Washington D.C., Mar 20, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The United States bishops have welcomed the Vatican’s decision concerning the book “Jesus, Symbol of God,” by Fr. Roger Haight, SJ. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a Notification a few months ago that the book has serious doctrinal errors and that the U.S. Jesuit should not teach Catholic theology until he corrects his positions.
The Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said its March 14 statement on the matter was issued "in order to clarify any misconceptions, to affirm our support for the decision of the Holy See, and to reassert the importance of authentic theological inquiry."
The committee said the Notification “does not comment on the author's personal character, but assesses the book, judging it to contain ‘serious doctrinal errors regarding certain fundamental truths of faith.’”
The errors concern "the pre-existence of the Word, the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, the salvific value of the death of Jesus, the unicity and universality of the salvific mediation of Jesus and of the Church, and the Resurrection of Jesus."