Episcopal Authority and Theological Dissent: Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., and "Humanae Vitae"
In the fall of 1968, eminent Woodstock theologian Father Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., who had signed the July 30 "Theologians Statement of Dissent" from the papal encyclical, Humanae Vitae, found himself in the episcopal crosshairs of Bishop Henry J. Soenneker, Ordinary of the Diocese of Owe...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
American Catholic Historical Society
2008
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| In: |
American catholic studies
Year: 2008, Volume: 119, Issue: 2, Pages: 35-69 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In the fall of 1968, eminent Woodstock theologian Father Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., who had signed the July 30 "Theologians Statement of Dissent" from the papal encyclical, Humanae Vitae, found himself in the episcopal crosshairs of Bishop Henry J. Soenneker, Ordinary of the Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky. Without warning or explanation, the bishop had cancelled the theologian's scheduled lectures at Breschia College. Details of their all but forgotten and unreported encounter over conflicting ecclesiologies contain timely, prophetic utterances about the church's immediate and distant future in ways that the more famous incidents of dissent have been unable to muster. The archival sources of this essay uniquely elucidate the entrenched clericalism within the hierarchy that stifled important aspects of renewal within the institutional American church after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Some American bishops did make commendable efforts to foster more collegiality within the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and promote cooperation between the hierarchy, theologians, and parish priests. But as this case study will illustrate, power politics, patriarchy, and paternalism ultimately prevailed over the collegiality, collaboration, and pastoral sensitivity that prominent clerical dissenters like Burghardt hoped for and believed possible. A key to this failure of spirit was that every bishop was an ecclesiastical king in his respective jurisdiction. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8534 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American catholic studies
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