Vatican bars U.S. Jesuit from teaching Christology: Roger Haight

An American Catholic theologian censured by the Vatican for “grave doctrinal errors” has been told to cease teaching about the nature and identity of Jesus Christ.

Roger Haight, a Jesuit, has been asked by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Catholic Church’s highest doctrinal authority, not to teach Christology at any institution, even one unaffiliated with the church.

The news was confirmed to Catholic News Service by Giuseppe Bellucci, chief spokesperson in Rome for the Jesuits, the church’s largest order.

Haight, 72, has been forbidden to teach theology at Catholic universities since 2005, when the Congregation denounced his book Jesus: Symbol of God for casting doubt on the reality of Christ’s divinity, resurrection and unique role as the savior of all humanity. At that time, the Congregation was headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI.

A former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, Haight is currently a scholar in residence at Union Theological Seminary, a nondenominational graduate school in New York.

Bellucci characterized the Con gregation’s move as a suspension rather than a definitive prohibition, and noted that Haight could continue to teach on subjects other than Christology. –Religion News Service