Father Sobrino deserves kinder consideration

Regarding this week's "notification" from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on two books by Jesuit Father Jon Father Sobrino, a hero of the liberation theology movement, we'd like to try something different. We want to suggest that there's truth in all three.

Certainly, it could have been worse. Father Sobrino has neither been silenced nor barred from teaching or publishing, contrary to some misleading early reports. In fact, the notification reflects a commendable clarity on the part of the doctrinal congregation in distinguishing between persons and their publications. The authors say they do not mean to judge Father Sobrino's subjective intent, and call his concern for the poor "admirable." The result is more akin to a negative book review than to a personal condemnation.

Further, there really is nothing new. The notification does not close any theological doors that were not already shut. Instead, it largely repeats points about Christology made in earlier notifications on the works of fellow Jesuit theologians Father Roger Haight and the late Father Jacques Dupuis, plus warnings about liberation theology that date to the 1980s.

It also bears repeating that, however unpopular a task it may be, the institution will always have somebody patrolling the borders of the church's authentic teaching. Undoubtedly it is seductive today, out of respect for the religious convictions of others, to turn traditional affirmations about Christ into metaphors and symbols, so that they seem less "exclusive" or "arrogant." There will always be tension between that view and the view of others who believe that to continue down that path would mean turning our convictions about ultimate truth into little more than religious poetry.

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Yet the broad legitimacy of the concern over protecting the boundaries of belief does not justify the particular process followed in this case, or the particular conclusions reached.

Those who know Father Sobrino testify to his personal integrity, and to the solidity of his Catholic faith. His heroism over the years in standing up for the marginalized and oppressed is beyond question. This history suggests that his theology ought to be given the benefit of the doubt, and presumed to be orthodox unless it is obviously otherwise.

Moreover, Father Sobrino said that a number of theologians reviewed the two books in question prior to publication, and found them free of doctrinal error. One quipped that if he were to apply the same "hermeneutics of suspicion" used by the Vatican to the encyclicals of Pope John Paul II, he could find plenty of heresy there, too. Father Sobrino himself says he does not recognize his theology in the notification.

It is hardly "dissent" to observe that the current process - in which the targeted theologian is basically a bystander, and much of the review is carried out by people seemingly determined to find heresy - is not constructive. A more generous and creative way of doing business is urgently needed.

Imagine, for example, if the doctrinal congregation had invited Father Sobrino and other liberationists to collaborate on a joint document about dangers to be avoided in Christological exploration. Such a text would have had much greater impact than a unilateral declaration from authority.

Finally, a word about Father Sobrino himself. Whatever judgment one reaches about the two books cited in the notification, Father Jon Father Sobrino has been a towering figure in Catholic theological discussion for almost 40 years.

If, as the Vatican's notification acknowledges, Catholicism today knows it cannot "remain indifferent to the grave problems of human misery and injustice," Father Sobrino has played an enormous role in shaping that awareness. In what must be a painful moment for Father Sobrino, simple justice requires that the church - all of us, collectively - say thank you for a remarkable life's work.

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