Lay Theologians: What do you think?

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Just Lurking, thank you for the clarificaion(s). I see the distinction you are trying to draw, and I do appreciate your opinion - especially because I think you are a traditionalist (correct me if I am wrong).
Sorry, I’m a non-Catholic. My wife is a modern Catholic, but I have several traditional Catholic in-laws who I get into debates with. I try to understand all points of view, even if I don’t get it right at first.
How do you personally feel about lay people teaching theology at the post-secondary level? How do you feel about lay people receiving a “mission canonica”? I do know lay people were allowed at least by 1910 (according to the Catholic Encyclopedia). Would you be fine if the time came where most theological faculties consisted of lay people rather than religious or priests? If so, or if not, why?
I think the role of theologian in the Catholic Church has undergone a lot of development and clarification since the middle ages, especially vis-a-vis the role of the bishop, and because of that it is right and reasonable that the rules and prohibitions have changed accordingly. See here for a nice essay on that by Avery Cardinal Dulles.

In particular, I have no problems with today’s laity having a “canonical mission” (to use the English term), especially in light of Vatican II’s rejection of the concept of a separate “theologian’s magisterium”. The role of a theologian in the modern Church is very different than in past times.
 
Sorry, I’m a non-Catholic.

I think the role of theologian in the Catholic Church has undergone a lot of development and clarification since the middle ages, especially vis-a-vis the role of the bishop, and because of that it is right and reasonable that the rules and prohibitions have changed accordingly. See for a nice essay on that by Avery Cardinal Dulles.

The role of a theologian in the modern Church is very different than in past times.
Wow, for a non-Catholic you sure seem to know your “stuff”.

Thank you for this recent post - your opinion makes a lot of sense.

Now, I will check out that link . . .
 
Regarding the comment about Valtorta being bad: the Poem of the Man-God is in actuality fully Church-approved. For complete details, check out this free research document, which can be downloaded here:

Poem of the Man-God Research Document (PDF)


The trailer for it is here:

Poem of the Man-God Research Document Trailer

I am a huge Valtorta fan and wrote this e-book about Maria Valtorta and the Poem of the Man-God which www.mariavaltortawebring.com has hosted on their home page for download and Douay-Rheims Bible Online (which has 70,000 visitors a year) has also hosted on their website.

This e-book is a comprehensive and well-researched guide to everything a Catholic needs to know about Maria Valtorta’s writing: its importance, its history, its ecclesiastical status, how it compares to other revelations, the 14 proofs of its divine origin, and its critics and defenses.

This free e-book is the result of hundreds of hours of research over 6 months, utilizing a tremendous number of Internet and printed sources. To give you a taste of its level of depth and scholarship: it has 902 references/endnotes.

Some chapters in this e-book:

“The Position of the Popes, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the Holy Office), and the Vatican Newspaper on the Poem of the Man-God”

“Timeline of Major Events of the Poem of the Man-God’s Ecclesiastical Approval”

Some things you may have not been aware of:

Saint Padre Pio and at least two spiritual children of his approve the Poem of the Man-God. In 1967 (a year before Padre Pio’s death), a long-time spiritual daughter of his, Mrs. Elisa Lucchi, asked him in Confession: “Father, I have heard mention of Maria Valtorta’s books. Do you advise me to read them?” Saint Padre Pio responded: “I don’t advise you to – I order you to!” There is also documented eyewitness accounts by several trustworthy sources that Saint Padre Pio approved and encouraged the reading of Maria Valtorta’s works, and that he has had mystical experiences with Maria Valtorta during the time when they were both alive. All of this is documented and described in the e-book.

Blessed Gabriel Allegra, O.F.M. was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on September 29, 2012 and Blessed Gabriel Allegra was an outspoken and avid long-time supporter of Maria Valtorta and spent the latter years of his life studying, promoting, and defending the Poem of the Man-God (Maria Valtorta’s major work). You can read his testimony online here:

Blessed Gabriel Allegra’s Critiques, Notes, and Letters on Maria Valtorta’s The Poem of the Man-God

Notable actions of the Popes regarding the Poem of the Man-God include:

A high-ranking prelate personally handed Pope Pius XII a 12-volume typewritten copy of the Poem of the Man-God in 1947. After these volumes were evaluated by the Pope for a year, he granted a special audience with the three Servites of Mary in charge of this work. At this audience, as Bishop of Rome and the Vicar of Christ, Pope Pius XII gave the Poem of the Man-God an official imprimatur and commanded them to publish it “just as it is”. Cardinal Edouard Gagnon, writing to the Maria Valtorta Research Center from the Vatican on October 31, 1987, referred to Pope Pius XII’s action as: “The kind of official imprimatur granted before witnesses by the Holy Father in 1948, an Official Imprimatur of the Supreme Authority of the Church”

Pope Paul VI showed obvious signs of favor towards the Poem by sending a letter of congratulations and blessing to world-renowned Mariologist, Fr. Gabriel Roschini, for his book The Virgin Mary in the Writings of Maria Valtorta. Furthermore, Archbishop Pasquale Macchi, Private Secretary of Pope Paul VI, said to Fr. Corrado M. Berti, O.S.M., in an hour long interview in 1963: “When His Holiness (Paul VI) was Archbishop of Milan, he read one of the books of The Poem of the Man-God. He told me how he appreciated it, and had me send the complete work to the library of the diocesan seminary.”

Pope John Paul II approved the decree of a miracle and the beatification of a world-renowned theologian who was an outspoken and avid long-time supporter of Maria Valtorta and who spent the latter years of his life studying, promoting, and defending the Poem of the Man-God: Blessed Gabriel M. Allegra, O.F.M. Furthermore, according to Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the secretary of Pope John Paul II, the Pope was a reader of Maria Valtorta. The cardinal testifies to having often seen one of the volumes of The Gospel as Revealed to Me [a.k.a. *The Poem of the Man-God] on the Pope’s bedside table.

Only the first edition was put on the Index of Forbidden Books the same day as St. Faustina’s writings were. Fr. Marco Giraudo, O.P., Commissioner of the Holy Office, later approved the publication of the 2nd edition of the Poem of the Man-God in 1961, stating to Fr. Berti: “We have no objection to your publishing this 2nd edition. We will see how the work is welcomed.”

Believe it or not, her revelations have been proven by multiple areas of science to be 99.6% historically accurate as is shown in the e-book.

I say from my heart: after the Holy Bible and the most sacred perennial books of the Catholic Faith (the Summa Theologica, etc.), there is perhaps no greater book that exists in the world today than the Poem of the Man-God, and I think it is truly impossible for any person of good will to not only highly benefit from reading it; but I would go so far as to say that any person of good will who reads it will almost certainly have his life changed profoundly in some way.
 
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