The theology of Abp. Joseph Augustine DiNoia, O.P.

by Michael J. Miller

Archbishop Joseph Augustine DiNoia, O.P., is a very fine
theologian who taught theology for decades and has written extensively.  Several questions about his teachings
are probably on the minds of Traditionalist Catholics since his recent
appointment as vice-president of the Pontifical Ecclesia Dei Commission.  A few hours in a seminary library were
enough to answer some of them. 

1) What does the new vice-president of the Ecclesia Dei
Commission teach about the Eucharist?

Then-Father DiNoia contributed a chapter to a Book of
Readings on the Eucharist published in
2006 by the Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy of the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops.  Although the
essay, entitled “Eucharist and Trinity”, is focused on “communio theology”, the author refers to the Mass as a “sacrificial
banquet”.  A few excerpts
follow: 

The Church is
a creation of the triune God:  from
the Father, who sends his Son and his Spirit to transform creaturely persons so
that they come to share, with the uncreated Persons of the Trinity and with one
another, a communion of divine life. 
(p. 41)

We have been
invited from the highways and byways to be guests at a wedding banquet that we
did not prepare and in which our participation is confirmed only by our being
suitably clothed in Christ, in robes “washed ... in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev
7:14;  see Mt 22:1-14). (p. 41)

The prayer of
consecration involves a solemn invocation of the Holy Spirit, by whose power
the death and Resurrection of Christ are made present, and the bread and wine
are transformed into his Body and Blood. 
Then, by worthily consuming the Body and Blood of Christ, the faithful
are made divine and brought into union with the Father and with one another,
through Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.  (p. 44)

2) What does Archbishop DiNoia think about ecumenism and
interreligious dialogue?

Continue reading on the CWR blog.