Vatican adviser publicly supports dis-invited theologian
by Joshua J. McElwee | Nov. 9, 2012
The head of the U.K.'s theological membership society, an adviser to one of the Vatican's pontifical councils, has publicly supported a British theologian whose fellowship at the University of San Diego was canceled.
Paul D. Murray, the president of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain and a consultor to the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has expressed his support for Tina Beattie, a theologian known for her work in contemporary ethical issues.
Beattie was scheduled to begin a fellowship at the University of San Diego's Frances G. Harpst Center for Catholic Thought and Culture on Tuesday. University president Mary Lyons, who alleges the theologian publicly dissented from church teaching by suggesting Catholics could support civil same-sex marriage, canceled the appointment in an Oct. 27 letter.
Writing in a letter to Lyons made public in the British Catholic weekly The Tablet, where Beattie is a board member, Murray acknowledges the "very difficult position" Lyons must have faced in making her decision.
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/vatican-adviser-publicly-supports-dis-invited-theologian
