I read the statement twice. I like it internally, but what theologian wouldn't address these four topics? They are a simplified outline of what theologians write about without invitation from the bishops' committee. I add that the document itself is a welcome step in the right direction: recognizing that theologians are collaborators with bishops and work for the good of the entire church. Now that I am retired from the theological life and work I look back on the "dialogue" between the bishops and the American Catholic theologians since V. II as largely a wasteland where the cold winds of suspicion and evasion blow. The bishops behaved disgracefully toward the two most prominent and respected women theologians and have ignored theologians at large. The theologians have to look over their collective shoulders into the shadows where the "Magisterium" lurks. The current document (never mind the overall stance) doesn't even catch up to the hopes of Vatican II with regard to "dialogue" and falls far short of the hopes and calls of Pope Francis. I hope I am out of data on my information here, for it seems to me as if we haven't grown up in half a century. Cf. my book, Judas Was a Bishop, esp. chapters on "Why I am not a theologian."
