USCCB body offers 'public correction' to Marquette professor's views

Published: 2007-03-23

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The "mistaken views" on contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage and other church teachings expressed in two 2006 pamphlets by Marquette University theology professor Daniel C. Maguire "should not be confused with the faith and moral teaching of the Catholic Church," the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine said. The doctrine committee's "Statement Concerning Two Pamphlets Published by Professor Daniel Maguire" was approved for publication by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Administrative Committee during the latter's March 20-21 meeting in Washington. The pamphlets -- titled "The Moderate Roman Catholic Position on Contraception and Abortion" and "A Catholic Defense of Same-Sex Marriage" -- were sent by Maguire to all U.S. bishops June 19 last year, the doctrine committee said. "Since it is apparent that considerable efforts have been made to give these views the widest possible distribution as if they were a valid alternative to the teaching of the Catholic Church," the USCCB doctrine committee "considers it important to offer a public correction of the erroneous views proposed in these pamphlets," the statement said. Maguire, a theology professor at the Jesuit-run university in Milwaukee since the early 1970s, said the bishops "stuck to their obsession with sexual and reproductive matters" in the committee statement and ignored his call in a letter accompanying the pamphlets for greater episcopal attention to issues such as the war in Iraq, the environment, poverty, racism and sexism.

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