" Donum Veritatis : The Contribution of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the Theological Enterprise"
Cardinal Gerhard Müller
On Monday, 3 November 2014, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), gave a talk in Caldwell Auditorium entitled 'Donum Veritatis: The Contribution of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the Theological Enterprise'. Cardinal Müller, who was on a visit to Washington, came to CUA at the invitation of President Garvey, and was welcomed in the President's name by the Interim Provost, our former Dean, Fr. Mark Morozowich.
Donum Veritatis is the title of the Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian that was issued in 1990 by the CDF under Cardinal Ratzinger, its then Prefect. To a large audience, Cardinal Müller explained that the ecclesial service performed by the Church's magisterium includes the refutation of doctrinal error and the promotion or an ever deeper understanding of revelation. The documents of the CDF expressly approved by the pope participate in his ordinary magisterium. All theologians and preachers of the word should have a respect and even a reverence for the truth, he affirmed, not a suspicious and critical initial disposition, as modern society tends to adopt, because as Jesus said, 'the truth will make you free' (Jn 8:32).
We are heralds and servants of that truth, not its masters or owners, and the core of that saving truth, constantly needing to be proclaimed, is this: 'Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you' (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium , n.164). It is vital to protect that saving truth from any distortion, said the Cardinal, so that people may hear it clearly and respond wholeheartedly. Theology should be done in a 'spirit of evangelization and in the desire to pioneer new understandings'.