Monday, July 2, 2001

A NOTE ON THE WORKS OF ANTONIO ROSMINI

VATICAN CITY, JUN 30, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was a note from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding the value of doctrinal decrees on the ideas and works of Fr. Antonio Rosmini Serbati. The note bears the signatures of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., respectively prefect and secretary of the congregation.

"At various times in the course of the nineteenth century," reads the text, "the Church's Magisterium concerned itself with the results of the intellectual labors of Fr. Antonio Rosmini Serbati (1797-1855), placing two of his works on the Index in 1849 ... and later, in 1887, condemning 40 propositions, taken above all from posthumous works."

Following a detailed examination of the decrees, and bearing in mind the results of historiographical, scientific and theoretical research in recent decades, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has reached the following conclusions:

"The reasons for prudence and concern, and the doctrinal difficulties that dictated the promulgation of the decree of condemnation of the 'forty propositions,' may now be considered as having been overcome. ... This is because the meaning of the propositions, as understood and condemned by the decree, does not in fact indicate Rosmini's true position; rather, it reflects possible conclusions that arise from reading his works. Nevertheless, the question of the plausibility or otherwise of Rosmini's system, of the coherence of his ideas and of the theories or philosophical and theological hypotheses expressed therein are still a matter of theoretical debate."

"John Paul II's own Apostolic Letter 'Fides et ratio', while numbering Rosmini among modern thinkers who have created a fruitful relationship between philosophical knowledge and the Word of God, adds at the same time: 'I intend not to endorse every aspect of their thought, but simply to offer significant examples of a process of philosophical enquiry which was enriched by engaging the data of faith.'

"Moreover, it must be affirmed that Antonio Rosmini's speculative and intellectual labors, characterized by great audacity and courage - though not devoid of a certain reckless daring, especially in some formulations, in their attempt to offer new opportunities to Catholic doctrine in the face of the challenges of modern thought - developed within an atmosphere of asceticism and spirituality recognized by even his most fierce adversaries, and found expression in works that accompanied the foundation of the Institute of Charity and the Sisters of Divine Providence."

The document concludes by recalling that "the Supreme Pontiff, John Paul II, in the course of his audience with the cardinal prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, held on June 8, 2001, approved this note on the value of doctrinal decrees concerning the ideas and works of Fr. Antonio Rosmini Serbati, decided during the ordinary session, and ordered its publication.

CDF;ROSMINI;...;RATZINGER; BERTONE;VIS;20010702;Word: 470;

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