Ivan Illich's "Energy and Equity"

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Geremia

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Ivan Illich was a laicized Catholic priest who wrote the interesting piece Energy and Equity in 1973. His take on the “energy crisis” is prophetic. If you have read Energy and Equity, what do you think about it? Do you know why Illich was laicized? I do not know much about his biography or how his Catholic training influenced this fascinating work.
 
I haven’t read Energy and Equity. I did find this by Harvey Cox in National Catholic Reporter, written after Ivan died. It gives Cox’s recollection on why Illich sought laicization:

“I think the beginning of the end for Illich at Cuernavaca came in that same summer of 1968 when he helped Mendez Arceo draft a respectful but critical response to Humanae Vitae, Paul VI’s ill-fated encyclical on contraception. Characteristically, Illich’s re-sponse was not a “liberal” one. It was not based on some claim to individual privacy. It was based on compassion. How could the church expect poor, often illiterate Latin American women to restrict the sexual activity of their husbands to the “safe” days allowed by the rhythm method? Under such a policy they would still be condemned to unending and often unwanted pregnancies. Illich’s views on this touchy subject were never central to his thinking, but they gave church authorities an opportunity to pounce. When, after a humiliating interrogation at the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, Illich finally decided to request a dispensation from his priestly vows, he told a friend he wanted to keep the chastity and poverty parts, but not the obedience if obedience meant answering to faceless accusers who deprived him of even fundamental procedural justice.”
 
Nice. “gave church authorities an opportunity to pounce.”

Right. The Grand Inquisitor in Rome has nothing to do all day, but wait for opportunities to GOTCHA any priest who makes an innocent mistake.

Then why is Fr. Richard McBrien still a priest? Methinks this smacks of paranoia.
 
NC Reporter isn’t a good source of information. They can be counted on to take an anti-Rome, pro-dissident stance on every issue, every time.
 
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