Fordham Theology Department Under Scrutiny

Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl

In an 11-page response to Sister Elizabeth's extensive June 1 defense of her 2007 book, "Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God," the bishops said her explanation did nothing to change their minds. Sister Elizabeth said then that the bishops misunderstood and misrepresented the book's main points. The committee, chaired by Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, said that Sister Elizabeth's response to their original critique of March 24 had "not in fact demonstrated that the committee has misunderstood or misrepresented the book." Sister Elizabeth, professor of systematic theology at Fordham and a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, was on sabbatical, but issued a statement in response early Oct. 28. She said she read the committee's statement with "sadness." She also said she was "disappointed" in the way the committee addressed its response, pointing to the process the bishops undertook, the content of their message and the result of their findings. "I want to make it absolutely clear that nothing in this book dissents from the church's faith about God revealed in Jesus Christ through the Spirit," she said. The bishops noted in their statement that Sister Elizabeth explained in her response that her book expresses the Catholic faith "in different words but with the same meaning." While commending Sister Elizabeth "for her stated intention to help the church progress in her understanding of divine realities," the bishops go on to say that the book "fails to fulfill this task because it does not sufficiently ground itself in the Catholic theological tradition as its starting point."

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