USCCB Doctrine Committee Faults Book by Father Peter Phan

WASHINGTON (December 10, 2007)—The U.S. Bishops’ Doctrine Committee issued clarifications concerning several aspects of Father Peter C. Phan’s book Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue.

Father Phan’s book uses “certain terms in an equivocal manner” that “opens the text up to significant ambiguity,” the Committee said. It added that “a fair reading of the book could leave readers in considerable confusion as to the proper understanding of the uniqueness of Christ.”

The Committee, which represents the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on doctrinal matters, outlined its concerns in a statement, “Clarifications Required by the Book Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue.” The Committee made the statement public December 10. It is available at www.usccb.org/dpp/statementonbeingreligiousinterreligiously.pdf....