian’s published works or public statements.

“We don’t publicize this process, because in some instances, I say gratefully, we have not had to come to a public notification. If a theologian acknowledges an error or a too-partial presentation and agrees to make an adequate correction in a subsequent book or article, then we’ll consider the matter closed,” he said.

When a theologian is under criticism by the Church, the press sometimes characterizes the criticism as persecution. Reading the article puts that concern to rest.

 

[WanderAimlessly]

Here is a link about the priest in question:

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0701439.htm