German Theologians' Petition to Rome: More Commentary

 

Another follow-up posting that continues discussions about which I've blogged recently here: I've blogged a number of times (most recently here, with links back to previous postings) about German theologian David Berger's book The Holy Illusion: Being a Gay Theologian in the Catholic Church.  As I've noted, Berger was once the darling of restorationist Catholic circles in Europe, but is now under strong attack from his former friends after he came out of the closet as a partnered gay man and has exposed some of the seamier secrets of the restorationist bunch within the Catholic church.  

For readers wanting to know more about Berger's book, which hasn't yet been translated into English, I highly recommend a thorough, thoughtful, and illuminating review by blogger Alan McCornick at the Hepzibah blog site.  (Which I won't try to summarize, precisely because it is so thorough that it defies easy summary and demands a close reading.)  Alan is fluent in German, and well-versed in some of the theological controversies the book has elicited in German-speaking countries, where right-wing Catholic websites are now hotly pursuing Berger with every infamous charge under the sun.

Because they don't like having their secrets revealed.

And yesterday, Alan published another important piece on the recent petition of 143 German Catholic theologians to the Vatican, about which I've blogged several times recently.  As does Nicholas Kristof, Alan sees two churches emerging in contemporary Catholicism--one committed to human rights and ministering on the ground to people struggling for rights and human dignity around the world; the other "which refuses to allow abortions in its hospitals even to save the life of a mother, disparages and on occasion demonizes gays and lesbians, maintains the illusion its priests have surrendered their sexuality, works to prevent condoms in AIDS-riddled Africa, and prays for the conversion of Jews."

As Alan says, it will be interesting to watch the tug of war between these two churches and to see which side prevails.

I'm reading at various blog sites that the reaction against the German theologians' petition is already pronounced in some circles, particularly those of the religious and political right in both the U.S. and Europe.  Peter Seewald, author of the glowing new book about Pope Benedict entitled Light of the World, which has been much touted by the mainstream media for months now, has told the right-wing German-language Catholic news site Kath.net that the theologians who signed the petition represent a "rebellion in a nursing home."  That is, they are promoting a dissident movement that has now been vanquished and pushed to the margins by the institutional church and the Catholic right, and ought to shut up.

(And yet, I have the impression a large number of the theologians who signed this petition in Germany--and the numbers signing it are increasing: see Meinrad Scherer-Emunds, below--are younger folks. Not the dried-up old liberal nursing home patients of Seewald's slur.  Do any readers have accurate information on the ages of the German theologians signing the petition?)

The German newspaper Deutsche Welle has published comments of readers re: the theologians' petition.  Note the charming (and literacy-challenged) suggestion of some American readers in this thread that the theologians are "heritics" who need to be "disciplined."  And don't you love the temerity of Catholics in the U.S. imagining that they can log into an intraecclesial Catholic discussion in Germany and demand that the "heritics" of that church be "disciplined"?

For thoughtful and literate reflections on the German theologians' statement, in addition to Alan McCornick's (above), I recommend Terry Weldon's insightful overviews at Open Tabernacle (here and here) and Meinrad Scherer-Emunds' essay at U.S. Catholic.  Scherer-Emunds concludes,

Despite this little loophole, the statement overall still seemed in striking contrast with the way Catholic theologians—and many of the rest of us—both in the United States and elsewhere in the Catholic Church these days continue to feel obliged to avoid certain taboo subjects like women’s ordination and same-sex partnerships. Much like it did for a while in 2002 in this country, the clergy sex-abuse crisis in Europe seems to again have started a more open and honest dialogue about needed church reforms. Unlike in this country, at least some of the European bishops have in recent months joined and encouraged that conversation.

Despite this little loophole, the statement overall still seemed in striking contrast with the way Catholic theologians—and many of the rest of us—both in the United States and elsewhere in the Catholic Church these days continue to feel obliged to avoid certain taboo subjects like women’s ordination and same-sex partnerships. Much like it did for a while in 2002 in this country, the clergy sex-abuse crisis in Europe seems to again have started a more open and honest dialogue about needed church reforms. Unlike in this country, at least some of the European bishops have in recent months joined and encouraged that conversation.

And I wholeheartedly agree.