April 24, 2005
Sunday Times
Take Latin lessons and learn to live with a fundamentalist
The new pope chooses to speak the language of the pre-Vatican II church. Nervous liberals see it as a sign of things to come, says John Cornwell
SNIP:
The transition from progressive to conservative can be precisely dated. In 1968 he wrote in progressive vein: “Above the pope as an expression of the binding claim of church authority stands one’s own conscience, which has to be obeyed first of all, if need be, against the demands of church authority.” But a profound alteration took place in 1969 when student demonstrators in the theology department of Tübingen University accused the Catholic church and traditional theology of propping up capitalism.
“I knew what was at stake,” remembers Ratzinger. “Anyone who wanted to remain a progressive in this context had to give up his integrity.”
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Through the 1980s and 1990s, Ratzinger exercised his authority far and wide. He publicly disciplined Charles Curran, an American moral theologian who dissented from Catholic teaching on contraception. He took away the teaching licence of Matthew Fox, a Californian Dominican priest known for his work on creation spirituality. He disciplined Ivone Gebara, a Brazilian who advocated a blending of liberation theology with environmental issues.
He excommunicated Tissa Balasuriya, a Sri Lankan interested in how Christianity can be expressed through eastern concepts. He hounded Jacques Dupuis, a Jesuit professor working on Christianity’s connections with other religions.
He halted the activities of Raymond Hunthausen, Archbishop of Seattle, for his work with homosexuals and progressive political causes. He lambasted Bishop Dom Pedro Casaldaliga of Brazil for political activities.
He interfered with bishops’ conferences around the world, insisting on conformity to Vatican “norms”. He expanded the scope of infallibility to include the ban on female ordination. He confirmed the invalidity of ordinations in the Anglican church: meaning it was not a proper church. In 2000 he produced a document, ratified by John Paul II, which declared other religions “defective”.
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In 1995, Ratzinger forbade discussion of the possibility of female ordination since the issue had already been “set forth infallibly” by the Pope. Nicholas Lash, a world-class Catholic professor of theology, described this as a “quite scandalous abuse of power”.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1582117,0... John Cornwell is the author of The Pope in Winter: The Dark Face of John Paul II’s Papacy, Penguin £7.99
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