Phan's theology

National Catholic Reporter, Jan 11, 2008 by Mary Beth Boesen, Mary Ann Coyle, Mary Ann Cunningham

We read with a certain amount of humor and disbelief your article "U.S. bishops fault Phan for 'considerable confusion'" (NCR, Dec. 21). Doesn't it seem alarming that the bishops spend their creative talents searching a person's writing for years only to discover (horrors!) "significant ambiguity"?

Many of us are delighted when we find a little hoped-for ambiguity in theological writings rather than didactic certitude. In this 21st-century global society, an outdated Eurocentric perspective is no longer meaningful to many people of goodwill. Answers forged principally from the experience of Western culture cannot begin to satisfy the questions modern religious seekers pose. If we Catholics choose to hold that somehow all salvation is through Jesus, that's fine. But we must allow that people of other religions will probably not find this thought congenial. A conversion mentality that does not respect the deeply held beliefs of our fellow human beings or allow opportunities for true interreligious dialogue can hardly be what Jesus intended. The Good News that the apostles were to share with all nations must have been something happier than unquestioning conformity to inscrutable dogmas.

We applaud Fr. Peter Phan's insightful and nuanced efforts to further interreligious dialogue. What he is proposing is a thought-provoking and significant contribution. We are grateful to him for his honest efforts to talk theology in a multicultural idiom.

(Sr.) MARY BETH BOESEN, SL

(Sr.) MARY ANN COYLE, SL

(Sr.) MARY ANN CUNNINGHAM, SL

Denver