Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

The harsh critique by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine of a Fordham University theologian’s popular book was not meant to question the “dedication, honor, creativity or service” of Elizabeth A. Johnson, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, N.Y., and the author of Quest for the Living God. So wrote Thomas G. Weinandy, O.F.M.Cap., executive director of the Secretariat for Doctrine of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a letter to Fordham University faculty members dated April 28. The letter was sent 10 days after 179 Fordham faculty members offered their support to Sister Johnson and urged U.S. bishops to “rectify the lack of respect and consideration your actions have shown.” Father Weinandy suggested a review of a 1989 document governing relations between bishops and theologians. He said that review might help parties “see how well its provisions are understood and applied.”

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

I use a motorized wheelchair and communication device because of my disability, cerebral palsy. Parishes were not prepared to accommodate my needs nor were they always willing to recognize my abilities.
Margaret Anne Mary MooreNovember 22, 2024
Nicole Scherzinger as ‘Norma Desmond’ and Hannah Yun Chamberlain as ‘Young Norma’ in “Sunset Blvd” on Broadway at the St. James Theatre (photo: Marc Brenner).
Age and its relationship to stardom is the animating subject of “Sunset Blvd,” “Tammy Faye” and “Death Becomes Her.”
Rob Weinert-KendtNovember 22, 2024
What separates “Bonhoeffer” from the myriad instructive Holocaust biographies and melodramas is its timing.
John AndersonNovember 22, 2024
“Wicked” arrives on a whirlwind of eager (and anxious) anticipation among fans of the musical.
John DoughertyNovember 22, 2024