A chara, - Father Brendan Leahy suggests (The Irish Times, September 19th) that Dominus Iesus is "an `in-house' document for Catholics". Does he mean clerical Catholics? As far as I know, it hasn't yet been mentioned at parish level to lay people in the pews. Neither is it available yet in the shops, although weeks ago it was discussed at both Catholic and Protestant bishops' conferences. We, the humble laity, are indebted therefore to The Irish Times for knowledge of its existence.
The main problem area in Dominus Iesus is, in my opinion, that it restores the pre-Vatican II claim by Catholicism to possess absolute truth and it accordingly condemns "relativism". But Vatican II thinking among educators and theologians questioned Catholicism's absolute claims. "The New Cathechetics", started in the mid-60s, is centred on adult faith formation. It gives precedence to faith over doctrine. This introduced the relativity of all doctrines.
Adults and adolescents are no longer passive receivers of theological theories but are themselves doers of theology. They are equipped with the skills needed for interpreting Scripture. The laity are thus prepared to enter critically and creatively into Church debates that affect them personally. There is nothing absolute but God, and God is ever beyond our reach.
To absolutise our images of God, the institution of the Catholic Church, its doctrines/laws, is simply to create false gods and to make dialogue with other Christian churches and other religions impossible. Absolute positions falsify the very notion of dialogue as we see ourselves as superior to all others. They distort the meaning of faith; they reject pluralism even when it exists within our own Catholic Church; they lock us into a prison of arrogance. Dominus Iesus is taking the Catholic Church back into that prison.
It is, then, of the greatest urgency that there be a lay response to challenge the out-of-date, cosy, clerical assumptions that run through the 20 pages (including several pages of copious notes that refer us to previous Vatican documents) of Dominus Iesus and to unpack the obfuscating language of Vatican theology. Irish Catholic lay groups and women's groups should perhaps follow the example of Church of Ireland bishops and ask our bishops to let us laity know where they stand in relation to this document. - Is mise,
Irene Ni Mhaille, Seapoint Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.