James Alison is an English Roman Catholic priest and theologian. He was ordained in 1988 and was a member of the Dominican Order in 1981–1995. The Congregation for the Clergy informed Alison of his laicization; he appealed this to the Pope and his current canonical status is inconclusive. Alison is noted for his application of René Girard's anthropological theory to Christian systematic theology and for his work on LGBT issues.
Alison was a member of the Dominican order – his master's degree is a Dominican lectorate – from 1981 to 1995. In 1996, he wrote to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith telling them that he believed his vows to be null as they were based on the "false premise of gay people being objectively disordered and thus celibacy being obligatory". He offered to let them issue a decree saying that his ordination was null, but they declined, saying it was valid. Instead, the congregation asked him to seek laicisation, but Alison declined: "The form for doing that also required that lies to be told, so, on advice of a canon lawyer, I did nothing and heard nothing". He told Commonweal magazine in 2012 that he was released from the Dominicans without penalty, and that he is uncertain of the validity of his vow of celibacy. More than 10 years later, a superior in the Dominican order asked if Alison would object to his processing paperwork dismissing Alison from the order. Alison said he did not mind the paperwork, but would not participate as he believed he was never truly a member anyway. He eventually received a letter stating that he was a priest in good standing, not currently incardinated but available to be incardinated if a bishop wished to have him. While living in Brazil, the local bishop asked for Alison's consent to be laicized. Alison declined, but instead offered to be incardinated into the diocese. The bishop declined that offer. The bishop then began a process of laicization without Alison's consent using the norm designed for priest who left their ministry to get married and would not answer requests for cooperation; Alison believed this was not applicable in his situation. A year later, a letter from the Congregation for the Clergy arrived announcing that Alison had been laicized, forbidding him from teaching, preaching, or presiding. According to the letter, this decision was unappealable. For Alison, "it was shocking to be tangential to a process in which it is unnecessary to inform the one charged of the charges against him, in which no legal representation is permitted, and whose sentence does not require the signature of the sentencee". A friendly bishop, who was once Alison's novice master, hand delivered a letter to Pope Francis in May 2017 appealing his laicization. In the letter, Alison asked the Pope to make his situation regular; he proposed to treat the congregation's letter "as null, and to carry on as before". On 2 July 2017, Pope Francis called Alison directly. According to Alison, Pope Francis told him, "I want you to walk with deep interior freedom, following the Spirit of Jesus. And I give you the power of the keys." Alison believes that, Pope Francis did not perceive the congregation's decision as binding; that he treated him as a priest and granted him the authority to hear confessions.
Books
Knowing Jesus , & 0281052220
Raising Abel, The Recovery of the Eschatological Imagination
The Joy of Being Wrong, Original Sin Through Easter Eyes
Faith Beyond Resentment, Fragments Catholic and Gay ,
On Being Liked ,
Undergoing God: Dispatches from the Scene of a Break-In ,
Broken Hearts and New Creations: Intimations of a Great Reversal ,
Jesus the Forgiving Victim: Listening for the Unheard Voice ,
Fé Além do Ressentimento - Fragmentos católicos em voz gay É Realizações Editora, Brasil
O Pecado Original à Luz da Ressurreição- A Alegria de Descobrir-se Equivocado É Realizações Editora, Brasil
