WASHINGTON (RNS) Under fire for criticizing a popular theologian, the U.S. Catholic bishops said they must occasionally assume the role of referee and rule wayward thinkers out of bounds.<\/p>\n
“Once ideas are written and published by a theologian, they must stand on their own,” Cardinal Donald Wuerl, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ committee on doctrine, said in a statement. “It is the bishops who are entrusted with the office of referee, who must call the play.”<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Wuerl’s committee criticized a book by feminist theologian Sister Elizabeth Johnson that is widely used in Catholic universities and colleges. The book, Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God<\/em>, criticizes and revises traditional church teaching, the bishops said.<\/p>\n The public back-and-forth debate between the bishops and theologians, while rare, has increased in recent years, as the bishops seek to guide a large and sometimes unwieldy church. <\/p>\n Johnson has said the bishops misrepresented her work, a charge echoed by the Catholic Theological Society of America, which Johnson once served as president.<\/p>\n The CTSA also said the bishops’ criticism of Johnson “seems to reflect a very narrow understanding of the theological task.”<\/p>\n Wuerl, in his 14-page response, said the CTSA “seems to misread the legitimate and apostolic role of bishops is addressing the right relationship of theologians and bishops.”<\/p>\n “It is the responsibility of the bishop to make the call and to declare, if necessary, certain notions out of bounds, the bounds of Christian revelation,” Wuerl said.<\/p>\n – DANIEL BURKE<\/strong>, Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) Under fire for criticizing a popular theologian, the U.S. Catholic bishops said they must occasionally assume the role of referee and rule wayward thinkers out of bounds. “Once ideas are written and published by a theologian, they must stand on their own,” Cardinal Donald Wuerl, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ committee on doctrine,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,9],"tags":[233,194,2206,489,196,191,195],"class_list":["post-2969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-news","category-rns","tag-bishop","tag-book","tag-catholic","tag-catholic-theological-society-of-america","tag-donald-wuerl","tag-elizabeth-johnson","tag-quest-for-the-living-god"],"yoast_head":"\n
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