Catholic Bishops Rebuke Theologians' Book Over Views On Homosexuality

By Daniel Burke
Religion News Service

(RNS) The U.S. Catholic bishops have issued a rare public rebuke of two Roman Catholic theologians, saying their 2008 book on sexual ethics marks a "radical departure" from church teaching and could be "harmful to one's moral and spiritual life."

"The Sexual Person: Toward a New Catholic Anthropology," challenges established Catholic orthodoxy on homosexuality, artificial insemination, and premarital sex, the bishops said in a statement released on Wednesday (Sept. 22).

The book was written by Todd Salzman, chairman of the theology department at Creighton University, a Jesuit school in Omaha, Neb., and Michael Lawler, also a theologian and a former dean of the university's graduate school who retired in 2005.

The bishops proposed no punitive actions against Creighton or the theologians; instead, their committee on doctrine issued a detailed 24-page rebuttal of the arguments in "The Sexual Person."

"The committee decided that the most effective way to address the problem presented by the book was to prepare a statement on the problematic characteristics of its methodology," the bishops said.

The bishops' review of "The Sexual Person," was prompted by a request from the former and current archbishops of Omaha. In 2007, former Omaha Archbishop Elden Curtiss censured Lawler and Salzman for writing articles that "argue for the moral legitimacy of some homosexual acts," according to Curtiss.

After reviewing "The Sexual Person," the bishops' doctrine committee said the book poses "the pastoral danger that readers of the book could be confused or misled, especially since the book proposes ways of living a Christian life that do not accord with the teaching of the Church and the Christian tradition."

Salzman and Lawler were not immediately available for comment.

According to the bishops, the theologians openly sought to undermine the arguments from Scripture and natural law that provide the foundation for the church's prohibition on homosexual acts. Understanding of homosexuality has changed drastically from Bible times, and "nature" is always viewed through subjective lenses, Lawler and Salzman argue, according to the bishops.

In a statement, Creighton University said it is "fully committed to the Catholic tradition" and "accepts as authoritative the statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Doctrine." The university added that it "presents to its students as Catholic doctrine only that which is deemed to be true doctrine."

But Creighton also said that it "is mindful of its obligation to honor the academic freedom of individual faculty members," and quoted a 2008 address by Pope Benedict XVI that affirmed the "great value" of such freedom.

Comments

[cliffhammond]

05:33 AM on 10/30/2010

Isn't this all hilarious? A whole bunch of old men in red dresses fighting over who has the most authority over the sheep. It's obvious that these two theologians won't be wearing red dresses ever.

[Trismegistus22]

02:07 AM on 10/06/2010

I haven't read the book, although I might since it is only about $8 on Kindle, so I have to make comments based on the lead article. It seems that the issue has to do with natural law. Many philosophers through the ages have discussed some variety of a law or moral understanding that is built into human nature. I envision it as sort of part of the operating system. There also seems to be a counter-argument that there is no such thing. After all, there are hardly any moral judgments that are held constant over time and geography. Various cultures have valued or devalued behaviors in the opposite direction from other cultures. And the reasoning is based upon different sets of basic premises.

[Ding Dong]

12:30 AM on 10/02/2010

It's true -- if you support gay marriage/sex, you won't go to heaven.

But there's a dirty little secret they're not telling you: heaven doesn't exist, so you're actually not going there either way.

Also, Santa Claus isn't real. Tune in next post for more earth-shattering revelations you never saw coming...

[b525]

12:34 PM on 10/01/2010

It's just not possible for the Catholic Church to endorse gay marriage/gay sex.

It would be like saying that Jesus endorses sex between two men....it's just not going to happen.

We all know what happens when two people get married......they have SEX, and we all know how gay men have sex....can Jesus endorse that and say that it's good?

[JesutiWatch]

08:01 PM on 09/29/2010

Priest who taught at Wheeling Jesuit University pleads guilty on September 29, 2010 to sexual battery of 11-year-old girl.

[cliffhammond]

05:35 AM on 10/30/2010

Hey, at least he's heterosexual.

[scottyknows]

02:29 PM on 09/28/2010

Jesus defines marriage clearly in Matthew 19.

[turfkiller]

08:32 PM on 09/28/2010

That is wonderful and you can follow it, however what justification do you have for interferring in the lives of others?

[Ioan Lightoller]

08:27 PM on 10/02/2010

Scotty knows the truth so of course, the whole world must live the way he considers appropriate.

[Trismegistus22]

01:19 AM on 10/06/2010

Not so sure that is a definition.

[annlisa]

12:54 AM on 09/28/2010

Two years after the theologians' book "The Sexual Person" comes out, the Catholic bishops decide to issue a rebuke. This seems as if the RCC is looking to ignite a diversionary brush fire so the public's focus is turned away from the raging flames of their sex abuse scandal.

[Trismegistus22]

01:25 AM on 10/06/2010

Yep, the 2 year delay is interesting. I think, though, that it has more to do with national politics than diverting attention away from sex abuse. I don't mean to discount the pains of the abused, far from it; yet as far as the media is concerned it is an old story. It seems that the idea is to focus attention on how the GOP is more aligned with authentic christian, catholic teachings and the Dems are basically immoral atheists who are the spawn of satan because they are for homosexuals, universal health care, rights of a woman for her own body, opposed to making war, opposed to tax breaks for wealthy ,that sort of thing.

[Jack Crack]

10:45 PM on 09/27/2010

a Penis fits into a bumhole just as well as a vaginaaah, these guys are scared of sex and never asked a chick if they could take her up the jack seat, they just don't get it

[FlGlades]

10:37 PM on 09/27/2010

REFLECTION by Rev. Paul Stallsworth, Lifewatch
-----------------------------------------------------

God is giver of all life. Short lived or long lived,
human lives are lived out in this world. The
metaphors for death are many. But their meaning is
clear and singular: all will die. Even so, death is
not the absolute end. It is not the end of the story.
For as certainly as God gave life, at death the life
or spirit that God gave returns to God.

By God, we are created. For God, we live our given
days. To God, we return at the end of our earthly
days. And with God, we live through eternity.
Clearly, all along the way, this gracious, loving God
is with us. No human life is random or alone. No
human life was created without purpose. Not one human
life is without destiny.

All human lives, acknowledged or not, are related to
God -- from beginning, to end, throughout eternity.
Therefore, in this world, all human lives are to be
respected and protected, for their lives are signs of
God's sovereignty.

[turfkiller]

10:21 PM on 10/02/2010

That is the problem, your life may be a sign of God's sovereignty but keep you hands of their lives.

[FlGlades]

10:36 PM on 09/27/2010

PRAYER
-----------------------------------------------------

O God, we too often try to live in ways that ignore
our coming death. We forget that our days are
numbered by You, that at the end of our days your
judgment awaits, that You are the Lord of our
destiny.

Help us to repent daily, and then to live each day in
joyful obedience. Lead us to live in the light and
promise of eternity. Prepare us to live fully and
sacrificially. Prepare us to die faithfully and
hopefully, so that we might live forever with You.
Through Jesus Christ, who has gone before us, we
trust and hope and love and pray, Amen.

[FlGlades]

10:35 PM on 09/27/2010

SCRIPTURE
-----------------------------------------------------

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is
loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher
shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the
well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it
was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

-- Ecclesiastes 12:6-7


40 days for life

[anastasiabeaverhousen]

09:15 PM on 09/27/2010

Does anyone really care what they thing? THey're the ones running around in dresses. Just an observation................

[anastasiabeaverhousen]

09:48 PM on 09/27/2010

"think". sorry.

[curiousdwk]

09:00 PM on 09/27/2010

And yet another example of how the Catholic Church has become completely irrelevant in our society. Let them fuss and fume as what they say doesn't matter any way.

[turfkiller]

09:40 AM on 09/28/2010

Don't look now, but the religious right is making a lot of strides and having an impact all around us be it science, education and government to name the big three. Never have so many politicians run on the absolute banning of abortion and made it so far. Don't dimiss them are irrelevant. They are wrong but not irrelevant.

[Gregor53]

07:53 PM on 09/27/2010

"The bishops proposed no punitive actions against Creighton or the theologians; instead, their committee on doctrine issued a detailed 24-page rebuttal of the arguments in The Sexual Person."  I knew there was hope that the Catholic Church would jump into the 17st Century.  They are not trying them for heresy and burning them at the stake as they did many others in the past.  I have friends that are gay and I respect their life choices.  It would be impossible for me to be a Catholic today as my friends have done more for me than any clergy member has in the past and present.  I am not sure God would make us chose between our friends (who he created in his image) and Christianity (who Peter and Paul created in their image of Yeshua).     

[Canada Boy]

07:09 PM on 09/27/2010

I never thought I'd say it, but I'm actually starting to feel sorry for these mummified old farts. They lament the dwindling numbers of priests and gullible believers, and yet they know that the bigotry they hold so dear is dying with their generation. What 20 year-old is going to go into the priesthood if he has to espouse these ludicrous, transparently-patriarchal policies? Young people don't hate the gays, despite Catholic "natural law," with is neither natural nor legal.

Start forcing these hate cults to pay their taxes, just like any other fringe group. The money they'd have to divert from their child-diddling fund would bankrupt them and finally put them out of our misery.