Priest Wants New Definition Of 'Morality'

A theology professor last night supported a current trend within the Church to define morality as personal responsibility rather than conformity to law.

In a speech on "The New Morality" at the Catholic Student Center, the Rev. James O'Donohoe, professor of Moral Theology at St. John's Seminary in Brighton and a writer for the Clergy Review, criticized the "old law-centered moarl theology that leads to prefabricated decisions, the 'Here's the solution; what's your problem?' approach."

Declaring that young people want to know "not just what but why," and that current science and Biblical scholarship have provided deeper in sight into "the world and the Word," he said that law is a "bare minimum. The Christian must go beyond the law, to love."

"Christ has become man and we contact Him in our fellow man, so Christian morality is a very social thing, very far from the 'Jesus and I' theology of many Christians," he stated. Taking Christ as his example, he called for a "love morality" of greater social consciousness and greater commitment on the part of Christians, especially in the area of civil rights.

This "personality" and "dynamic" new morality is often difficult to accept, he explained because "many people are not able to face up to complexity." The Church of the future, he said, may be a smaller but more committed group.