VATICAN CITY — Roman Catholic missionaries should aim to win souls and not restrict themselves to humanitarian good works, the Vatican said Dec. 14.
A new 19-page document, which was personally approved by Pope Benedict XVI, draws on a controversial Vatican declaration he issued in 2000 that asserted Catholics alone have “the fullness of the means of salvation.”
The new document, issued by the same doctrinal office where Benedict was the longtime head, aims to correct a “growing confusion” among theologians who argue that “it is enough (for missionaries) to build communities which strive for justice, freedom, peace and solidarity.”
It also seeks to debunk the notion that conversions should not be sought since “it would also be possible to be saved without explicit knowledge of Christ and without formal incorporation in the Church.”
Citing words of the late Pope John Paul II, the document affirms that “every person has the right to hear the ‘Good News’ of the God who reveals and gives himself in Christ,” and said “this right implies the corresponding duty to evangelize.
The document comes as the Catholic Church finds increased competition from Pentecostals and evangelicals, particularly in Third World countries, and charges of improper “sheep stealing” from Orthodox churches, especially in Russia.
The statement is a follow-up to Dominus Iesus, the 2000 document produced when Benedict was still known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, which said non-Christians are in a “gravely deficient situation” on the question of salvation.
“Notwithstanding Dominus Iesus, there has been a cooling of missionary spirit in recent years,” said Archbishop Angelo Amato, undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s top doctrinal office. Cardinal William Levada, the former archbishop of San Francisco, now heads the doctrinal office that Ratzinger headed up to his 2005 papal election.
Amato specifically cited the work of three Jesuit theologians — Jacques Dupuis, Roger Haight and Jon Sobrino — who have been criticized by the Congregation in recent years. He suggested their work had undermined missionary spirit by casting doubt on the uniqueness of Christ as the universal savior of mankind.
“The fundamental problem is a pluralistic theology of religion, which essentially states that all religions are equally valid in leading a person to salvation,” the Rev. Agostino di Noia, an American who serves as undersecretary of the Congregation, told Vatican Radio on Dec. 14. “Now let’s say the missionary implications are being addressed in this document.”
At about the same time, acting at the behest of the Congregation, U.S. bishops also rebuked the Rev. Peter C. Phan, a Vietnamese-American theologian teaching at Georgetown University, for writings that they say conflict with church doctrine on the uniqueness of Christianity and Catholicism.
The Dec. 14 statement rejects conversion by force or by means, “which do not safeguard the freedom and dignity of the human person.” It also stresses that evangelization among non-Catholic Christians should be undertaken with “true respect” for their traditions and in a “sincere spirit of cooperation.”
Orthodox leaders, particularly in Russia and other former Soviet countries, have accused Rome of seeking to convert Orthodox Christians, a charge that the Vatican has denied. Yet the new document asserts that the “work of ecumenism does not remove the right or take away the responsibility of proclaiming in fullness the Catholic faith to other Christians, who freely wish to receive it.”
One Jesuit theologian who is active in ecumenical relations responded that there is no necessary conflict between evangelization and interreligious dialogue.
“We as Catholics need to be clear about our own self-identity if we are going to be capable of being effective dialogue partners,” said the Rev. Keith F. Pecklers, an American who teaches at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
“But there’s a delicate balance,” Pecklers said, “between bringing others to Christ and respecting the different religious traditions where they exist.”
