This was the comment of a theologian, Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, on a recent action by John Paul II adding to Church law penalties which can be invoked against theologians who dissent from Catholic teaching.  Inadvertently, she has diagnosed the problem precisely.

If theology is taken merely as an academic discipline, then the sole mark of a good theologian is to be respected by other theologians.  But historically Catholic theology has meant a great deal more than that.  The system in which most theologians are university professors did not begin until fairly late, because there were no universities before 1100.  Many of the greatest theologians were bishops, and the activity of theology was meant to directly inspire a deeper understanding of the faith.

However, even assuming a primarily academic approach to theology, Professor Fiorenza's remarks are untenable.  If fidelity to Church teaching shows an inability to think, then a very long line of apparently great minds--Augustine, Aquinas, Newman--must be demoted to the slow class.  The man who is charged with enforcing the Church's concern for orthodoxy Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, is one of the leading Catholic theologians of the past half century and a much better scholar than most of his critics.
Academic respectability is by no means a guarantee of intellectual quality, since the universities  themselves are subject to all sorts of fads. A theologian who defends the recent papal action,  Father Matthew Lamb, points out the "dumbing down" of Catholic theology which has occurred in recent decades. Practically everyone involved with Catholic education, at all levels, knows that,  in this age of a supposedly well educated laity, most Catholics are badly informed about their faith, approaching it in  terms of sound bites picked up from the media.

Among other critics of the recent papal action is Frances Kissling, who laments that, "Other popes have tried to open windows, now this pope is running around shutting them." Her remarks too get right to the heart of the matter, because Kissling knows full well that no pope has ever opened the window she is standing outside of. She is the head of Catholics for a Free Choice,  which refuses to disclose how many members it has, but receives substantial amounts of money  from sources hostile to the Church, solely to campaign against the Church's teaching about  abortion. I would suppose that liberal theologians would be embarrassed to have Kissling as one of their allies.

But Professor Fiorenza is herself famous for holding, among other  things, that it is inherently  "sexist" to place Jesus Christ at the center of our faith, and she shifts worship to "Sophia" (wisdom), a female figure  who stands even higher than our Lord.

As Kissling and Fiorenza demonstrate, many dissenting Catholics do not even claim that they are  offering a more authentic understanding of the Catholic tradition. Instead they recognize no authority except that of contemporary culture. Truth is defined finally, as one philosopher puts it,  by "what your colleagues will let you get away with saying."

I don't begrudge Fiorenza the right to her opinions, nor the right to build an academic career on  them. But why should she even care what the pope does, or what the Code of Canon Law prescribes? Indeed, I think she ought to welcome the latest development, because it brings into sharp relief her own stance of "independence" from the Church.

The answer of course is that many dissenters want to have it both ways. They want to be free to  chop away at the very foundations of the faith, but also to call themselves "Catholic" when it suits them. Kissling's group illustrates it perfectly — they are "Catholic" insofar as they exist to attack Catholic doctrine.

If theologians submit their work only to the judgment of other theologians, then they should admit that they have no claims on the Church. Indeed, they ought to hasten to give up the word "Catholic," which would in turn force many "Catholic" institutions to acknowledge that they too have no final commitment to the faith.

Dr. Hitchcock is a professor of history at St. Louis University.

Copyright ©1998 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Copyright ©1998 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

This article was published in the Arlington Catholic Herald,
200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 607, Arlington, VA 22203; Vol 23, No 29;
dated July 23, 1998, on page 5
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