U.S. Catholic Bishops Hit New Catechism : Religion: Some fear that the first proposed change since the 16th Century will be used by conservatives to curb innovative thinking or dissent by theologians.

A committee of U.S. Roman Catholic bishops has issued detailed, frankly worded criticisms of the first Vatican-proposed catechism, or summary of religious doctrine, to be issued since the 16th Century.

Copies of the “Catechism for the Universal Church” circulated by Rome for comment by the world’s Catholic bishops have not been made public, but U.S. scholars privy to the 434-page draft and now an ad hoc committee of American prelates have cited what they see as numerous inadequacies.

The strong critique signals another struggle ahead between U.S. church leaders who value reforms in Catholicism since the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council and resurgent forces at the Vatican reflecting more conservative theology and traditionalist scholarship.

Most church officials say the final document will shape how Catholicism is taught worldwide in the next century. Some fear that Vatican conservatives would also use it to curb innovative thinking or dissent by theologians.

Although catechisms have been published in different countries, the most recent proposal would be the first universal catechism prepared by Rome since the aftermath of the Council of Trent in 1566. The document will eventually be used for development of religious teaching materials in individual dioceses.

A copy of the 51-page committee report was sent to each bishop in the country with a cover letter from Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. “You may find the report helpful in preparing your own response to the draft of the catechism,” Pilarczyk wrote.

A “fundamental problem” in the Vatican-written document, the report said, is that essential elements of faith, such as Jesus’ Resurrection, are treated equally with “doctrines that are not fully certain and are peripheral to the faith,” such as the existence of angels and Christ’s descent into Hell.

The report says the draft employs outdated biblical scholarship. “In all but a few cases, it seems to be presumed that New Testament texts are the product of direct historical reporting,” the committee said. The catechism draft “harmonizes the differences” between the four Gospels rather than accepting them as often contradictory.

Harmonizing biblical texts is a trait common in conservative Christian circles but not in mainstream Catholic and Protestant scholarship.

The U.S. committee also said the proposed catechism “seems to establish a false separation between science and faith,” relegates the laity to a passive role in the church, emphasizes “disunity” rather than ecumenism toward other Christian churches, needs to use more “inclusive,” or non-sexist, language and “could be more sensitive” toward non-Christian religions.

The word “dialogue” does not appear in the section on other religions, the bishops said. The Second Vatican Council dramatically took a more respectful view of other faiths, emphasizing dialogue as a goal rather than conversion. The U.S. committee said that Pope John Paul II himself has taken this approach with representatives of other world religions.

The committee said the May 31 deadline for comments by the world’s 2,500 active bishops is “insufficient” and should be extended. Many of the same objections raised by the American committee, headed by Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile, Ala., were raised in a symposium of Catholic scholars at Georgetown University in January.

Jesuit scholar Thomas Reese, who has edited the scholarly reactions for publication this fall, said the proposed catechism “will set the parameters of how the Catholic faith is taught in the 21st Century.” Asked in January if he feared the catechism would be used by church authorities to discipline dissenting theologians, Father David Hollenbach, professor of moral theology at Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., said, “Indubitably.”

The catechism draft was produced by a commission of bishops headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.