Cardinal says pope's personalism a distinctive approach to theology

Published: 2003-10-22

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II emphasizes the centrality of the human person in a way that puts his thought "in tension with previous Catholic tradition" at several points, according to Cardinal Avery Dulles. Although this tension does not mean rejection of traditional approaches, the pope has an intellectual perspective that leads him to deal with issues in ways that are different, the cardinal said in his annual fall McGinley Lecture. Speaking at Fordham University in New York Oct. 21, Cardinal Dulles said the pope's philosophy of personalism led him to give distinctive approaches to theology well as social doctrine. "Since becoming pope, John Paul II has used personalism as a lens through which to reinterpret much of the Catholic tradition," the cardinal said. "He unhesitatingly embraces all the dogmas of the church, but expounds them with a personalist slant."

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