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Theology e-magazine
To make humanity united in worshipping God

Our Heavenly Patron

Duly assembled in the Holy Spirit, forming a

general council and representing the Catholic Church, the synod
has its authority from Christ. Thus everyone of whatever estate or
dignity, even the papal dignity, has to obey it in all that concerns
the faith, the overcoming of the said schism and the reform of this
church, head and members. -Ecumenical Council of Constance,
1418.
We must accept with humility the criticisms
that surround us, w ith r eflection , an d even w ith
gratitude. Rome has no need to defend itself by making
itself deaf to suggestions that com e to it fr om
honest voices, especially when they are those of friends
and brothers.
Pope Paul VI, speech to Roman Curia.

A Church which abandons the truth abandons

itself.
-Hans Kung
 Perfection is to be achieved biblically, not by
Page - 02 going into the cloister but by going into the
world.

Notable Contribution of Hans Kung in Vatican II

Hans Kung actively participated in discussions in
various capacities .
Error has no
Jesus proclamation of the kingdom of God,
right at all.
the church as the local church,
Compromisi
the charismatic dimension of the church,
ng with the
the historical relativity of the order of three ministries
erring leads ( bishops, priest, deacon)
the sinfulness of the church
to error.
the abiding need for its reform
finally the collegiality of the bishops
with the pope,
the basic the notion of the church as people of God being
presupposed everywhere.
This issue commemorates the 500th anniversary of
In the last
reformation protested by Luther. My Struggle for Freedom is a
resort, a love
reading experience of Hans Kung, a dissenting voice of Church.
of God without The author speaks himself throughout the article. Views are
love of strictly taken from his diary and we do not subscribe to all the
humanity is no views expressed here. 2 Basic Rules from
love at all. 1) Studium per ttoum diem: Ignatius
-Hans Kung Study for the whole day. So it is not the time for study but
the times of recreation that are prescribed.
2) Silentium religioum:
Strict silence after evening recreation of 9 p.m. until after
breakfast at 8 am. This is not burdensome for me, since it
provides the necessary quiet for religious exercises.

I loved righteousness and hated iniquity,

therefore I die in exile.

-Pope Gregory VII
 Page - 03
From his farewell speech at Tubingen in

You will never

1996;
write such a book I could not have gone other way, not just for the

when you get sake of freedom, which has always been dear to me, but for

older. So publish the sake of the truth. I saw then, as I see now, that had I

it now! gone another way, I would have sold my soul for power in

Counsellor Prelate the Church I am happy as I look back on my life, despite

Josef Hofer all the suffering.

Abiding Insights
1) What to live for?
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam, to the greater glory of God. This reminds of the
meaning of our human life; not living simply for ourselves, but for our creator and
perfector, our origin and goal.
2)What to decide for?
Fait voluntas tua, thy will be done. To attempt to recognize in concrete
situations of decisions what is the quite personal will and wish of God for me and to
apply the rules for discerning the spirits to this end. The last norm for me, my
conscience, is not a law or an authority of the state or the church.

3) How to deal with goods of this world?

Tantum quantum, I may freely use as much money and possessions, calling
and honor, as help me on my way to God. All is good, but nothing must be
absoultized. That means freedom, relaxation, and active indifference.
4) What to strive for ?
Magis ever more, always orientate myself more perfectly, simulated by
mediation, on the life, suffering and death of Jesus, following his example and being
like him. Perfection is to be achieved biblically, not by going into the cloister but by
going into the world, practicing an active religion open to the world which finds God
not only in the church but in all things.

The Vocation of a Theologian

It is not the task of the bishops, but of theologians to rush in. There is a
remarkable distinction between roles; although the bishop is in much a stronger
position in church law, he is to keep out of conflict, where as the theologian is to
sacrifice himself so to speak for better or for worse.
 The corruption of the holy is the most unholy of all.
Page - 04
A Latin saying.

Sentire Cum Ecclesia?

According to Ignatius in Rule 13 and in the book Spiritual
Those Exercises, on sentire cum ecclesia: a feeling with the church, which
he says should go as far as believing that the white that I see is
who go black, if the hierarchal church so defines it.
slowly go But does the title mean senitre cum ecclesia (with the
soundly hierarchy), but sentire in ecclesia (in the church
and go a community) and what Ignatius himself did when the
conservative Paul IV wanted to suppress to SJ?
long way. He did not give in, but
sought out a number of
cardinals and fought for his
work, until the pope died
four years after his election.
So resistance can be allowed.

Unlimited Freedom?
I am my freedom.
Hardly did you create me when I ceased to obey you,
cries Oretses, the man, in Sartres play The Files, to Jupiter, God.
There is no determinism, man is free, indeed man is
freedom, and we read in Sartre. Human beings often demoted
to being objects by science and life, are to be given back their
dignity. And human dignity lies in human freedom, is the
central thesis of Sartre. Freedom does not depend on success
but is even heightened by real obstacles.

The man who I can belong to a party, write a

is not what he is book, want to marry: all this is only
has given himself the manifestation 0f a more original
choice. There is an original choice,
up. In other
choice for myself in the world and
words, he must
thus at the time discovery of the
realize himself.
world.
 The Catholics are the subjects of the Pope and the prisoners of an
ecclesiastical clerical system in which consciences are enslaved and the
relations of the soul with God seem derived and controlled.
Yues Congar OP (1937). Page - 05

On Freedom of Conscience
As the summer semester of 1955 in Rome I can formulate as the result of my
theological licentiate work:
Generally speaking, in the doctrine of justification there is fundamental
agreement between the teaching of Brath and the teaching of the Catholic Church.
So in this light there would be no basis for a schism.
It will take around 40 years, until 1999, fro the
breakthrough already achieved in 1957 to be officially
sanctioned by the church. I once read in C. G . Jung that it
takes around 40 years for an idea from the higher levels of
clergy to get down to the man on the street. Did the prelates
also count on that?

On Conscience, J. Ratzinger, 1968

Above the pope as an expression of the
binding claim of church authority stands
one sown conscience, which has to be
obeyed first of all, if need be against the
demands of the church authority.
With this emphasis on the individual, who in the conscience faces
the highest and last authority which is ultimately withdrawn from the claim of
external communities, including the official church, at the same time the counter-
principle to rising totalitarianism is given, and true obedience in the church is
acquitted of the totalitarian claim that cannot accept such an ultimate compulsion
that opposes it will to power.

Indeed it is impracticable to assume that we must abandon

our primordial ties in order to become a global citizen- UN
manifesto for the dialogue among civilizations 2001
 Page - 06 Ecclesia Semper Reformanda:

The church always in need of reform. The very title

is unacceptable to many Catholic theologians. Basically
As president I would
every word is disputed.
not take orders from Semper?
any Pope, Cardinal, To be reformed time and again?
Ecclesia?
and Bishop or The Church? According to the traditional Roman
priestif any Pope view (warmed up again by Card. Ratzinger in the year
attempted to 2000) this does not need to be reformed at all. Only its
members need to be reformed. The Church itself is holy,
influence me as immaculate...while it consists of sinners, it is not itself
President I would sinful. Only Karl Rahner points out how completely
abstract this distinction is and consequently wants to talk
have to tell him it
not only of a church of sinners but also of a sinful
was completely Church.
improper. Reformanda?
John F Kennedy. There is dispute between what authentic reform is?
Is it only a reform of the life of the church or also of its
doctrine?

Imprimatur?
For what are you going to do in theology
if even the theologian who could best
understand you does not understand?
I succeed in my controlling my emotions through my reasonin Charles
Darwins Foreword to his classic the Origin of the Species...he writes that he does not
expect that experienced colleagues in biology, who all their lives have put forward
another view, will ultimately change their views about the theology of evolution. He
hopes that a few young scholars will read his book and continues his ideas.

Woman may also be invited as

hearers; unless I am mistaken they
make up half of the human kind.
- Cardinal Loeons Suennes
 Page - 07 Freedom as far as is Possible

Freedom as far as is possible. Constraint as far as necessary!

Unity not uniformity;
a center, not centralism: is the demands of the hour.
Freedom in the Church is not a theory; freedom in the church is a reality
and a challenge.
In his book profiles in Courage, Kennedy writes, A man does what he must,
insipte of personal consequences, insipte of dangers and it is the basis of all
human morality.

Freedom First in Liturgy: On Miracles

One God, one Lord, one baptism, one
Eucharist.
But different titles, languages, forms of
piety, prayers, hymns, vestments, art.
Freedom Secondly in Church Law:
One God, one Lord, one Church, one
government.
But different church orders, different legal
orders, different nations, different
traditions, customs.
Freedom Thirdly in Theology:
One God, one Lord, one gospel, one faith.
But different theologies, different systems,
style of thought, conceptual apparatus,
terminology, trends, and theologians.
I am not a
rationalist...I can take the healing
the stories of the New Testament
seriously as stories of faith. And of
course what happened there can in
principle also happen in Lourdes. It
is a matter of the powers of self-
healing stimulated by faith...they
can be explained by historical
criticism as the formation of
legends or as taken over from
traditions; they by no means need
simply to be believed.
Is miracle the dearest
child of faith, as Goethes
Faust puts it in the Easter
night scene?

To Conclude:
The time is ripe for a systematic purging of the theological
differences between the Christian churches.not all questions
between the Christian can be resolved. But those questions
which divide the must be solved.

Editor: Tony Maliyekal VC. Published from Vincentian Vidyabhavan, Aluva.