Matt25:
In 1998 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a notification advising the faithful to approach Father deMello’s writings with caution but not condemning them-
You missed some points:
But already in certain passages in these early works and to a greater degree in his later publications, one notices a progressive distancing from the essential contents of the Christian faith.** In place of the revelation which has come in the person of Jesus Christ, he substitutes an intuition of God without form or image, to the point of speaking of God as a pure void**. To see God it is enough to look directly at the world.
Nothing can be said about God; the only knowing is unknowing. To pose the question of his existence is already nonsense. This radical apophaticism leads even to a denial that the Bible contains valid statements about God. The words of Scripture are indications which serve only to lead a person to silence. In other passages, the judgment on sacred religious texts, not excluding the Bible, becomes even more severe: they are said to prevent people from following their own common sense and cause them to become obtuse and cruel. Religions, including Christianity, are one of the major obstacles to the discovery of truth. This truth, however, is never defined by the author in its precise contents. For him, to think that the God of one’s own religion is the only one is simply fanaticism. “God” is considered as a cosmic reality, vague and omnipresent; the personal nature of God is ignored and in practice denied.
Father de Mello demonstrates an appreciation for Jesus, of whom he declares himself to be a “disciple.”
But he considers Jesus as a master alongside others. The only difference from other men is that Jesus is “awake” and fully free, while others are not. Jesus is not recognized as the Son of God, but simply as the one who teaches us that all people are children of God. In addition, the author’s statements on the final destiny of man give rise to perplexity.
At one point, he speaks of a “dissolving” into the impersonal God, as salt dissolves in water.** On various occasions, the question of destiny after death is declared to be irrelevant; only the present life should be of interest. With respect to this life, since evil is simply ignorance, there are no objective rules of morality. Good and evil are simply mental evaluations imposed upon reality.**
Consistent with what has been presented, one can understand how, according to the author, any belief or profession of faith whether in God or in Christ cannot but impede one’s personal access to truth. The Church, making the word of God in Holy Scripture into an idol, has ended up banishing God from the temple. She has consequently lost the authority to teach in the name of Christ.
With the present Notification, in order to protect the good of the Christian faithful, this Congregation declares that
the above-mentioned positions are incompatible with the Catholic faith and can cause grave harm.
Ref:
ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFDEMEL.HTM
In other words: the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith acknowledged that there is good in some of his works (the need for contemplation and meditation, universal call to holiness) there is also much that is not compatible with Christianity. They were particularly concerned with his view of God (impersonal, similar to a force), Jesus (one among many teachers), and our ultimate destiny at the end of our life. They strongly cautioned Catholics about his writings.
