Jacques Dupuis (priest) - Under Investigation

Under Investigation

In 2001, his book Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism led to Dupuis being investigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a department of the Roman Curia, which noted ambiguities regarding agreement between what he called a "Christian theology of religious pluralism" and the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and the popes of the council and later.

Dupuis was told to clarify his position in relation to that document, but he was never disciplined. Future editions of his book had to include a copy of the Congregation's notification about areas in which it considered his work unclear. There is general agreement among his friends and colleagues that "the ordeal he went through with the C.D.F. had caused havoc to his mental and physical health." The notification stated: "It is consistent with Catholic doctrine to hold that the seeds of truth and goodness that exist in other religions are a certain participation in truths contained in the revelation of or in Jesus Christ. However, it is erroneous to hold that such elements of truth and goodness, or some of them, do not derive ultimately from the source-mediation of Jesus Christ."

However, in 2001 Pope John Paul II acknowledged Dupuis's 'pioneering' work on the meaning of other religions in "God's plan of salvation of mankind".

Jacques Dupuis died a few days after celebrating 50 years of priesthood, in Rome, on 28 December 2004.