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In letter to CDF, theologians and bishops call for reform of Vatican doctrinal investigations
From the National Catholic Reporter
A group of prominent global Catholic theologians, priests and bishops who have been criticized by the Vatican's chief doctrinal office have come together to call for a new process for theological investigations in the church that would be marked by openness and transparency instead of deep secrecy.
In a letter sent to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith last month, the theologians argue that current procedures for investigations -- characterized often by a lack of adequate defense or possibility of appeal -- are "contrary to natural justice and in need of reform."
See also CDF: accuser, investigator, judge, jury, executioner, Christian?
OMG - A Journal of Religion and Culture
Volume 3 Issue 1 April 2016
April’s OMG! has Springtime renewal bursting throughout! Hans Küng writes an Open Letter to Pope Francis on Infallibility. Tom Doyle takes readers to the investigation that gave birth to the Oscar-wining movie “Spotlight.” Two new contributors share historical perspectives on Plato’s influence on Catholicism and more meaningful liturgies. Read more now at www.omgjournal.org.
Pope Francis restores the good sense of Jesus
by Leonardo Boff, Theologian-Philosopher, Earthcharter Commission
Pope Francis' speeches are not framed either by the doctrines or dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. It is not that he does not appreciate them, but that he understands that they are theological works created during different historical times. Those doctrines and dogmas provoked religious wars, schisms, excommunications, the burning of theologians and women (such as Joan of Arc and the women considered witches) at the stake of the Holy Inquisition. That lasted for several centuries and the author of these lines had a bitter experience in the cubicle where the accused were interrogated in the forbidding building of the former Inquisition, located to the left of the Basilica of Saint Peter.
Pope Francis has engendered a revolution in the thinking of the Church, returning to the praxis of the historical Jesus. He is restoring what is now called "The Tradition of Jesus", that precedes the present Gospels, written 30-40 years after His execution on the cross. The Tradition of Jesus, or as it is also called in The Acts of the Apostles, “the path of Jesus”, is grounded more on values and ideals than on doctrine. The essentials are unconditional love, mercy, forgiveness, justice and preference for the poor and the outcast, and a total openness to God the Father. Jesus, to put it bluntly, did not intend to found a new religion. He wanted to teach us how to live. To live with fraternity, solidarity and caring for each other.
Vatican to undertake ecological initiatives during Easter season
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- During Holy Week and in the Easter season, the Vatican will take part in several initiatives highlighting the importance of ecology and the care for creation.
The Governorate of Vatican City State announced March 18 that the thousands of floral arrangements for the Easter morning Mass and the pope's solemn blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and to the world), will be repurposed after the celebrations.
Thousands of bushes, flowering trees, tulips and other flowering bulbs, which are a gift of growers in the Netherlands, will be replanted in the Vatican gardens. The plants also will be distributed to various pontifical colleges and institutions "so that they may bloom in the coming years," the governorate said.
