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Warning on another theologian
Lacking a “vertical dimension”
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has issued a “notification” pointing to “errors and ambiguities” in the work of a Spanish theologian, Father Marciano Vidal.
The notification—signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, the prefect and secretary, respectively, of the Congregation —was the product of a long series of exchanges between the Vatican and the Redemptorist priest. The Vatican announced that Father Vidal had agreed to amend his published works to clarify his arguments.
The Vatican document pointed to particular issues on which Father Vidal might mislead the faithful, including the role of Jesus Christ in the plan of salvation and the morality of various forms of sexual activity. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith also suggested that the theologian’s overall vision of Christian morality lacks a “vertical dimension”—that is, a role for grace, prayer, and interior life. The flawed works should not be used in theological training, the Vatican concluded.
Review Church-state ties?
Teacher’s firing causes conflict
A trade union and a constitutional lawyer called for a review of Spain’s relationship with the Catholic Church after a public school religion teacher was dismissed because she married a divorced man.
Resurrección Galera, a religion teacher in a public high school, said she received a phone call from the head of the bishops’ office for catechetics, Antonio Rueda, on May 10. She reported that Rueda told her that she should resign, or would not have her contract renewed. Galera had married a divorced German reporter in a civil ceremony in April.
The bishops’ office, after saying that the teacher had the right to marry whomever she wanted, commented that the lifestyles of those who teach religion must be consistent with the teachings of the Church, and that “rights and duties must not be separated.” While teachers are formally hired by the government, the Church oversees the vetting of religion teachers and their annual contracts must be renewed by the Church.
The General Union of Workers, the central trade union affiliated with Spain’s Socialist party, argues that the contract system violates Spanish law. Trade unionist Jesus Ramon Copa maintains that the concordat governing relations between the Holy See and the Spanish government must be revised to bring the hiring and firing of religion teachers into line with secular standards. Lawyer Gregorio Peces-Barba, one of the seven men who drafted Spain’s current constitution, agreed. He added that it is remarkable that the state hires religion teachers, yet the Church can fire them.