Here is Pope Benedict's recent address to the Roman Curia. The Pope makes some interesting comments about the issue of sexual abuse and traces the crisis to the moral theories that led to such confusion and that prompted Pope John Paul II to issue Veritatis Splendor, his great encyclical on moral theology.
Benedict also makes some insightful observations about the proper meaning of conscience. In particular, Benedict comments on Blessed John Henry Newman's understanding of conscience. Newman is frequently lauded as a proponent of a modern understanding of conscience. But, in Benedict's view, this is all wrong. For Newman,
"'conscience' means man’s capacity for truth: the capacity to recognize precisely in the decision-making areas of his life – religion and morals – a truth, the truth. At the same time, conscience – man’s capacity to recognize truth – thereby imposes on him the obligation to set out along the path towards truth, to seek it and to submit to it wherever he finds it. Conscience is both capacity for truth and obedience to the truth which manifests itself to anyone who seeks it with an open heart. The path of Newman’s conversions is a path of conscience – not a path of self-asserting subjectivity but, on the contrary, a path of obedience to the truth that was gradually opening up to him."
Richard M.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
The Pope's comment on condoms continues to generate discussion. It seems to me that the discussion has moved far beyond the scope of the Pope's initial comments, which didn't seem to justify the use of condoms. The discussion has increasingly focused on the morality of a married couples use of condoms to avoid the transmission of AIDS. Here is a recent story from Sandro Magister on the controversy, which includes a statement by Luke Gormally and a link to an analysis by George Weigel. Here is a good analysis by Janet Smith, which largely critiques the view of Father Martin Rhonheimer. I think Luke Gormally and Janet Smith have the better of the argument, which mainly deals with the scope of intention. As Janet Smith contends, Rhonheimer's view seems too abstract.
UPDATE: Courtesy of John Allen, here is a link to a new CDF statement on the controversy. The statement is designed make clear that the Pope's words in the interview "do not signify a change in Catholic moral teaching or in the pastoral practice of the Church." And here is Father Rhonheimer's most recent treatment of the issue in which he responds at length to his critics.
Richard M.
Friday, December 17, 2010
We discussed the Phoenix abortion case in some detail back in May 2010. The recent developments are worth noting. Here and here. Bishop Olmsted has threatened to prohibit St. Joseph Hospital from calling itself a "Catholic" hospital after an abortion was performed at the hospital, and after the hospital has apparently refused to acknowledge Bishop Olmsted's teaching authority. The Bishop was apparently not thrilled that the hospital appealed to the moral authority of a theologian at Marquette (M. Therese Lysaught) who disagreed with the Bishop's analysis of the morality of the abortion. This measure (enforcing a type of truth in advertising) was much discussed during the debate over Ex Corde Ecclesiae, but I can't recall a case when this sort of sanction has been used with regard to a Catholic college or university.
I wonder if this situation is causing any consternation among officials at Catholic colleges and universities.
UPDATE: On December 21, 2010, Bishop Olmsted concluded that St. Joseph's Hospital cannot be considered a Catholic hospital. Here is the LifeNews.com story, which includes Bishop Olmsted's statement.
Richard M.
Monday, November 1, 2010
I just returned from a conference at BYU on the impact of same-sex marriage on public education. See http://www.law2.byu.edu/organizations/marriage_family/ The conference was organized by my good friend Lynn Wardle and was sponsored by the Marriage and Family Law Research Project at BYU Law School.
The Marraige and Family Law Research Project is an admirable effort and it seems to me precisely the sort of initiative that religiously affiliated law schools ought to support. The Project has held a series of interesting conferences over the years (I have been involved in several). The conferences and follow-up law review publications have promoted serious thinking about marriage and related issues. The conferences typically include scholars with a range of views and as a result the resulting law review publications help to balance out the scholarly literature on these topics.
Richard M.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Here is a Zenit story on the USCCB's Commitee on Doctrine's recent statement critiquing a book ("The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Anthropology") by Todd Salzman and Michael Lawler. Here is a link to the Committee on Doctrine's statement. The Committee concludes that the book's methodology and conclusions depart from authentic presentations of Catholic theology.
This continues a welcome trend of the Bishops to issue elaborate statements explaining Church teaching and critiquing the work of theologians rather than pursuing a disciplinary approach.
Richard M.
