With all due respect, what the rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute says here just doesn’t help. Academics, more often than not, living in that hothouse of theirs, have a tendency to grow new sets of ears that tune out common sense and in the case, the power of the media and the current zeitgeist. Let’s see what he has to say:

The fictional novel, “The Gospel of Judas,” was presented yesterday at the Pontifical Biblical Institute of Rome (PBI).  Responding to reports in various media outlets, Jesuit Father Stephen Pisano explained that neither the Holy See, nor the Pope nor the Institute of which he is rector endorses this work of fiction.

“I want to underscore that allowing this book to be presented here does not imply that the PBI itself, or the Vatican or the Pope have in any way accepted it.  We simply want to provide a place for academic discussion about one aspect of the New Testament and we have Father Moloney to guide this discussion,” he said.

“The Institute, as an academic institution, has nothing to do with modern novels.  The only reason why we have allowed this book to be presented is because of the presence among us of Father Francis Moloney, a renowned expert and scholar of the New Testament.”

Moloney is currently superior of the Salesian religious order in Australia and has been a member of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission since 1984.  The priest, however, is well known for some rather unorthodox views on the life of Christ.  In an interview with the Times of London, the priest said he has become convinced that some of Jesus’ miracles were invented by the early Church.

Turning water into wine at a wedding feast came "out of a profound desire to show that Jesus, like the God of Israel, is the messianic giver of all good things."  Likewise, Moloney told the Times, Jesus’ walking on the water and calming the Sea of Galilee never happened either.  In his opinion the miracles were “created” from a desire to prove that Jesus had the same mastery over nature as the God of the Hebrew Bible.

While the rector of the Pontifical Institute said Father Moloney is qualified to explain various aspects of the life of Jesus, Father Pisano said he was aware of the “risk that the Institute is taking” by hosting the presentation as “our name could be used to market the book.  This is a risk we must take.”

Indeed several news sources, from London to L.A. have picked up on the story and noted the Catholic Church’s so called “support” for the book.

However, Father Pisano said the Institute’s interest is “the Bible itself, and if this discussion encourages people to read the Bible, to read it with intelligence and with a spirit of prayer, then maybe we can say that the presentation of this book is justified.”

He also expressed his fear that the book’s method of mixing fiction with biblical texts “could create certain confusion in the people about what came from the Bible and what came from the author.  Above all I worry that people think that everything that is written here is part of history, but it is not. This is a novel!”

Ah well. Questions abound regarding Fr. Moloney, a renowned scholar, and his views on Jesus’ miracles. And why is Father Pisano worried about a novel mixing fact and fiction if…

Oy.

The larger point is that if the fear was that outsiders would associate the novel with truth – a cause to which the PBI is dedicated – why even take the risk? You know what the press will make of this. If the Pope looks at someone, the headlines are "Pope supports…."  I exaggerate, naturally, but that’s simply the way of the world now, unfortunately.

More from the Austrailian Age:

Asked why he agreed to work with Archer, Moloney says: "I knew Jeffrey had been in jail and that sort of stuff, but it didn’t worry me. The church is used to dealing with sinners."

Does he think the book will be controversial?

"I’m expecting trouble from the extreme right and the extreme left," he says. "The problem is the right are in power. George Pell will be annoyed by this. But I think I can handle these people, I’m an internationally accepted scholar."

Indeed he is. The author of almost 40 books, many on the gospels, Moloney served for 18 years on the International Theological Commission to the Holy See. His positions have included professor of New Testament at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC and president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America.

There were dozens of gospels written in the first few centuries after Christ’s death, but Moloney says: "They were never intended to be a factual history of Jesus. Most of what the gospels say happened did happen. But certain major elements are the fruit of the imagination of the preaching church. They’re narratives composed of memories and stories, with the objective of showing what God had done for us through the life of Jesus Christ."

snip

ARCHER’S ACCOUNT TO me of meeting Moloney is told as though part of one of his novels. He flew to Italy to ask the ageing Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, archbishop emeritus of Milan and "the world’s leading expert on the New Testament", to do the book with him.

Martini was too ill, so Archer asked him to name "the finest pupil he had ever taught" when rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, "the centre of the Catholic Church". Martini named Moloney. Moloney says Martini encouraged him to take it on. "He told me he thought it was a very worthwhile project and needed to be done (because there’s a) gross misunderstanding of Judas."

There were more trips to Rome, where agreement was reached about 15 months ago. Archer hints at some higher purpose in all this: "Martini introducing him to me and what’s happened since, things have just fallen into place. They’re more than coincidental in my view."

Zadok has more…from his perspective in Rome, and having seen the invitations to the event that were sent out. He also has experience of reading Fr. Moloney, and is surprised at what he is reading in the press about his views. So who knows…

The book was launched in England at Westminster Cathedral a couple of days ago, and the Cathedral’s blog discusses the event – check out the comments as well, which ask good questions, and Mgr Mark Langham, in his responses, and even the blog post, does seem a bit nonplussed about the event.

Not being at the launch, I cannot enter the discussion fully. Some seminarians from Allen Hall (pictured standing, left) were present, and speaking to one afterwards, he was concerned that the novel, written as though it were a ‘Gospel’, presents no notion of Jesus’ awareness of his death as a sacrifice, or of his fulfilment of the will of God as worked out in the Old Testament.

All together, an odd evening. I wonder what Archbishop Gregorios (far left of the picture, above) made of it all!

(And just to be clear…I don’t give a fig about the book. Books can be written and published with anyone’s input, for heaven’s sake. My point is ultimately how all of this is filtered through the press, and anyone who reads the papers for two days knows that. If they don’t want headlines like Jeffrey Archer is Back and The Pope Approves or Pope Gives Blessing to Gospel of Jeffrey Archer – don’t host the soiree  at the Pontifical Bibllical Institute. There other ways to "encourage people to read the Bible." I can think of a few, none of which involve spy novelists.)

Update:

An important comment from Ephrem in the comments (naturally):

I took Fr. Moloney’s course on St. John’s Gospel at CUA. He was anything but iconoclastic. In fact, the course culminated by bringing together, intensely, the crucifixion and the Eucharist–the exaltation of Christ. Our textbook was his translation and commentary of the Gospel of John, in the Sacra Pagina series. I don’t know what is going on with this book. I do know, from experience, that Fr. Moloney taught very well.