On 25 August, the daily newspaper Avvenire published an interview by Luciano Moia with the new president and vice-president of ATISM (the Italian Theological Association for the Study of Morality): Father Martin M. Lintner and Gaia De Vecchi. The two interviewees clearly confirmed the complete transformation of Catholic moral theology from yesterday and the day before, right up to the present day.
This is a radical change in which it is impossible to discern any form of continuity between the past and the present. It is not necessary for this interview to attest to the transition; these two moral theologians simply deserve credit for presenting it as a defined and now concluded process in the daily newspaper of the Italian bishops. No pope up to Benedict XVI would have accepted such a transformation, but it has now gone ahead and seems to have reached its conclusion.
The two theologians put forward this proposal: moral theology should move beyond rigid ideological dichotomies on topics such as abortion, gender and end-of-life issues, and focus instead on forming consciences and creating spaces for dialogue. Debate must be brought back into the realm of civil dialogue rather than ideological confrontation. We must set doctrine aside and focus our reflection on the human condition, avoiding the logic of opposing forces. This also applies at the ecclesial level, as it would establish a connection between ‘the Magisterium and people’s ordinary lives, their needs, their hopes, and their experiences of conscience’. Regarding issues such as assisted suicide and transgenderism, moral theology encourages us to consider how to advance the debate and address the existential needs of each individual. ‘Harsh, divisive tones’ must be avoided; we must move beyond ‘extremism’ and create ‘spaces of freedom for the conscience’.
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