Theology Professors Are Completely Irrelevant: Celibacy Memorandum

Manfred Lutz about the Theology-Memorandum: The great intellectual debate in German takes place without Theology professors in place.

Rome (kath.net) The famous psychiatrist and Catholic theologian Manfred Lutz rejected the suggestion in an interview with "Radio Vatican", that he had encouraged the authors of the controversial Theology Memorandum to leave the Church and become protestants. "That really didn't happen. What I -- psychologically actually -- found very interesting: I wrote an article for the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung in the beginning of February which was intentionally unpolemical in an admittedly polemical debate and finally made the impression, that really wasn't the case. The people understood even an unpolemical article in a polemical debate, polemically."

Lutz insisted during the interview that the Theological Memorandum is about power and powerlessness. "I believe that theology professors in Germany have a lot of power -- if they really are at once professors, they could actually do, what they want, and teach, what they want. They don't know anything else. On the other said there is the problem that these professors, that theology professors are not taken seriously an more. They are completely irrelevant. The great intellectual debate in Germany is taking place without theologians present. They are not being cited in the big papers and in talk shows either, the talk shows want Catholic positions and so they invite the Bishops."

For the theologians, it is certain that themes in the Church do not appeal to young people, but here we have an entire generation always bringing up the same concern. Lutz said of this: "I think this is the conservatism of the progressives in the Catholic Church". For the psychiatrists there are two conservative milieus in the Church. The one conserves that which they call "the Catholic". "And the other is always against, but always has proposals which the people well know they won't eke through. Then one can be hardened in
conservatively in a complaining ritual, and nothing changes."

For Lutz it is clear that everyone who has signed, actually knew that celibacy won't be overthrown by the debate. "And thus that we are now thoroughly angry about this, that which can't be overthrown, things aren't going to get better. Everyone knows that. One can hardly hardly exchange more arguments in the hope that the other side will take that as a real argument and not an attack. If they looked through the Memorandum once, psychologically: then the discussion would be worked out and pummeled into the Church, which isn't very fun, then to speak with such aggression." A dialog always begins on one side. Always begins with one speaking to another person, and the more meaningfully he does it, the more respectful he does it, the more the other will have the desire to answer. So begins the dialog", concluded Lutz with certainty.

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