Author:
Publication: Vatican
Update From Catholic World News
Date: September 5, 2000
VATICAN, Sept.
5 (CWNews.com) -- At a Vatican press conference on September 5, introducing
the new statement Dominus Jesus, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said the document
was a necessary response to "the theology of religious pluralism," which
is growing "not only in theological circles, but also more generally in
Catholic public opinion."
Cardinal Ratzinger, the
prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explained that
there is a growing body of opinion suggesting that other religions can
offer an important complement to the teachings of Christianity. This
is an erroneous belief, he said, and his Congregation prepared the new
statement to affirm "the full and definitive revelation of Christ."
The cardinal pointed
out that many people today view the Church's traditional claim to be the
unique and universal means to salvation as "a bit of fundamentalism which
is an attack on the modern spirit and a menace to toleration and liberty."
Because of that attitude, he continued, many people see ecumenical dialogue
as an end in itself. "Dialogue-- or rather the ideology of dialogue--
becomes a substitute for missionary activity and for the urgency of an
appeal to conversion."
This mistaken notion
of dialogue, Cardinal Ratzinger observed, emphasizes not a search for objective
and absolute truth, but a desire to put all religious beliefs on the same
plane. And such dialogue gives rise to a "false idea of tolerance,"
which allows respect for other beliefs because it rejects the possibility
of any objective truth. Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, the secretary
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, observed that Dominus
Jesus does not contain any new teaching, but "reaffirms and restates the
doctrine of the Catholic faith" in answer to contemporary problems and
theories. He emphasized that because it comes from the Holy See,
with the explicit authorization of the Pope, the document must be viewed
as the teaching of the Magisterium, rather than just another theological
opinion.
