RELIGION BRIEFING

Saturday, January 10, 2009

THE VATICAN

Jesuit Barred From Teaching Christ

An American Catholic theologian censured by the Vatican for "grave doctrinal errors" has been told to cease teaching about the nature and identity of Jesus Christ.

The Rev. Roger Haight, a Jesuit, has been asked by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Catholic Church's highest doctrinal authority, not to teach Christology at any institution, even one unaffiliated with the church.

The Vatican's directive was confirmed by the Rev. Giuseppe Bellucci, chief spokesman in Rome for the Society of Jesus, as the Jesuits -- the church's largest religious order -- are known.

Haight, 72, has been forbidden to teach theology at Catholic universities since 2005, when the congregation denounced his book "Jesus: Symbol of God" for casting doubt on the reality of Christ's divinity, resurrection and unique role as the savior of all humanity.

At that time, the congregation was headed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

A former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, Haight is a scholar in residence at Union Theological Seminary, a nondenominational graduate school in New York City.

Bellucci characterized the congregation's move as a "suspension," rather than a "definitive" prohibition, and noted that Haight could continue to teach on subjects other than Christology.

A panel of Jesuit theologians is working with Haight to help him "clarify his positions," Bellucci said.

The Vatican in recent years has censured several Jesuit theologians for deviations from orthodoxy on such matters as the uniqueness of the Catholic Church and the compatibility of Christianity with the teachings of Karl Marx.

-- Religion News Service

Detroit Archbishop Named

Pope Benedict XVI has tapped Michigan native Bishop Allen Vigneron to succeed Cardinal Adam Maida as archbishop of Detroit, the Vatican announced this week.

Vigneron, 60, had been bishop of Oakland, Calif., since 2003, and has been a priest since 1975. He will be installed as archbishop in Detroit on Jan. 28.

Following Vatican rules, Maida, 78, who had led the Detroit area's 1.4 million Catholics for 18 years, submitted his resignation to Benedict in 2005 when he turned 75.

Maida, along with 12 other U.S. cardinals, is eligible to vote in papal elections until he turns 80. With the death last month of Cardinal Avery Dulles, there are now 16 U.S.-born cardinals.

-- Religion News Service

POLL ON RELIGION

Most in U.S. Say Influence Waning

Two-thirds of Americans think religion is losing its influence on U.S. life, a sharp jump from just three years ago when Americans were almost evenly split on the question, according to a new Gallup Poll.

Sixty-seven percent of Americans think religious influence is waning while 27 percent say it is increasing. That perspective demonstrates a continuing downward trend, Gallup said.

But the 27 percent figure is higher than the record low, set in a 1970 poll, when just 14 percent of Americans thought religion was increasing in influence.

Those who regularly attend worship services are more likely to say religion is losing its influence; three out of four weekly attendees (74 percent) said religious influence is falling, compared with 24 percent who thought its influence is on the rise.

The poll results are based on telephone interviews conducted Dec. 4-7 with 1,009 adults; the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

-- Religion News Service

RELIGIOUS LITERATURE

Pentagon Tightening Its Policy

The Pentagon is cracking down on evangelizing at its national network of recruit-processing centers, telling religious groups that it won't permit proselytizing at the sites.

A new regulation quietly distributed recently to commanders of the 65 centers says religious literature and publications produced by other "non-federal entities" may be made available to recruits at the sites but that they cannot show favoritism to any faith or group.

"Under no circumstances" will any outsiders "be permitted to proselytize, preach or provide spiritual counseling" to recruits or staff members at the centers, the regulation adds.

Also barred are publications that "create the reasonable impression that the government is sponsoring, endorsing or inhibiting religion generally," as well as secular publications like "sales flyers or commercial advertising."

The action comes amid complaints from civil liberties groups that some ministries have targeted the centers for their evangelizing and on occasion have tried to gain an advantage among recruits by tying themselves to the military. The civil libertarians argue that such church-state ties are barred by the Constitution but that some evangelicals routinely try to skirt the rules.

The centers run by the Military Entrance Processing Command are the last stop for recruits on their way to basic training. The newcomers get a final physical exam and take the oath of office as members of the armed forces.

Jeremy Gunn, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer whose warnings to the military apparently sparked adoption of the new rules, said a recruit at the Louisville, Ky., processing center complained about being approached by a representative of the Gideons, a group best known for providing Bibles in hotel rooms around the world.

Steve Smith, a Gideons spokesman, confirmed that the group routinely distributes Bibles and copies of the New Testament at the recruit processing sites. He declined to comment on the new Defense Department rules but said the Gideons don't engage in proselytizing.

-- The Virginian-Pilot