Speaking of Avery Dulles...
Dulles, in a 1996 article 'The Travails of Dialogue,' notes Cardinal Law's criticism of the all-too-frequent appeals to 'dialogue' on theological matters, i.e. on the part of the Magisterium of the Church:
The fundamental flaw . . . is its appeal to 'dialogue' as a path to 'common ground.' The Church already has 'common ground.' It is found in sacred Scripture and tradition, and it is mediated to us through the authoritative and binding teaching of the magisterium. The disconnect that is so often found today between that Catholic common ground and [the] faith and practice of some Catholics is alarming. Dialogue as applied to this pastoral crisis must be clearly understood, however. Dissent from revealed truth or the authoritative teaching of the Church cannot be 'dialogued' away. Truth and dissent from truth are not equal partners in ecclesial dialogue. Dialogue as a pastoral effort to assist in a fuller appropriation of the truth is laudable. Dialogue as a way to mediate between the truth and dissent is mutual deception.
And Dulles' own comments: Cardinal Ratzinger, recalling the student uprisings of 1968, declared that he then learned the lesson that there are times when dialogue would become a lie and would amount to collaboration with terrorism. To turn to a more classical example, Jesus evidently judged that on certain occasions excoriation rather than dialogue should be directed to the Pharisees. And when brought to trial before Herod, Jesus responded not with dialogue but with silence. In our day, groups that call for dialogue in order to confront the Church with inexorable demands must be met with a firm refusal.
For more resources on Dulles.
# posted by Jamie : 3:50 PM
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