The Internet’s self-appointed defenders of orthodoxy have recently caused a great stir about the fact that Dr. Richard Gaillardetz will be addressing the Canadian bishops at their upcoming plenary assembly.
The suggestion is that Gaillardetz is a dissenting theologian and, as such, should not be permitted to address the bishops. His critics point to his published work related especially to the questions of women’s ordination and the role of conscience in the decision to use or not use artificial contraception. (They are also furious about his support of Barack Obama.)
In response to the accusations, Gaillardetz has written a letter to the bishops defending himself. I will let the readers draw their own conclusions about Gaillardetz’s orthodoxy from the letter and the coverage. I have no desire to debate his orthodoxy here.
What I do want to ask is, “What on earth do Lifesitenews and Socon hope to achieve with this campaign?”
Whether or not Richard Gaillardetz is among them, there are, presumably, dissenting theologians working in the Church today. Groups like Lifesitenews and Socon believe that their shenanigans must be brought to a quick end. Now, since neither LSN nor Socon has any control over who gets hired at a university and who gets to publish books and articles, they must rely on someone else to impose some kind of sanction on the troublemakers they sniff out. And, really, there is only one group in the Church with that kind of power. That’s right; it’s the bishops.
So, what must LSN, Socon, and other like-minded Catholics do in order that dissenting theologians be brought to heel? They must ensure that such theologians and their teachings are made known to the bishops. If they’re really lucky, they may even be able to achieve a meeting between the bishops and the theologian in question. Never in their wildest dreams could these self-appointed defenders of orthodoxy expect to get the theologian in question to present to dozens and dozens of bishops.
But this is exactly what s going to happen this month in Cornwall, Ontario. Richard Gaillardetz will present his theology of the ordained ministry, one of the areas, recall, where his orthodoxy is being questioned, to a whole conference of bishops. At least some of those bishops should be able to detect heresy if it is present.
So what are LSN and Socon so upset about? Two things come to mind. 1. They do not trust that a roomful of bishops is more competent than they themselves are at recognizing the authentic teachings of the Church. 2. They are less interested in the truth about what Richard Gaillardetz has to say than in ‘winning’ another battle in the culture wars.
Both of these possibilities, I believe, say more about LSN and Socon than about Richard Gaillardetz.
Brett Salkeld is a doctoral student in theology at Regis College in Toronto. He is a father of two (so far) and husband of one.
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