The Independent News Source
NCR on Kindle - NCR classifieds - YouTube - Twitter - Facebook - Email Alerts - RSS
Printer-friendly version
PDF version'Catholic theology must be grounded in lives of the faithful'
by Thomas C. Fox on Jun. 12, 2010
Catherine Clifford and Richard GaillardetzIn a novel presentation that received wide acclaim from their colleagues, theologians Catherine Clifford of St. Paul University in Ottawa and Richard R. Gaillardetz of the University of Toledo co-authored and co-presented a paper at the Catholic Theological Society of America’s annual gathering entitled, “Beyond Presumption: Reimagining the Ecclesial-Prophetic Vocation of the Theologian.”
What follows is an edited outline of their talk. The authors spoke in tandem.
They began by noting the many positive signs of vitality they see in the theological community today, a more diverse and representative body of scholars.
“As we reflect on the vocation of the theologian today there is much to celebrate,” they stated. “If we but consider the membership of our own theological society, we have witnessed - in the span of our own lifetime - a shift from a membership that was once exclusively male and clerical, most often white and dedicated primarily to seminary education, to a membership which better reflects the diversity of the people of God in North America. Today, more than half of the theologians belonging to the CTSA are lay men or women. Our members, both lay and ordained, come from a much broader range of social and cultural backgrounds of theology in today's church.”
They then went on to say that one of the anomalies of our current theological context is that "while Catholic theology has never been as diverse in perspective and seldom as rich in content," it continues to be dominated by episcopal suspicion.
They traced this suspicion to attitudes already at play in the eleventh century and visible in various manifestations since, most notably in the last 20 years.
“Sadly, too many theologians report that they are seldom consulted by their local bishops on theological questions,” they authors said.
According to the authors, “Theology’s prophetic task demands that its primary loyalty be to the Word of God. Consequently, it can exhibit loyalty to the magisterium only insofar as the magisterium exhibits its own proper service to God’s Word.”
Subscribe to NCR
Want to read more about important issues in the life of the Church? A subscription to NCR will keep you up to date and informed.
They added: “Moreover, if theology’s prophetic task lies in its service to the Word, then any adequate account of the ecclesial and prophetic character of theology must be oriented toward the discernment of that Word in the people of God’s corporate exercise of the sensus fidei. …
“The true prophet is a humble servant of the Word, ‘one who speaks for another.’ The genuine prophet is not interested in popular opinion or worldly measures of success, but acts as a self-effacing interpreter of the divine intention for the people of God. …
“For the prophet is deeply attuned to the divine pathos and seeks to express the divine concern for humanity. This pathos is an integral element in the structure of prophetic consciousness. …
Tradition and the Word of God ground the church in faith, the authors stated, adding, however, that critical studies have shown that tradition “can distort as well as disclose, it can reveal and conceal aspects of the Word and has at times been co-opted to convey the values of ideology and dominant self-interest.”
Doctrinal teaching, they state, “is but a partial expression of the faith of the church and is completed by the living faith of the whole community. The multiple witness of the church on earth, expressed diversely in the authoritative teaching of the magisterium, in the reflections of theologians, and in the teaching and witness of all the baptized coalesce into a ‘symphony.’ The dialectical interplay of each section of the orchestra contributes to the harmonious proclamation of the divine Word. …
“Within the communion of all the faithful, some – the bishops – are called by virtue of their office to serve as authoritative custodians of the apostolic faith; still others - theologians – place their knowledge and study of Scripture, tradition, and contemporary sciences at the service of the Spirit.”
Drawing on the French Dominican, and Second Vatican Council advisor, Yves Congar, the authors went on to say that in Congar’s schematization, all three: “the baptized faithful, theologians, and bishops, exercise the teaching office in a unique manner and contribute to the ongoing reception of the Word in the life of the church. All three help maintain the church in the truth. Further, a true knowledge and reception of the truth of the Gospel depends upon the dynamic interplay and organic relationship among them.”
The prophetic roles of the magisterial teaching office and of the theologians, the authors stated, are to be exercised “within the communion of, and in service to, the prophetic witness of the whole body. The entire body of the baptized, in turn, receives from, and actively contributes to, the apostolic witness of the church.”
Stated the authors: “What we find in the work of Congar, the theological vision of Vatican II, and the witness of many ecumenical conversations is the recognition that no theology of tradition can be adequate, which is not at the same time a theology of the reception by the whole church of God’s Word mediated in history. …
“In this daily ‘birthing’ of the church the prophetic vocation of the theologian takes the form of a humble midwifery, applying the skills of our craft to the birthing of the Word both within the life of the church and in the church’s witness and mission to the world. Theology does this, first of all, by preserving the priority of the lived faith of the church over its doctrinal formulations. Simply stated, kerygma precedes and informs doctrine. This means that the primary act of ecclesial reception is not that of the faithful obediently embracing the decrees of the magisterium, but the humble reception by the magisterium of the pluriform witness to the Gospel by the whole people of God.”
The authors stated theologians need to remain a sense of humility in their work.
"What is demanded of those who place themselves in the service of God’s Word, of both the schola theologorum and the magisterium, is an eschatological humility in the face of a truth that is always, to a certain extent, beyond our grasp," they stated. "It is a humility that recognizes that we cannot exercise our proper vocations within the life of the church without the willingness of bishops, theologians and the entire Christian faithful to engage in the sometimes painful askesis of respectful conversation, critical inquiry and mutual correction.
"Finally, this humility requires us to join with the teaching office in the recognition that as we move from fundamental principle to concrete prudential judgments regarding the specific application of gospel values, our claims must become more and more modest. Many of us have complained of the disturbing failure of the U.S Bishops’ Conference to honor the necessary limits of moving from principle to complex public policy evaluations in its contributions to the recent health care reform debate. However, we theologians are often guilty of the same lack of modesty when, assuming an unassailable prophetic tone, we denounce concrete public policy on war in Afghanistan or immigration without recognizing the limits of our own prudential judgments."
The authors concluded their remarks saying that the task of the theologian lays not so much “in extending the magisterium’s teaching ministry, but in assisting it in its obligation to attentive listening. … Theologians assist the birthing of the Word in the pluriform witness of the people of God by identifying fresh receptions and articulations of the Gospel that will nourish and enhance the effective proclamation and witness of the Gospel.”
“What we find in the work of
“What we find in the work of Congar, the theological vision of Vatican II..."
some of his important work was re-released just last week:
http://www.amazon.fr/tradition-traditions-Essai-historique/dp/2204092495...
http://www.amazon.fr/tradition-traditions-Essai-th%C3%A9ologique/dp/2204...
Sounds great coming from the
Sounds great coming from the study of Clifford and Gaillardetz. From the appearance of them in the photo adjacent to the article I would deduce that they are both “lay people”, just part of us ordinary folks, encumbered by neither “sacred orders” nor “holy congregations” nor anything of the like and therefore morally quite free to express their opinions objectively. Wonderful to have their judicious visions coming “from the bottom up” without any ax to grind or hidden agenda to work through or fears to make them "pull their punches".
I have the strong impression that they definitely adhere to the strictures that Pope Pius IX -- hardly a liberal pope -- managed to get through the First Vatican Council back in 1890 when the famous “infallibility” was put under the microscope. The Pope is infallible when he reflects the infallibility of the Universal Church on matters of faith and morals contained in the “Depositum Fidei” and necessary for salvation. Definitely a very limited field in which to play, and therefore out of necessity open to the visions and opinions of the People of God.
One tends to get a bit irked when we are told that “The “Church” says, or holds, or believes, etc. when we “the Church” have never even been consulted much less taken into consideration. Nevertheless we all presently are suffering from the scandal of clerical sexual crimes against children, even though we had never been consulted as to who should be part of “the clergy” or even as to just how necessary “the clergy” might be in order to build the Kingdom of God here on earth.
The construction of the Kingdom of God on earth, (God’s governance in every-day life) is in the hands of those willing to take a step beyond what is just necessary for “salvation” and decide to follow Jesus and take part with him in his life’s program: building the Kingdom of Abbá Father (“Daddy”), working daily for that “Other possible world”, that “other possible society” for which Jesus lived, was assassinated and arose from the dead in order to keep living among us.
The “Church” (assembly of believers) exists only as a stimulus through celebrating the Eucharistic sharing and the sacramental aids for us to carry out that life plan of Jesus. And his “Vicars” (according to Jesus) are the poor, those suffering, those deprived of their human rights (food, shelter and all that is necessary for a human life with dignity), the old and abandoned, the ill, those excluded or marginal for any reason, the migrants, etc., etc.
So, at least I feel happy to offer Kudos to Clifford and Gaillardetz for getting us back into focus with the reason of our being “Christians” as we work, hope and pray for that necessary “ ‘symphony’ -- The dialectical interplay of each section of the orchestra which contributes to the harmonious proclamation of the divine Word... a theology of the reception by the whole church of God’s Word mediated in history.”
Justiniano de Managua
This is an excellent article.
This is an excellent article. We are in debt to the speakers for the recalling of Congar's work and the concept of the "trinity of players"- the people of God, theologians and the Magisterium.
What needs to be taken out of the realm of theory is how "the prophetic witness of the whole body" can become honored and realised,by first, respectful listening and, secondly, by meaningful formation in scripture and Tradiion, for discerning and activating the mission of the Church in these times in a spirit of comunio.
The esentail question is: What value is Baptism? What value is it to be "priest, prophet and king". How is it to be realised or is this energy ito be kept dormant by a ruling class which looks through the lens of power and control.
It is really sad that there is no real dialogue, no imaging another way of looking at our governance and orientation for mission. So much energy and resources are put into avoiding the conversation about the realities that Baptism initiates. The new Church Council will be on this..has to be!
For now, no longer can the baptised just assume that everythng coming out of Rome speaks of the reign of God. The inconsistencies, conradictions, denials of personal and communal integrity and an obsession with defenvive behaviours
mean that we correctly understand that uncritical trust and and a quietist acceptance of prevailing norms can be contrary to the Gospel.
And my grief cries out, "It doesn't have to be so." We could have leadership of giftedness and a sense of true communio, a 'symphony,(in which)each section of the orchestra contributes to the harmonious proclamation of the divine Word". There could be conversation and an exciting move forward in opening up the scriptures and reflection on the tradition in response to to our times.
The miracle is how so many of the Order of the Faithful remain so involved and so well-mannered in spite of their their grief at being silenced and disempowered. However, I wonder how long we can remain silent when we see the Gospel ignored for clerical point scoring. Looking back, we criticised those who remained silent about the Holocaust, about Iraq, about economic criminality, about world debt, about sexual abuse and cover up. Now is the time, Jesus said, we have to become people of integrity, willing to start out and "go to Jerusalem".
Is it hard? Will it result in crucifixion/excomonication? Probably? Will it be life giving and will it offer a fresh take on the way of discipleship in the 21st century. Yes!
Will it be too late? Well, the Spirit works when and where the Spirit wills.
However, increasingly, I see people in parishes having to decide that there are only two working parts:that of the Prophetic witness of the whole body, and that of the work of Theologians. These offer the way forward to repsond to the Word. I don't want this to be the way we operate, but it is the present situation. We see the Vatican governing group as having shot themselves in the foot...of sadly, no real relevance to church life. Not only have they lost respect because of their lack of vision and of their concern for power, but they no longer are "feared". Good and faithful people are beging to say, like Alice, "pah, you are just a bunch of cards." And we need to continue to say "NO to bullying!" wherever it occurs in our society.
So, a lack of true dialogue between instrumental sections has resulted in an an orchestral breakdown, has quietened the music, and diminshed the gifts of all. Pity!
As St Thomas Aquinas would
As St Thomas Aquinas would say, "On the contrary" & paulte will finish his quote. True Catholic theology must be grounded in the mind of God where Truth resides.
How insightful these thoughts
How insightful these thoughts are. John H. Newman, blessed is he, opened this dialogue in earnest over a century ago. The "sensus fidelium" was, I believe he said, a constitutive element in forming the doctrine of the church. Is there some way to have this "sensus" be more than just an acquiesence in what the bishops teach or define?
"Grounding" is certainly the
"Grounding" is certainly the aspect of correlating faith, reason, religion and science. Much deadness in theology is its fixation in a worldview that is irrelevant to modern consciousness. As Vatican II recognized, the new analysis/ synthesis of faith and worldview is a work "as important as can be;" faith supposes reason as grace supposes nature.
Speaking realistically, the process of evolution includes sameness, deadness, collapse and change; everyone is exposed to these. These events jar people to new thinking, possibly even to uplift. Frictions accumulated along faultlines build and break only when pressures exceed resistance, and with the break, as in earthquakes, violence and collapse happen. We are in a time when frictions of faultlines are breaking free and shifts and social quakes are rocking civilizations. The disruptions of oil spills, for example, are in a category as significant as earthquakes. It’s time for serious new thinking.
In the Tower of Babel Story, God repented creating humanity because the people came to be of one mind, one language. They raised a tower that pierced heaven, and in the arrogance of self-centeredness they put themselves in standing with God. So God collapsed their arrogant tower, scattered them and confused their minds and tongues. This story parallels the Garden of Eden Story, original sin, and estrangement of Adam and Eve from God and the Garden.
The people were forced to diverge from oneness thinking and seek escape into new habitats, new experiences, new thinking, and new words. The collapse of their accustomed habitat put people in pristine new gardens in which to dwell, and so the presence of humanity gradually spread over the face of the Earth. Humanity has no such escape today.
Language, knowledge of self and nature, are worthy pursuits of natural science and psychology when kept in perspective of common wellbeing, including the wellbeing of nature. Abuse and premature death occur when self-interest seeks to exploit resources without regard for other. Offense of God occurs when ego-centrism gives itself standing over and against other-interest and engages in dominion and exploitation of people and nature.
In early cultures, communal wisdom resided in shamans, priests, who exercised power over the people. Knowledge is power, the power to control. More and more, knowledge has come to be equally available to all people, so that the misuse of knowledge by power structures is no longer tolerable when people see through the folly of misguided overreach; general public knowledge, however, doesn’t automatically eliminate despotic culture and abuse of power.
Jesus railed against political/ religious abuse of power that marginalized people. “Classical” Greece and Rome were class-divided cultures in which religious/ political dominion was absolute and forcibly imposed. The empire and the temple conspired in mutual self-interest to kill Jesus because the liberation theology he represented threatened them.
Temple culture, like imperial culture, tends toward "orthodox" sameness. Religious/ political dominion is mutually myopic in tower-building, which both God and nature repent. (In modern language the word for “tower” is institution.) The immediate urgency of salvation, redemption, is the urgency of sustaining natural diversity and avoiding dead sameness. Sameness curtails biodiversity and limits options of evolved ecology, economy.
Humanity (religion) needs to wake up to the sustaining morality of symbiotic ecology, economy, become intentionally symbiotic, and sustain the essential inter-dependence of evolved ecologies.
Collapses, political, religious, and ecological, result from suppressions of diversity and enforced cultures of sameness in thinking, speaking and acting, i.e., the presumptive arrogance of religious “orthodoxy.” The culture of orthodoxy is the culture of sameness and dislike for differences if not outright intolerance of differences (choices, "haereses.") In the present time “towers” of sameness are collapsing. When culture’s towers collapse, culture collapses. The link between sameness, deadness and collapse is cause-and-effect; we are experiencing now the effects of institutionally cultured sameness, deadness and collapse. The modern "dominion theology" model is not only unsustainable, it is complicit in eco-social collapses.
Ecologic-economic-social collapses are failures of evolving consciousness; failed maintenance of biodiversity and the loss of life’s adaptive mechanisms play into entropy — energy-drain toward singularity. Loss of biodiversity limits evolution and frustrates syntropy, symbiosis and diversification; in short, sameness-culture, corporate exploitation, is a “culture of death.”
Cosmic wisdom screams for the awakening of intelligence to the "signs of the times," that is, for an end to assaults against biodiversity and natural symbiosis. When Jesus said “let the dead bury the dead,” he said in effect, let those who insist on the deadness of sameness bury their sameness; expect Resurrection into newness through openness to diversity.
Where are the Priests of Nature when Nature needs them? Cultic priesthood is radically flawed except it is fundamentally faithful to "universal priesthood."
It seems to me that this
It seems to me that this address is merely setting up an alternate magisterium in the name of "the communion of the faithful". It is not a Biblical or a theological statement, it is a political and sociological one, , far removed from the comprehensive study of the subject by Yves Congar. It appears to be a re-statement of Newman's "On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine", but it is far removed from Newman's meaning and intent in his masterly treatment. It is pathological theology at its worst, and grounds theology in the subjective and arbitrary, and not in an objective exploration and penetration of the Word of God.
Father Clifford Stevens
Boys Town, Nebraska
As a layman claiming and
As a layman claiming and making full use of my prophetic role in the symphony of Sensus Fidei, I reject the CTSA and its members lock, stock & barrel.
PS - Never trust anyone who uses the word 'dialectical.' I don't think it means what they think it means.
Father Stevens, I have to
Father Stevens, I have to agree with your comment: something about this presentation does not sit well with me either. Despite the careful phraseology and the talk of humility, it still makes me feel like these theologians, in seeking to carve out a niche for themselves, are trying to co-opt the work of the Holy Spirit. As a psychologist I sense more human rationalization than Divine inspiration operating here. There are thousands of Protestant denominations all claiming to be faithful to the Word, and yet they cannot agree as to what the Word is saying. Our fallen humanity has compromised out natural intelligence so much that it seems we cannot see without our individual subjective filters. We need the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Magisterium of the Church, because without God's authority we become anarchists. Our words won't cut it! It is true that doctrine and Scripture remain dead words until they are given life in the living witness of the faithful; but it is not from the faithful that they get their truth. God has given us the music; it is in our living we become part of His song. Johanna, author of Graffiti On My Soul See: http://www.eloquentbooks.com/GraffitiOnMySoul.html
Joanna - This address was
Joanna - This address was given at a meeting of the Catholic Theological Society of America which, in the past few years, has made itself an alternate magisterium, with no thermostat for judging what is valid theological exploration and what is way off the charts. It has made itself a sort of United Nations of Catholic theology, with no standard for judging what is Catholic theology and what is not. It is shallow in its theological principles, anarchical in its intent, and is willing to give voice to the latest outbursts of "academic theology", with the mistaken notion that Catholic theology is chiefly the product of the academy. If these rumblings were kept within the confines of the academy, there would be no problem. But the CTSA gives an international pulpit to anyone wishing to expresss their views, no matter how outlandish. This address reduces Catholic doctrine to a poll of the people, as a former one did to a matter of linguistics. I am not for muzzling anyone, and I am happy with the many channels of journalsim and sound scholarsip we have in the American Catholic community, but this kind of oblique attack upon basic Catholic doctrine should be pointed out for what it is: lousy scholarship, the positing of opinions for reasoned conclusions and the taking up of academic arms against anything that comes out of Rome.
Father Clifford Stevens
Boys Town, Nebraska
Post new comment