The board of the largest membership organization of U.S. theologians issued a statement of support Thursday afternoon (June 7) for Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley, a member in their ranks who was the subject of harsh criticism from the Vatican just days ago.

Writing that it considers Farley’s work “reflective, measured, and wise,” the leadership of the some 1,500 member Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) says in the statement it is “especially concerned” that the Vatican’s criticism presents a limiting understanding of the role of Catholic theology.

In a formal notification released June 4, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith criticized Farley’s 2006 book on sexual ethics, titled Just Love.

…..

John Thiel, CTSA president, told NCR that the society’s leadership decided to issue the statement Thursday because it wanted to both acknowledge Farley as a “distinguished theologian” and state that it is “concerned that the CDF notification had a rather constrained understanding of the task of theology.

National Catholic Reporter

Related articles

• Support for Sister Margaret Farley Continues to Flood In (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)