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It’s going down: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine promulgated this statement today, approved at the Committee’s March meeting:

On June 19, 2006, Professor Daniel Maguire of Marquette University sent two pamphlets to all of the Catholic Bishops in the United States, one entitled The Moderate Roman Catholic Position on Contraception and Abortion and the other A Catholic Defense of Same-Sex Marriage. These pamphlets do not present Catholic teaching. His views about contraception, abortion, same sex “marriage”, as well as the very nature of Church teaching and its authoritative character, cross the legitimate lines of theological reflection and simply enter into the area of false teaching. Such mistaken views should not be confused with the faith and moral teaching of the Catholic Church. 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 Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops considers it important to offer a public correction of the erroneous views proposed in these pamphlets. At the same time, the Committee on Doctrine calls attention to the Catechism of the Catholic Church where correct and authentic teaching can be found. This readily available source of the faith and moral teaching of the Catholic Church clearly demonstrates the mistaken character of the positions found in the two pamphlets and their unreliability as a guide for Catholics seeking to know and live their Catholic faith.

The Committee of eight bishops then goes through a point by point refutation of Maguire’s claims regarding abortion and gay marriage. They close:

The Archbishop of Milwaukee, exercising his pastoral responsibilities as teacher and shepherd, has made public statements affirming that the views expressed by Professor Maguire in his two pamphlets are erroneous and incompatible with the Church’s teaching. We the Committee on Doctrine of the USCCB concur that, despite his claims to authority as a Catholic theologian, the views of Professor Maguire on contraception, abortion, and same-sex “marriage” are not those of the Catholic Church and indeed are contrary to the Church’s faith. We deplore as irresponsible his public advocacy of his views as authentic Catholic teaching. Lastly, we trust that this statement will clarify the Church’s faith and teaching for all of the Catholic faithful throughout the United States.

In an interview with the New York Times, Maguire responded as follows:

“They’re simply uninformed,” Mr. Maguire said of the bishops. “There is no one Catholic view on contraception, abortion or same-sex marriage. There’s a diversity of views. And it’s not just Dan Maguire versus the bishops. There’s a large school of thought that agrees with everything I’ve said in these pamphlets.”

Marquette also issued a statement in response to the NYT:

Marquette University, responding to questions from a reporter, issued a statement saying that the university “agrees with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine that the views outlined by Daniel Maguire in pamphlets he circulated to the hierarchy earlier this year do not represent the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
Mr. Maguire is a tenured professor and “has rights related to his academic discipline,” it also said.

Diogenes, a blogger at Catholic World News, had this to say of Marquette’s statement:

Marquette’s statement is welcome, and it is true. It could have been issued verbatim, however, by Kansas State University, or Texaco. It would be great if Marquette had said, “the views outlined by Daniel Maguire do not represent the teachings of the Catholic Church, and are false.” Well, some of the bishops have been reinfected with pastoral gumption. Let’s hope it’s contagious.

The members of the bishops’ Committee on Doctrine are: Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., chairman; Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo, Ohio; Auxiliary Bishop Edward W. Clark of Los Angeles, Calif.; Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of San Antonio, Texas; Bishop Robert J. McManus of Worcester, Mass.; Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Patterson, N.J.; Bishop Allen H. Vigneron of Oakland, Calif.; and Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington. Cardinals George and Dulles (to whom Marquette gave an honorary doctorate last year, incidentally), are consultants to the Committee.

I will endeavor to offer much more reaction later today when I get more time.

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