Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: "Ratzinger's Legacy?" "Over 100 Theologians . . . Silenced, Admonished and Disciplined"

In response to an article by John Allen at National Catholic Reporter about the legacy Pope Benedict XVI leaves behind, Vacy writes,*

Ratzinger's legacy? - a trail of blood by crushing Liberation Theology and support of the South American juntas, the rise of Opus Dei, LGBT suffering, entrenched misogyny, a Dark ages church bereft of wonderful liberal minds. During his watch, over 100 theologians whose doctrinal deviancy was independent thought or liberation theology were silenced, admonished and disciplined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  

These include:


Leonardo Boff;  

Bishop Pedro Casaldaliga of Brazil, the 'pastor to all the Americas' because of his solidarity with the poorest;
  

Gustavo Gutierrez, father of liberation theology (a meeting of Peruvian bishops was convened in Rome in September of 1984 to condemn Gustavo Gutierrez);
  

Father Ernesto Cardenal of Nicaragua for refusing to resign as the minister of culture in Nicaragua's Sandinista government;
 

Mexican Samuel Ruiz, champion of the rights of the indigenous Mayas of Chiapas, was charged by the Vatican of having "doctrinal and pastoral errors" and also "a Marxist misinterpretation of the Gospel"
; 

Hungarian Fr. Gyorgy Bulanyi, who set up non-violent base communities, for proposing the ordination of women and equality of laypersons and priests;
 

Hans Küng for erroneous teaching about papal infallibility; 


Fr Charles Curran, a moral theologian known for his dissent from official church teaching on sexual ethics. Curran wrote: "Homosexual acts in the context of a loving relationship that strives for permanency can in a certain sense be objectively morally acceptable";
 

The Rev Tissa Balasuriya for arguing for greater flexibility in adapting the Christian message in the Asian context and his visionary view of original sin and the immaculate conception: "I agree that Mary was born without original sin. But I am also saying that nobody is conceived in sin";
 

Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle for ministering to gays and giving communion to divorced Catholics;
 

Jesuit Fr. John McNeill for his pastoral ministry with homosexuals; 


Edward Schillebeeckx for discussing the question whether a layman could preside at the Eucharist;
 

Austrian priest Fr. Peter Hausberger was forced to publicly disavow his act of jointly celebrating the Eucharist with a Methodist minister to rescind his suspension;
 

Fr. Bernhard Haering, a moral theologian, for stating persons should follow their conscience on birth control; 


Fr. Eugen Drewermann, German theologian, for questioning the virgin birth of Christ and the physical reality of his resurrection and for religious pluralism;
 

Jacques Pohier, French Dominican, for his heterodox views on the Resurrection;
 

Brazilian Sr. Ivone Gebara for publicly advocating legalized abortion; 


Fr. Anthony Kosnik because his writings on sexuality conflicted with basic Catholic teachings;
 

Fr. Matthew Fox for teaching pantheism (creation theology);
 

Sister Agnes Mary Mansour as director of the Department of Social Services in Michigan, oversaw funding of abortions;
 

Bishop Mathew Clark of Rochester, New York ordered to cease inclusive practices; 


Fr. Alex Zanotelli of Columbia for publishing an expose of the relationship of arms sales and Italian relief agencies;
 

Bishop Jacques Gaillot for his promotion of contraception and homosexuality;
 

Fr. Philipe Denis, Dominican, for criticizing the Opus Dei;
 

Indian Jesuit Anthony de Mello's works of "radical apophaticism" received a posthumous notification;
 

Sister Jeannine Gramick and Fr. Robert Nugent of the United States for ministering with gay and lesbian Catholics because they had not "condemned the intrinsic evil of homosexual acts";
 

Jesuit Roger Haight for proposing a shift from Christocentrism to Theocentrism as it isn't necessary to believe that God saves only through Jesus;
 

Sr. Joan Chittister was prohibited from taking part in the Conference of the World Network for the Ordination of Women in Dublin. However, she ignored the order; 


In March 2005, Ratzinger ordered the resignation of the dissident editor of America magazine, Jesuit Thomas Reese (on the bright side - any theologian with a CDF notification is worth reading).
 

Fr. Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of Americas Watch, removed from Maryknoll Fathers in 2012 for supporting women priests.

An astonishing litany, isn't it? How can any community--especially one committed to proclaiming moral values and protecting human rights--expect to thrive when it so systematically and ruthlessly assassinates its prophets, poets, and intellectuals? 

*I've taken the liberty (with apologies to Vacy) of adding paragraph breaks to the original, and in a very few cases, correcting misspellings and standardizing the original punctuation to make the list more readable.

Later in the day: thanks to Squinch for pointing out that I forgot to embed a link to Vacy's comment! I apologize. I've just included it.