Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Cross, Page 2
News
Thursday, March 25, 1999
Cardinals differ on role of doctrinal congregation
Vatican city (CNS)
I n an unusual airing of differences,
two cardinals have debated the
proper role of the Vatican’s Congrega
tion for the Doctrine of the Faith in
investigating the orthodoxy of theolo
gians. Austrian Cardinal Franz Konig
said the Vatican congregation should
adopt a less-defensive attitude and a
more-careful method when examining
theological writings on interreligious
dialogue. German Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger, who heads the doctrinal
congregation, said his agency is only
doing its job when it protects the faith
— and the faithful — from concepts
that would place all religions on the
same level.
The cardinals expressed their views
in sharply worded letters published
recently by the English Catholic mag
azine, The Tablet. What prompted
Cardinal Konig’s initial criticism in
January and Cardinal Ratzinger’s
response in March was the case of
Belgian Jesuit Father Jacques Dupuis,
A towering task
(Continued from page 1)
“This restoration and this show of support will
help ensure that the cathedral is here for the enjoy
ment of Savannahians in a hundred years.”
Father O’Neill said scaffolding will be honey
combed all the way around the outside of the cathe
dral structure and up the sides of the steeples “as far
up as they can go. You probably won’t be able to
see much of the building while the scaffolding is up
there.”
“Not only is the roof coming off, but all the slates
up the steeples to the cross, they are coming off
also. And the copper work (will be replaced) on the
steeples. So the steeples will be encased as well.”
“It’s going to take a few weeks to get that much
scaffolding in place. So, when we get everything
worked out, we’re going to let them start as soon as
we can after Easter on getting the scaffolding in.
And if they start taking slates off, it’s fine with us.”
The reason for setting the 30th of May for the
sanctuary closing, O’Neill said, is because that’s
when the interior people are ready to work, but they
can’t do anything inside until the roof is fixed first.
“We’re hoping that by the end of May work will
already be started on the roof,” he said.
a theologian at Rome’s Gregorian
University who has written extensive
ly about Christian theology and other
religions. In late 1998, the doctrinal
congregation asked Father Dupuis to
respond to its criticisms and questions
about his 1997 book, Toward a Chris
tian Theology of Religious Pluralism.
He was given three months to draw
up a written response. Father Dupuis
declined to discuss particulars of his
investigation, citing the doctrinal con
gregation’s insistence on confidential
ity. Church sources in Rome said the
Vatican’s main questions focused on
his treatment of the church’s mediat
ing role in salvation. Father Dupuis
has written, for example, that the
church’s purpose is not to “render the
kingdom of heaven accessible only
through itself.”
Cardinal Konig, the 93-year-old
retired archbishop of Vienna who has
written extensively on other religions,
called Father Dupuis’ latest book
“masterly.” He said the investigation
of the theologian was “an indication
that mistrust, suspicion and disap
proval are being prematurely spread
about an author who has the highest
intentions.”
While he said it was not his job to
give advice to the doctrinal congrega
tion, Cardinal Konig added: “But I
cannot keep silent, for my heart
bleeds when I see such obvious harm
being done to the common good of
God’s church.” He suggested that the
doctrinal congregation should be able
to “find better ways of doing its job to
serve the church effectively.” The
doctrinal congregation has moved
“too fast too soon,” using methods
that may be particularly ill-suited to
interreligious questions, he said.
Cardinal Konig said that with the
Second Vatican Council and with
Pope John Paul II’s encyclical
Redemptoris Missio, the church
revised its “apologetic and defensive
attitude” toward non-Christian reli
gions. The question of reconciling
Christ’s uniqueness with salvation
outside the church needs careful and
wide discussion today, he said.
In his letter, Cardinal Ratzinger, 71,
expressed “astonishment” at Cardinal
Konig’s criticisms. He said the con
gregation’s request for clarification
from Father Dupuis was an “attempt
at dialogue” undertaken with great
discretion. “Is dialogue with authors
to be forbidden to us? Is the attempt
to reach confidential clarification on
difficult questions something evil?”
Cardinal Ratzinger wrote.
On the more general issues of inter
religious dialogue raised by Cardinal
Konig, Cardinal Ratzinger said two
crucial questions must be faced: Can a
Christian engaged in dialogue relin
quish his faith conviction that Christ
is the true son of God and that there is
something unique in Christianity?
And “is he being honest with himself
and with others if he sets this convic
tion aside?”
Conrad Schmitt Studios of New Berlin, Wiscon
sin, is doing the interior redecorating work on the
cathedral, which includes painting the ceilings in
blue, gold and peach colors.
The organization is also charged with cleaning
murals darkened by years of incense smoke; and
creating a marble look to the metal columns, return
ing the sanctuary to some of the look it had between
1912 and 1945. Also, plaster stations of the cross
will be painted, giving color to the robes and faces
from biblical scenes.
One very delicate matter is the cathedral organ,
which was custom-made in 1984 and is worth more
than $800,000. It will be cared for with the tender
ness given to a newborn baby, Father O’Neill said.
“Dust can affect an organ,” he said. “They are
very sensitive.” To protect it, the organ console will
have a wooden cabinet built over it and the entire
instrument will be carefully wrapped in heavy plas
tic. “Those pipes cannot be touched by hand.”
In addition to those items, work will be done on
interior walls, lighting and other items. O’Neill
stresses that plans have been made to provide for
future needs of the cathedral. “The (Catholic Dio
cese’s “One Faith, One Family” campaign) includes
$1 million to be put aside as an endowment for the
future maintenance of this building,” he said.
“When we put this money aside, it doesn’t mean
that if I want to put a new nail in the door, I am
going to take the funds out of that $1 million. Our
regular maintenance costs, as far as I’m concerned,
will be paid out from our own parish. That’s the
usual wear and tear on the building.”
Instead, he said, the endowment fund will be for
anything major that comes up, which, of course,
will happen as the years go by. “I would not want
people to think that when we have the endowment,
we don’t need the offering any more,” he added.
“The idea is to leave that $1 million untouched,
and hope that people will contribute more to the
endowment, so that over the years it will grow
because of interest and so on and so forth. So, in 30
or 40 years’ time, when something else will be
needed here, that the bishop and the rector at that
time won’t have to have a special drive.”
Meanwhile, church attendee Jack Pierce echoed
the thoughts of many who go the cathedral to wor
ship. “The cathedral was built at tremendous sacri
fice of the parishioners nearly 100 years ago,” he
said. “Their sacrifice is our glory.”
Reprinted with permission from The SAVANNAH
Morning News
(USPS 505 680)
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