(answer repeated & continued)
Dear Brent,
Before attempting an answer to your lengthy message, allow me to
do some damage control. I earnestly beg you and other readers to
place no reliance whatever on Anthony Wilhelm's "Christ Among
Us". This book, in its subtitle, claims to be "a modern
presentation of the Catholic Faith for adults". This claim is
deceptive and misleading. Unwary readers, expecting the book to
help them to a true understanding of our religion, will find
there warped and shallow misconceptions, the tendentious opinions
of various modernists, seeking to supplant the teachings of the
Church.
The book has gone through four editions. It first appeared in
1967 and was reprinted with modifications in 1975, 1981, and
1985. Its author, Anthony Wilhelm, was a Paulist priest, until
he left the Paulist congregation and abandoned the priesthood in
1975.
On February 28, 1984 the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of
the Faith (SCDF), after many requests from American priests and
lay people, and after two years of study, asked Newark archbishop
Peter Gerety to withdraw the imprimatur, which the archbishop's
predecessor had incautiously given in 1971. Archbishop Gerety
removed the imprimatur, and as a result Paulist Press in April,
1984 suspended circulation of the book and so informed its
customers.
The reasons for SCDF's request concern 1) methodology and
2) content. In SCDF's own words: "The Sacred Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith does not agree that any work which
cites individual theorists as though their views could supplant
the teachings of the Church can fairly be described as a true
catechetical text or, in the author's words, `presentation of the
Catholic faith'. It is because of this pervasive methodology
that the SCDF does not consider the work to be revisable."
In content, the book is defective in the following areas
(according to Archbishop Gerety's letter of December 10, 1984):
biblical imagery, the infallibility of general councils, devotion
to the saints, indissolubility of marriage, masturbation,
homosexuality, artificial contraception. The archbishop notes
that this is only a partial list of the inadequacies found in the
book by his own theological advisers. He notes, in particular,
that SCDF objected to Wilhelm's denial of divine intervention in
creation of the human soul and to his failure even to mention the
defined doctrine of transubstantiation in his treatment of the
Eucharist.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the Canadian reviewer John
W. Mole could characterize Wilhelm's book as "a pseudo-Christ
among us: catechesis in chaos" (Canadian Catholic Review,
January, 1985). As you wish an understanding of your Catholic
faith, I earnestly hope you will ignore Wilhelm. You will not
find that understanding there. I am sorry the book is still
available and able to inflict soul-damage. It would seem that
"we have scotched the snake, not killed it" (Macbeth III, 2).
If you wish to review the news sources about the withdrawal of
the imprimatur, read "Origins" for April 26, 1984 and March 7,
1985. ("Origins" is the National Catholic News Service
documentary newsletter. Inquire for back issues' availability and
price: Circulation Director, 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20005. Tel. (202) 659-6742).)
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit -
Sysop note: More to follow in a few days.
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