Different conclusions.

PARIS--In a rare example of public debate between two members of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Cardinal Pierre Eyt of Bordeaux, France questioned in a French Catholic newspaper article the Catholic Church's ability to adapt itself as an institution to the issues of the day.

Responding to remarks by CDF prefect Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Eyt said that Catholics in general know how "to raise the theoretical questions of our time in philosophy, politics, bioethics, theology," such as "the role of women in society and the church, the participation of the laity in certain ministerial responsibilities, sexuality, the discipline of marriage," ecumenical issues, and social values.

But "when this phase of dialogue" has passed, Eyt continued, "and the time to draw institutional conclusions from these examinations has come, our search ends brutally and in unforeseeable ways. Only rarely do our conclusions satisfy our partners."

In a published response, Ratzinger wrote, "Institutions"--in particular the church--"can only live if they are supported by common fundamental convictions" about doctrinal matters such as the Trinity, Christology, the sacramental structure of the church, and the church's moral teaching.

When official church teaching fails to base itself on these common convictions, Ratzinger said, the decisions of the church "are necessarily felt to be repressive and remain ultimately ineffective."