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

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met inside St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the funeral for Pope Francis on the morning of April 26.
Associated PressApril 26, 2025
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re’s homily for the funeral of Pope Francis.
America StaffApril 26, 2025
The day before he died, Pope Francis made one final circuit through St. Peter’s Square in his popemobile. “That’s my last image of him alive,” Gerry O’Connell remembered. “He drove among the people.”
Universities need to change. But Trump is attacking the wrong problems.
Nathan SchneiderApril 25, 2025