Responding to the controversy over a document written by Fr Peter Dresser, Bathurst Bishop Patrick Dougherty has said that "watering down" or "emptying out" Christian teaching is not the way to go to promote Christian doctrine. "An unpublished book written by Fr Peter Dresser, parish priest of Coonamble in the Diocese of Bathurst, has been receiving a certain distribution and publicity," Bishop Dougherty writes in a statement.
In the document, Fr Dresser said that "No human being can ever be God, and Jesus was a human being. It is as simple as that."
"With regard to the Divinity of Jesus, the Virginity of Mary and the Resurrection of Jesus, Fr Dresser has re-affirmed to me, and intends to endorse by a public statement, his adherence to these and to all the teaching of the Catholic Church," Bishop Dougherty writes.
"In the book, however, such foundational truths of our Christian Catholic faith were not affirmed: readers could rightly conclude that some were denied and that the views expressed about them were heretical.
"The watering down or emptying out of Christian teaching is not the path towards rendering Catholic doctrine more deeply known by people of faith or acceptable to sceptical people.
"Whatever Fr Dresser's stated good intentions and motives, stances taken in this book with regard to Jesus Christ and Mary are not acceptable: they are alien to Christian authenticity and to the fulfillment of the teaching mission of priests," Bishop Dougherty concluded.
Over the weekend, Fr Dresser apologised for the "unwitting scandal" that his document had caused.
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(Source: CTHN)