Church in the World

Vatican investigates 'pluralist' theologian

The Vatican and the US bishops have both launched investigations into the writings of a Georgetown University theology professor, one of whose books may contain what they consider improper views on the uniqueness of Christ and the primacy of Catholicism.

Fr Peter C. Phan, a native of Vietnam who emigrated to the US as a refugee in 1975, is a professor of Catholic social thought at Georgetown and a former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He has written often about religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue, but in 2005 his book Being Religious Interreligiously came under scrutiny by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

In July 2005, the CDF sent a seven-page letter to Fr Phan's superior, laying out 19 criticisms of his book and alleging that it was "notably confused on a number of points of Catholic doctrine and also contains serious ambiguities". More specifically, the letter said that the book conflicted with the 2000 Vatican declaration Dominus Iesus, which stated that non-Christians are "in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation". Similar objections have obtained in the Vatican's criticism of other theologians, including Fr Roger Haight and, more recently, Fr Jon Sobrino. The CDF requested that Fr Phan write an article correcting the errors.

Although he considered some of the criticism "preposterous", according to the National Catholic Reporter, Fr Phan replied to the CDF in April of last year, saying that he would acquiesce under certain conditions. He also reportedly sought clarification on what the office wanted him to write. In May of this year, the doctrine office of the US bishops' conference sent Fr Phan a letter with a list of similar criticisms of his work - essentially, that the book fails to make sufficiently clear that Christ "is not simply one among the many founders of religions" and that other religions should not be considered as equally viable paths to salvation, but as "a preparation for the Gospel". Fr Phan has since exchanged letters with Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, the head of the bishops' doctrine committee, but he has yet to write the requested article.

"If the committee receives no response," Bishop Lori wrote to Fr Phan, "it will move ahead with the publication of a statement that will make clear to the faithful the problems the committee found with the book". Fr Phan declined to comment since the case is ongoing.

Days after news of the investigation broke, Pope Benedict warned theologians against becoming arrogant and self-centred, writes Tom Heneghan. Speaking on Sunday at a private Mass with some of his former doctoral students, a group known as the Ratzinger Schülerkreis, the Pope said theologians could know much about the history of the Scriptures and how to explain them, but nothing about God. He said that theologians sometimes "only talk in the end about ourselves [and] don't go beyond ourselves and beyond people".