HOLY OFFICE WARNS

Continued from page 1 being, at first perplexed, and then in disagreement when the opinions of Fr. Teilhard de Chardin extend themselves from the purely scientific field to the fields of philosophy and theology." The article styled as "improper" the attempt to apply terms and concepts of evolutionary theory to the fields of metaphysics and theology. It then examines some of the "ambiguities " in Fr. Teilhard's works.
Here are some of its criticisms :
1. Fr. Teilhard's concept of " creative union " makes the divine Creation a "completion" of absolute being rather than an effect of efficient causality.
2. His form of expression leads one to think that he believed Creation was in sonic manner a necessary action, in contrast to the classical concept of Creation as an act of God's perfect and absolute freedom.
3. These and other aspects of his writings " do not lead to clarity of position ". but rather to "ambiguities which certainly are causes of dangerous misunderstandings".
4. " The concept of unity, of unifying action, strictly tied to his evolutionary theory, arc more than once extended and applied by Teilhard even to the super
natural order." As a consequence, Teilhard attributes to Christ a " third nature," not human, not divine, but "cosmic".
(The article adds. however, that its author does not want to take what Teilhard wrote on this point quite literally, hecause in that case "one would be speaking of a true and real heresy").
5. "The distinction and difference between the natural and supernatural order is not clear, and one does not see how one can logically save the gratuitous nature of the latter order and thus of grace."
6. The article also criticises Fr. Teilhard's thought as lacking in distinction between matter and spirit. and his concept of the relation of original sin to moral and physical evil.
Noting Fr. Teilhard's personal
spirituality, the article concludes : " We obviously do not intend to act against the person, but against the method, the thought . . . and we wish to concede that the thought of Teilhard may have remained in a problematic phase ".
Fr. Teilhard de Chardin died in New York in 1955 after travelling in many parts of the world in his study of man's origins. His best known works are "The Phenomenon of Man " (published in English three years ago with a foreword by Sir Julian Huxley); "Le Milieu Divin "; and " Letters from a Traveller ".
Though his adventurous thought led to his being removed from his teaching post in Paris. and the Jesuit authorities prohibited him from publishing his most controversial works in his lifetime. Fr. Teilhard remained profoundly humble and full of the spirit of obedience, complying with the will of his superiors in every respect.
One of the most moving of his letters is the one he wrote to the Father General of the Society of Jesus. expressing his obedience, shortly before his death.