Vatican issues warning on book by prominent American nun

The Vatican has issued a warning that a book by a prominent American nun puts forward positions that are “in direct contradiction with Catholic teaching in the field of sexual morality.”

A June 3 statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) cautioned that Just Love. A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics, by Sister Margaret Farley, RSM, “contained erroneous propositions, the dissemination of which risks grave harm to the faithful."

The CDF said that the book by Sister Farley—a professor at Yale Divinity School and former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America—“is not in conformity with the teaching of the Church. Consequently it cannot be used as a valid expression of Catholic teaching, either in counselling and formation, or in ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue."

"Among the many errors and ambiguities of this book are its positions on masturbation, homosexual acts, homosexual unions, the indissolubility of marriage and the problem of divorce and remarriage,” the CDF announced. The Vatican “notification” disclosed that the CDF had contacted Sister Farley in 2010 to raise concerns about Just Love.

After further study, a panel of experts sent the author a list of problematical statements that required corrections. Her response “did not adequately clarify the grave problems contained in her book,” and so the CDF proceeded to issue the warning about her work.

The CDF faulted Sister Farley for treating the teaching of the Church as one opinion among many to be considered, and said that her work betrayed “a defective understanding of the objective nature of the natural moral law.” Full Story
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