It is an “unnecessary and perhaps unjustified intrusion” on teachers' rights and academic freedom, said Paul Knitter, a Xavier University theology professor. When Mel Gibson's atonement-friendly and doctrine-heavy The Passion of the Christ was released, they sniffed. "At worst, the film may suggest a sadistic theology of a punitive God who is appeased by the unspeakable torments of His Son.
" I'm 'thinking that if our next shepherd follows the lead of Cardinal Pell, they'll spit. Sydney, Jun 5, 2007 / 10:09 am (CNA).- The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney wants its school leaders to publicly commit to a vow of fidelity by adhering to church teaching on some crucial issues--homosexuality, birth control and women's ordination.
The vow would apply to its 167 principals, its deputy principals and religious education coordinators and would be a first for the Catholic Church in Australia, Fairfax newspapers report. The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, is behind the move to extend the oath. He is perhaps drawing his inspiration from the apostolic exhortation issued by Pope John Paul II in 1990, Ex Corde Ecclesiae (From the Heart of the Church).
In his exhortation, the late Holy Father calls for all those teaching theology in Catholic universities to take an oath of fidelity to the teaching of the Church and those who are not Catholic are asked to respect the Catholic identity of the school. posted by Rich Leonardi @ Tuesday, June 05, 2007 Obviously, using the word "catechism" was your mistake. "A manual giving basic instruction in a subject" is much less scary.
Of course, there's always, "So you don't want a kid-friendly outline of the facts. And those notes you're taking right now are obviously reductionist and must be torched. Oh, wait, that would be bad, wouldn't it?
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