| The 3 March 2001 issue of the Tablet contains a devastating indictment of the procedures used by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In light of the charges of grievous errors against the Catholic faith brought three years ago against Fr Jacques Dupuis and his 1997 book, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, the anonymous Tablet commentator first acknowledges the relatively mild censure in the final text of the official notification which even includes a reference to Dupuis'concern for remaining faithful to the Catholic doctrine. However, the Tablet commentator charges the CDF both with arbitrary, unjust procedures and with an unconscionable act of tampering with evidence by inserting a passage into the notification without Fr. Dupuis' knowledge and prior agreement after Fr. Dupuis had signed the document. This is a dishonest act indicative of autocratic police state tactics and not worthy of an institution that claims to represent Christian values in the secular world. Here is the relevant paragraph:
[T]he Dupuis case once again highlights the need for a radical reform of the congregation's procedures. Instead of waiting for his views to be thoroughly sifted and evaluated by his theological peers, as was happening -- through reviews and conferences, the congregation initiated proceedings against his book within a year of its publication. Their Star Chamber methods turn prosecutors into judge and jury. The secretive approach they favour fails to allow the persons concerned to be properly heard and defended right from the outset, and does not match the norms of civil law and the Church's own canon law. In such a situation abuse is almost inbuilt: thus one passage in the notification, committing Jacques Dupuis to include this text in future editions of his books, was added without his knowledge after he had signed.
Documentation pertaining to the case of Fr. Jacques Dupuis, S.J. on the NCR website |
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