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U.S. Bishops' Statement on Book of Fr. Peter Phan

by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 

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Document Information

  Descriptive Title: 

Clarifications Required by the Book "Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue"

Description: 

Statement released on December 10, 2007, by the U.S. episcopal conference's Committee on Doctrine, regarding

"Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue" by Father Peter Phan. The bishops'

statement addresses what it calls "certain pervading ambiguities and equivocations" in the book written by the

Georgetown University professor.

  Publisher & Date: 

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, December 10, 2007

The USCCB prohibits posting of their documents when they are available on the USCCB's

own web site. Use this link to read the document:Clarifications Required by the Book Being

Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue. 

USCCB Doctrine Committee Faults Book by Father Peter Phan 

The U.S. Bishops‟ Doctrine Committee issued clarifications concerning several aspects of 

Father Peter C. Phan‟s book   Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on

 Interfaith Dialogue.

Father Phan‟s book uses “certain terms in an equivocal manner” that “opens the text up to

significant ambiguity,” the Committee said. It added that “a fair reading of the book could

leave readers in considerable confusion as to the proper understanding of the uniqueness of 

Christ.” 

The Committee, which represents the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops(USCCB) on doctrinal matters, outlined its concerns in a statement, “Clarifications Required

 by the Book Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue.”

The Committee made the statement public December 10. It is available

at www.usccb.org/dpp/statementonbeingreligiousinterreligiously.pdf . 

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The Committee stressed the importance of understanding religious pluralism, but said the

 way the book addresses some theological issues “raises serious concerns.” The Committee

said the statement outlines some “problematic aspects of the book” and offers “a positive

restatement of Catholic teaching on the relevant points.” 

Several aspects of the book concern the Committee, but it limited comments to three areas:

1. Jesus Christ as the unique and universal Savior of all humankind

2. The salvific significance of non-Christian religions

3. The Church as the unique and universal instrument of salvation.

The Doctrine Committee took action after the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the

Faith asked it to evaluate the book by Father Phan, a priest of the Diocese of Dallas, Texas,

 who holds the Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought in Georgetown‟s Department of 

Theology. Over a period of two years, the Committee asked Father Phan to clarify points of 

concern.

On the first point, the Committee objected to Father Phan‟s qualifying the uniqueness of 

Christ and saying that terms referring to Christ as “unique” “absolute” and “universal”

“should be jettisoned and replaced by other, theologically more adequate equivalents.” 

“It has always been the faith of the Church that Jesus is the eternal Son of God incarnate as

man. The union of humanity and divinity that takes place in Jesus Christ is by its very 

nature unique and unrepeatable,” the Committee said. 

“Because humanity and divinity are united in the person of the Son of God, He brings

together humanity and divinity in a way that can have no parallel in any other figure in

history,” it said. 

On the second point, the salvific significance of non-Christian religions, the Committee

states that Father Phan‟s book questions the Church‟s mission to spread the Gospel to all.

He states that “non-Christian religions possess an autonomous function in the history of 

salvation, different from that of Christianity,” and that “they cannot be reduced to

Christianity in terms of preparation and fulfillment.” 

The Committee said that “[s]ince the book as a whole is based on the idea that religious

pluralism is indeed a positively-willed part of the divine plan, the reader is led to concludethat there is some kind of moral obligation for the Church to refrain from calling people to

conversion to Christ and to membership in his Church. According to the book religious

pluralism „may not and must not be abolished‟ by conversion to Christianity.” 

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The Committee notes that “[t]his call for an end to Christian mission is in conflict with the

Church‟s commission, given to her by Christ Himself: „Go, therefore, and make disciples of 

all nations ….”‟ 

“Moreover,” the Committee said, “if one accepts that Jesus Christ is in fact the one affirmed

 by Christian faith as the eternal Son of God made man, through whom the universe was

created and by whose death and resurrection the human race has the possibility of attaining

eternal life, then it is incoherent to argue that it would somehow be better if certain people

 were not told this truth.” 

“The Church‟s evangelizing mission is not an imposition of power but an expression of love,”

the Committee said also.

Regarding the Church as the unique and universal instrument of salvation, the Committee

criticizes the book for saying that the Church‟s claim for uniqueness and universality 

“should be abandoned altogether” given the Church‟s human failings and historical

entanglement with sin and injustice.

The Committee acknowledged that members of the Church have failed, but said that “the

holiness of the Church is not simply defined by the holiness (or sinfulness) of her members

 but by the holiness of her head, the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

The Committee said that “because the Church is the universal sacrament of salvation,

 whatever grace is offered to individuals in whatever various circumstances, including non-

Christians, must be seen in relationship to the Church, for she is always united to Jesus

Christ, the source of all grace and holiness.” 

The Committee said that because all grace flows through Jesus, one cannot consider the

Church as just one way of salvation “alongside those constituted by the other religions, seen

as complementary to the Church or substantially equivalent to her.” 

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