WASHINGTON -- Bishop Matthew Clark of Rochester, N.Y., gave strong backing Wednesday to a Vatican-embattled theologian and warned punishment of the Rev. Charles Curran could exacerbate friction between Rome and the American church.
Curran, a moral theologian at the Catholic University of America in Washington, is a priest of Clark's diocese. Vatican officials, angered by Curran's views on issues ranging from abortion and birth control to homosexuality and divorce, have threatened to strip him of his status as an licensed Roman Catholic theologian.
Clark called on the Vatican to resolve the Curran situation 'through the normal channels of writing and debate' and urged that 'an agreement will be reached which will allow Father Curran to continue serving the church as a theologian.'
On Tuesday, Curran revealed the Vatican ordered him last fall to recant his views on a number of sexual ethics issues. Curran has refused.
In a statement, Clark said, 'If Father Curran's status as a Roman Catholic theologian is brought into question, I fear a serious setback to Catholic education and pastoral life in this country.'
One result, he said, could be, 'Theologians may stop exploring the challenging questions of the day in a creative, healthy way because they fear action which may prematurely end their teaching career.
'Moreover, able theologians may abandon Catholic institutions altogether in order to avoid embarrassing confrontations with church authority.'
Curran, a prominent Catholic authority on human sexuality, has been under investigation by the Vatican since 1979. On Sept. 17, 1985, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger sent him a letter saying the his views were so at variance with church teaching he could not be considered an official Roman Catholic theologian.
If the Vatican presses its case, Curran could lose his teaching position at the church-operated university.
Clark's statement suggested the Curran case may become another in a series of incidents in which Vatican authorities have sought to discipline what many in Rome consider to be an unbridled U.S. church, only to be rebuked by American church leaders for meddling.
The bishop praised Curran as 'a priest whose personal life could well be called exemplary' and a theologian who is 'unfailingly thorough and respectful in his exposition of the teachings of the church.'
In a conciliatory vein seasoned with independence, Clark also said, 'We have our faults, to be sure, and there have been false starts and mistakes. But we are a faithful people and will continue to serve God's kingdom in the church with generosity.'
'My hope is that together we can find better ways to recognize and be faithful to the nature of the particular churches and the communion they form with Rome as their center,' the bishop said, 'and that the Holy See will regard the bishops of our country as ones who can appropriately and ably communicate to the Holy See the shape and challenges to pastoral life in our particular churches.'
