De Mello censure reflects Vatican misgivings
about Eastern thinking
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
NCR Staff
Nobody can be said to have attained the pinnacle of
Truth, Jesuit Fr. Anthony de Mello once wrote, until a thousand
sincere people have denounced him for blasphemy.
By that standard, Aug. 23 brought de Mello a bit closer to the
mark, as the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
condemned the works of the Indian Jesuit -- known for his attempts to bridge
Eastern and Western spirituality -- for relativizing faith and thus
leading to religious indifferentism.
In the United States, reaction has consisted largely of puzzlement
among de Mello supporters, both as to the content and the timing of the
statement, and alarm among publishers.
In India, meanwhile, Jesuit officials have suggested that the
Vatican action may have been prompted by writings published after de
Mellos death, which do not fairly represent his thinking.
In a July 23 letter, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger alerted the
presidents of the worlds bishops conferences to the impending
declaration. He also asked the bishops to try to withdraw de Mellos books
from circulation, or to ensure that theyre printed with a notice
indicating they may cause grave harm to the faith (NCR, Aug.
28).
A spokesman for the U.S. bishops conference said that
Ratzingers concerns have been relayed to the American bishops, but the
conference will not be taking any further action. Any decision to
approach publishers about de Mellos books would have to be made by the
bishop of the diocese in which the publisher is located.
De Mello, a Jesuit priest from India, died in 1987. His many
books, tapes and retreats combined traditional Christian concepts with insights
from Eastern religions. This line of thinking, the Roman congregation contends,
led de Mello into a progressive distancing from the essential contents of
the Christian faith.
Taken together with the since-lifted excommunication of Oblate Fr.
Tissa Balasuriya, as well as the clash between curial officials and the bishops
of Asia at the recent Synod for Asia, the censure of de Mello seems to reflect
deep misgivings in Rome about the impact of Eastern religious thinking on
Christianity.
Ratzinger himself has argued that Eastern spirituality, especially
that of India, reinforces some of what he sees as the worst tendencies in
Western thought stemming from the Enlightenment. The two philosophies are
fundamentally different, he said in a 1996 address to the doctrinal
commissions of Latin American bishops conferences. Nonetheless, they seem
to mutually confirm one another in their metaphysical and religious
relativism.
The areligious and pragmatic relativism of Europe and
America can get a kind of religious consecration from India which seems to give
its renunication of dogma the dignity of a greater respect before the mystery
of God and man.
The Vatican action had been rumored for some time in India. More
than a year ago, the then Jesuit provincial for South Asia, Fr. Varkey
Perekkatt, told the UCA News service that he had requested assistance from
colleagues around the world to defend de Mello from attacks coming from
Western right-wing Catholic papers. Those complaints, another
Jesuit said, had attracted the Vaticans attention.
At the time, Perekkatt said that much of the criticism focused on
works that were published after de Mellos death. Perekkatt also said that
tapes of de Mellos lectures and retreats were being published contrary to
the late Jesuits explicit instructions.
That concern was echoed Aug. 25 by the current South Asia Jesuit
provincial, Fr. Lisbert DSouza, who said some of these post-humously
published works have led to de Mello being grossly misunderstood.
The Indian Jesuits, he said, regard only nine books as authentic.
Some Americans who knew and worked with de Mello rejected the
claim that he undercut church teaching. Its extremely hard for me
to believe that anyone would find anything de Mello says to be anything other
than orthodox, said Jesuit Fr. Francis Stroud. He was a very devout
churchman.
Stroud, who collaborated with de Mello, now runs a De Mello
Spirituality Center from his residence at Fordham University in New
York.
De Mello did emphasize that God is a mystery, Stroud
said. But he would quote Thomas Aquinas saying the very same thing. ...
He never denied anything like a personal concept of God.
When anybody would joke with him, say he was going to get
into trouble, he would respond, Not this wily Jesuit, Stroud
said.
Somebodys feeding him [Ratzinger] this stuff,
stringing him along, Stroud said. Its hard for me to believe
that he would be taken in by that.
The timing of the announcement, coming more than 10 years after de
Mellos death, confused many. It seems rather strange to condemn
someone who has no right of reply, said Eric Major, director of the
religious books program at Doubleday -- through its Image imprint, the largest
publisher of de Mellos works in the United States. Why do it
now?
Doubleday has eight de Mello titles in print, with sales running
into the millions collectively, according to Major.
Jesuit Fr. Norris Clarke, a philosopher at Fordham who has written
about de Mello, said the Indian Jesuits continuing popularity may explain
why Rome felt it necessary to act. His books and tapes are circulating
all around the world, Clarke said. Many think hes a great
spiritual new leader, and his influence is quite a living thing. That may be
what concerned them.
Clarke said some of de Mellos statements were elliptical
enough to support many interpretations. He would talk about theology as
pointing a finger at the moon, and we come to mistake the finger for the
moon, Clarke said. That doesnt have to mean anything
unorthodox, although you could read it that way.
Major said that withdrawing the works from print can hardly
be asked of a secular publishing house.
While Doubleday would like to hear the objections, title by
title, Major said the company would reserve the right as publisher,
having published his work for 20 years without a hint of complaint, to continue
to serve the Catholic church in its widest spheres.
Three other publishers in the United States carry de Mello titles:
Loyola Press, Ligouri and Crossroad. Both Loyola and Ligouri said they would
comply with a direct request from the U.S. bishops to withdraw the books,
should such a request be made. Crossroad said they would look into the matter
if and when were contacted.
If the bishops asked us to withdraw something, we would do
it, said Thomas Santa of Ligouri. The bottom line is that we are a
part of the church. At the same time, Santa said, If we got an
option, such as publishing the books with some kind of warning, we
would probably go with it.
Ligouri is located in the St. Louis archdiocese, under Archbishop
Justin Rigali. Both Doubleday and Crossroad are in New York under Cardinal John
OConnor. Loyola is in Chicago under Cardinal Francis George.
National Catholic Reporter, September 4,
1998
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