International Theological Commission

The International Theological Commission (ITC) of the Roman Catholic Church consists of up to 30 Catholic theologians from around the world. These theologians are appointed by the Pope upon the suggestion of the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) for renewable five year terms and have tended to meet together in person once every year for a week. The function of the ITC is to advise the Magisterium of the Church, particularly the CDF, a dicastery of the Roman Curia. The Prefect of the CDF is ex officio the president of the ITC, which is based in Rome. According to Joseph Ratzinger - later Pope Benedict XVI - the idea for this group was put forward during the first Postconciliar General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 1967.

The ITC was established on an interim basis by Pope Paul VI on 11 April 1969 and the first appointments were announced on 1 May 1969. The first meeting of the ITC took place on 6–8 October 1969 and was presided over by Cardinal Franjo Šeper. Four working groups were set up for the duration of the first term to explore: (i) the unity of the Faith, (ii) the priesthood, (iii) the theology of hope: the Christian Faith and the future of humanity, (iv) the criteria for Christian moral conscience.

The October plenary session of 1970 studied a paper on "The Priestly Ministry" prepared by the sub-commission on the priesthood. The October plenary session of 1972 saw the ITC study the topic of Theological Pluralism prepared by the subcommission on the unity of the Faith. It has also been claimed that the ITC "made a useful contribution to Mysterium Ecclesiae (1973)"

The second term saw a large number of changes with only thirteen of the original thirty theologians being reappointed. Back in October 1969 at the first meeting of the ITC Karl Rahner had produced a document on the principle questions which he felt should be addressed. However, Rahner resigned after the first term claiming that the ITC was "stewing in its own juices". His complaint was that the CDF, and in particular Cardinal Seper, were not prepared to seriously consult the ITC on questions of the day.

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