“The Intellectual Tasks of the New Evangelization”

Archbishop J. Augustine DiNoia, O.P., secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, recently gave a talk at a symposium titled, “The Intellectual Tasks of the New Evangelization,” which was held in Washington, D.C. Joan Frawley Desmond, senior editor of the Register described the event saying, “Seeking to reverse a generational breakdown in the transmission of faith, the U.S. bishops have targeted a potential ally – young theologians who have just begun to teach undergraduates at Catholic universities.  You can read her full article here and below is an abstract: Archbishop DiNoia reminded his audience that the work of a Catholic theologian “is not simply an academic vocation. It is an ecclesial vocation,” he stated. The task at hand required an affirmation of the “doctrinal core of the Catholic faith” and a concerted effort to address the “internal and external factors” that impede the New Evangelization. He counseled his audience not to allow academic specialization and speculative work to lead them to ignore the fullness of the Church’s teaching. Archbishop DiNoia, a member of the Order of Preachers, observed that St. Thomas Aquinas mastered every aspect of Catholic theology and would never have divided it up into patristics, systematic theology, bioethics and other areas of specialization. The fragmentation of theological work has resulted in the weakening of the holistic vision and power of Revelation, he said. “You have to keep asking yourself: What does this have to do with … the central doctrines of the faith?” he said. “The part you specialize in relates to the whole.” Archbishop DiNoia touched on the sensitive topic of episcopal oversight of theology departments at Catholic universities and colleges. While acknowledging that scholars “have an instinctive allergy with regard to any censorship of thought,” he insisted that the Church had an obligation to confront theological dissent. He noted that the need for intervention by Church authorities has increased over time: “The more theologians are no longer reliably able to affirm what the doctrine means, the more the magisterium intervenes.” A central obstacle to the New Evangelization, he asserted, was the “internal secularization of the Church. The enemy occupies our territory.” The steady advance of secularism has fueled doubts about the intelligibility of the faith, resulting in an “apologetic apologetics.” In contrast, Blessed Pope John Paul II “muted nothing,” the archbishop said. And Pope Benedict XVI’s public witness reflects the conviction that Catholic teaching presented in its “entirety can’t fail to attract.”