Vatican Diary / the Holy Office at the Click of a Mouse

The Chiesa
April 2, 2012

http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350210?eng=y


Just going online now brings access to all of the documents of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, from 1965 to today. The oldest of the series, from Cardinal Ottaviani, seems written to order for the contemporary dispute with the Lefebvrists

VATICAN CITY, April 2, 2012 – For a couple of weeks, the Vatican documents concerning Catholic doctrine have been more easily accessible in all the major languages of the world.

On March 16, in fact, the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, CDF, while still keeping its documents on the official website of the Holy See, inaugurated a new website to make it easier to consult them:

> Congregation for the doctrine of the faith

On it one can read all of the postconciliar pronouncements of the congregation. In practice, this means all of those issued after the congregation changed names – with the December 7, 1965 motu proprio "Integrae Servandae" from Paul VI – from congregation of the Holy Office to congregation for the doctrine of the faith.

For easier consultation, the links to the documents are offered not only in a general list, but also in three thematic lists: those of a doctrinal nature (74 documents), those of a disciplinary nature (33), and those concerning the sacraments (39).

The main documents are presented in eight languages: in addition to the Latin version, also in Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Polish, and sometimes also in Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, and Dutch.

A statement published by the CDF on March 16 explains that "the work of adding other translations continues" and that "at the present, each document is available in its original language as well as in some translations." Only 7 documents out of 146 – all of them lesser importance, and predating 1981 – are for now being presented not as complete electronic texts, but only as bibliographical entries.

The new website also contains up-to-date information on the publications of the series "Documents and Studies," which republishes the most important documents of the dicastery "illustrated by comments from some authoritative theologians."

Moreover, news is presented about the volumes with the proceedings from symposiums organized by the congregation, and also available are the speeches and statements of the last two prefects of the congregation: Cardinal William J. Levada, who has led it since 2005, and then-cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was the prefect for the previous 23 years.

With this publicity effort – the statement explains – "the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is convinced that the enhanced availability of these documents will be of significant value in communicating the teaching of the Church to people throughout the world."

As for the value of the documents, the statement underscores that "documents of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which have the express approbation of the Holy Father participate in his ordinary Magisterium as the Successor of Peter (cf. instruction 'Donum Veritatis' on the ecclesial vocation of the theologian: 24 May 1990, n. 18). For this reason, attentive reception of these texts is important for all members of the faithful and in particular for those who are engaged in theological and pastoral work in the name of the Church."

Finally, the statement insists that "wider distribution of the teaching of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is necessary in today's world," because in particular "the documents of the congregation which have been published from the time of the Second Vatican Council... treat significant questions for the life and mission of the Church and give important doctrinal responses to the challenges of our times."

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Five years ago, the congregation for the doctrine of the faith published a hefty collection of 105 of its documents: Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei, "Documenta inde a Concilio Vaticano secundo expleto edita (1966-2005)", Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City, 2007, pp. 672.

But these were not all of the documents produced by the CDF, and they were reproduced exclusively in the original language in which they had been redacted.

The first 200 pages of that volume are a collection of documents issued by the congregation when its prefects were Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, who retired in 1968, and Cardinal Franjo Seper, in office until 1981.

The following 400 pages contain texts from when Cardinal Ratzinger was prefect.

Today on the list of documents presented on the new website there appear about twenty more issued during the period covered by the volume, plus 16 more published subsequently, in practice since Ratzinger became pope and was succeeded as prefect by Cardinal Levada.

Contrary to what one might think, only a minority of the statements from the congregation concern works by theologians who have come into conflict with the magisterium of the Church. In more than 46 years, pronouncements – of various tenor – have been made on texts by the following 18 authors: Hans Küng (in 1975 and 1979), Jacques Pohier (1979), Anthony Kosnik (1979), Edward Schillebeeckx (1980, 1984, 1985), Leonardo Boff (1985), Charles Curran (1986), Gyorgy Bulanyi (1986), André Guindon (1986), Vassula Ryden (1995), Tissa Balasuriya (1997), Anthony de Mello (1998), Jeannine Gramick and Robert Nugent (1999), Reinhard Messner (2000), Jacques Dupuis (2001), Marciano Vidal (2001), Roger Haight (2004), Jon Sobrino (2006).

Certainly more characteristic of the work of the congregation during the era of Ratzinger/Benedict XVI are the following documents:

- the two instructions on liberation theology from 1984 and 1986;

- the 1987 instruction "Donum Vitae" on unborn life and procreation, updated in 2008 with "Dignitas Personae";

- the 1990 instruction "Donum Veritatis" on the relationship between theologians and the magisterium;

- the 1992 letter "Communionis Notio" on the relationship between the universal Church and the local Churches;

- the 2000 declaration "Dominus Iesus" on Christianity with respect to the other religion;

- the 2002 doctrinal note on Catholics in political life;

- the 2003 note on the legalization of unions between persons of the same sex;

- the 2004 letter on women.

Without counting the norms on "delicta graviora" promulgated in 2001 and published in an updated "editio typica" in 2010.

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Curiously, the statement with which the CDF presented its new website was issued precisely on the same day on which the leaders of the former Holy Office held a delicate and important meeting with Bishop Bernard Felllay, the superior of the Lefebvrist Society of St. Pius X.

At that meeting, the traditionalist leader was given one month to sign a doctrinal preamble – expressing the acceptance of Vatican Council II – as a condition for full reintegration into the bosom of the Catholic Church.

But it is also possible that in the course of that conversation, one of the first documents following the birth of the "new" congregation for the doctrine of the faith was pulled out again.

This would be the circular letter of July 24, 1966, sent by Cardinal Ottaviani to the presidents of the episcopal conferences of the whole world "on certain sentences and possible errors on the interpretation of the decrees of the Second Vatican Council."

On the list of documents of a doctrinal nature collected on the new website of the CDF, this text occupies first place in chronological order:

> Lettera circolare...

In this letter, Cardinal Ottaviani, who certainly had no reputation as a progressive, is careful to distinguish "the ecumenical council Vatican II," which "promulgated the wisest documents on both doctrinal and disciplinary matters, with the aim of effectively promoting the life of the Church" from the "abuses that are gaining ground in the interpretation of conciliar doctrine."

And speaking of ecumenism, he affirms:

"The Apostolic See praises, undoubtedly, those who in the spirit of the conciliar decree on ecumenism are promoting initiatives intended to encourage charity toward the separated brethren and to draw them into the unity of the Church; but it laments the fact that there are also some who, interpreting the conciliar decree in their own way, advocate ecumenical activity such as to offend the truth about the unity of the faith and of the Church, fostering a pernicious irenics and indifference completely alien to the mind of the Council."

Who knows if this letter from Ottaviani, still included as a full-fledged member of the official documents of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, will be reread profitably by the leaders of the Lefebvrists...