Essay About Theological Document And Specific Focus

Papal Regimes
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The first mistake would be to think the Vaticans recent declaration Dominus Iesus is
primarily a theological document. It is not — even though it advertises itself as being that, with a
specific focus on (according to its subtitle) “The Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ
and the Church.”
No, it is first of all a political text. It fits the time-tested genre of “official” declarations that
Vatican administrators typically fire off during the last days of one papal regime in an effort to
influence the next. Its what Romans call a documento di tramonto or “sunset document,” a frantic
effort by the Curia (in this case, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) to lay down political markers before
the next conclave. The 10,000-word text, which Ratzinger himself authored, comes with the
blessings of a dying pontiff who no doubt shares its sentiments but whose ability to seriously read
such a document during the few waking hours he manages per day is, to say the least, severely
limited.
According to the street-maxim in Rome, “The pope is never sick — until hes dead,” but
this document is a clear sign that the doctor is on the way. If I learned anything from living in
Rome for nine years (which included parts of the last three papal regimes and the fulfillment of the
Third Secret of Fatima on May 13, 1981), it is that the street value of documents like Dominus
Iesus is infinitely greater than their alleged theological import. A lot of money is riding on exactly
when Pope John Paul II will be ushered into eternal glory and who will be his successor; and a
sunset document like this can shift the handicap overnight. These days the real Vaticanologists are
not pouring over details in Dominus Iesus but placing bets in coffee bars in Trastevere, all the
while keeping a sharp eye on the steady stream of Mercedes-Benz limosines, their windows
darkened, that are whisking nervous cardinals in and out of the Vatican. I would have given
anything to be at my favorite bar in Piazza San Callisto on August 6, the day the text was
published, to watch the odds in the pope-pool go crazy.
The second mistake would be to think this document deserves much concerted attention,
least of all a frontal attack. As befits a sunset document, its theological shelf-life will be very short;
and given the shoddiness of its theological reasoning, it has already begun imploding under the
weight of its own contradictions. No need, then, to get ones shorts in a twist refuting Dominus
Iesus point by point. In the parlance of political campaigns, never get in the way of your opponent
when hes in the process of destroying himself.
True, it is embarrassing for those of us who cherish the Catholic tradition to see this sloppy
document run roughshod, and with such theological vulgarity, over intricate and complex topics
that theologians like Karl Rahner long ago treated with supreme finesse and delicacy. But then
again, Joseph Ratzinger is no Karl Rahner. The intellectual distance that separates this third-rate
document from the brilliance of Rahner and other theologians of the Second Vatican