I don't agree with your opinion in this article -- unless I'm not understanding it correctly, which I think may be the case. Can you please help clarify? I would like to understand. Here are my concerns.
You seem to be stating that we have to agree with the pope and bishops about everything, even their obvious errors that go against Church Tradition, doctrine, and teachings. For example, do you mean we have to agree with everything the German bishops have been saying lately, because they are bishops? We have to agree with Francis that it's great to put Pachamama idols in our churches? We have to agree with the recent statements put out by the Vatican's social media pages on the "Synod on Synodality," in which they promote female priests and the LBGTQA+ community? We are supposed to applaud the Facebook image put up by synod.va page showing a crowd gathered outside a Catholic Church, with a female priest in the center, next to a woman in a Pride t-shirt? Or the ones they just put on Twitter, also promoting the LBGTQA+ community, among other secular things? We're supposed to agree with the Church conforming to the world as it seems to be doing, just because the Vatican and bishops say so, even though that teaching is not ex cathedra and we've been taught previously that "the Church is essentially unchangeable in her teaching, her constitution, and her liturgy" (Fr. Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary)?
I am truly trying to understand what you're saying in this article. Since many of the things Pope Francis says (and does) is the opposite of all other previous popes, which pope are we to believe? Are we to simply go along with whoever is in the chair at any given time? Or are we to believe the true Tradition of our Catholic faith as it's been passed down to us?
I appreciate your response so I can understand the meaning of this article.
Jenny, I don’t know if you read The Latin Mass Journal. There is an article by Peter Kwasniewski about the need to Balance in different ways, Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium. Tradition and Magisterium always being at the service of Sacred Scripture (Dei Verbum 10). However, we cannot simply throw out the Magisterium when we don’t like it. BTW, I am not saying that you are. I am equally horrified by some of the things I read and hear. However, many are publically attacking our Bishops and this is wrong and we need to be very careful in doing so. I can send you a copy of the article if you would like.
The intent of my reflection is to listen to Christ when He says, “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” What does this mean today if not the Bishops and Pontiff of our Church? If we believe in the grace of the Sacrament of Holy Orders and we believe that the Holy Spirit moves within the leaders of our Church, then we need to be VERY careful to listen to our Bishops and discern their teaching and align it with the “authentic Magisterium”. We need to be very careful not to reject Christ while often rejecting our Bishops in very open, supposedly Catholic, forums.
I shall try to provide some support my answers to your questions using Lumen Gentium 25:
“Bishops, teaching in communion with the Roman Pontiff, are to be respected by all as witnesses to divine and Catholic truth. In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent. This religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra; that is, it must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will. His mind and will in the matter may be known either from the character of the documents, from his frequent repetition of the same doctrine, or from his manner of speaking.
Although the individual bishops do not enjoy the prerogative of infallibility, they nevertheless proclaim Christ’s doctrine infallibly whenever, even though dispersed through the world, but still maintaining the bond of communion among themselves and with the successor of Peter, and authentically teaching matters of faith and morals, they are in agreement on one position as definitively to be held. This is even more clearly verified when, gathered together in an ecumenical council, they are teachers and judges of faith and morals for the universal Church, whose definitions must be adhered to with the submission of faith.”
So we are required as Catholics to accept the teaching of our Bishops and adhere to it with religious assent when:
1. It is within their perview of faith and morals.
2. The teaching is in communion with the Roman Pontiff. So right now that leaves many of the “discussions” of the Synod out. They are just that, discussions, not teaching.
3. The teachings must be consistent with the “authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff.” This is a mouthful. As I read it, we are not required to accept the teachings that are outside of that authentic Magisterium. Also, even when the German Bishops as a whole SPEAK (not teach), it is not to be accepted except when it is consistent with the teaching of the Roman Pontiff. Lumen Gentium in chapter 22 states -
“The college or body of bishops has no authority unless it is understood together with the Roman Pontiff, the successor of Peter as its head. The pope’s power of primacy over all, both pastors and faithful, remains whole and intact. In virtue of his office, that is as Vicar of
Christ and pastor of the whole Church, the Roman Pontiff has full, supreme and universal power over the Church. And he is always free to exercise this power.”
Again, even the word Magisterium must be accurately understood - The purpose of the Magisterium is
“to preserve God’s people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error.” (CCC 890).
That means that the teaching must be consistent with Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. The teaching should extend understanding but cannot defy Truth as established in Sacred Scripture. CCC 890 also states that,
“ the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates.”
For more thinking on this, I recommend St John Henry Newman’s essay on the Development of Doctrine.
4. Finally, even the infallible teaching of the Pope is bounded by Divine Revelation. The pope, and the Bishops cannot teach outside of the truth proclaimed in Sacred Scripture. LG 25 states:
“And this infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed His Church to be endowed in defining doctrine of faith and morals, extends as far as the deposit of Revelation extends, which must be religiously guarded and faithfully expounded.”
I hope that answers your questions. We need to trust Christ and the Holy Spirit. I would say that we need to divorce ourselves from our own opinions and actively discern where “I”/“we” may be arrogantly insisting on our own way instead of humbly bowing before the action of the Holy Spirit which is active within our Church and its BIshops. If the Holy Spirit is not active in our Church … all is lost. The devil constantly seeks to divide the body of Christ …. And we are often very susceptible to this. Just look at how often our Church has been divided when the Lord prayed that we would be one. Just look at the factions that sadly exist within our Catholic Church, all declaring that they are more holy than the other.
We should be very careful not to attack our Bishops when they teach in accordance with the authentic Magisterium. Instead we must seek understanding. That is the role of theologians within the Church. They ask questions that may at times challenge, but they do so SEEKING UNDERSTANDING. I tend to be optimistic and trust Christ when He promised Peter that “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against [the Church]. (Mathew 16:18)
Great comment and thank you for the challenge. I hope my answers are in the ball park. God Bless.
The synod.va website is from the Vatican therefore it's implied that the pope approves. This means he approves of the LBGTA+ agenda (I'm never sure what the current acronym is for this) and for women's ordination. If he didn't, he would speak out. He is silent. Also I will never humbly bow before Pachamama even if the pope approves. I'm Catholic. Sorry, but I just can't do this. We have to realize that although the Holy Spirit should be at work in our clergy, often they, as men, disallow this. I could name so many popes who erred. I won't get into the history of that. Suffice to say, if the pope or bishops are teaching something contrary to true Faith, such as the Vatican is doing now with the Synod drawings and agenda, and as with all the other questionable things from Francis, then this is not a matter of humbly submitting. It's a matter of trusting the Truth of the Catholic faith as the Holy Spirit intended. Which isn't what's happening now. Also the fact that Francis directly contradicts other popes is still an unaddressed issue. I appreciate your response but it doesn't really clear anything up for me.
So, when Jesus gives the Church to Peter, did He err? There have been some good and bad Popes, but the Holy Spirit has protected the Church from departing from the truth. On Pope Francis, I would say that the Pope is allowing open discussion of ideas. I am not sure that I would have done it this way … but I am not the Pope, thanks be to God. I think many jump to conclusions inappropriately just as they did with Vatican Council II, never bothering to read the documents or await for the discussions to end. I have not heard the Pope support the ordination of women as Priests in any Papal official pronouncement. I have seen no directive to bow before a Pachamama. If you have one that he has written, not that some reporter somewhere has reported or taken out of context, please let me know. As Catholics we believe that the Church is Apostolic and is shepherded through the Apostolic Succession. That is what Catholics have always believed… Again, from Lumen Gentium 20 which echoes Sacred Tradition -
Therefore, the Sacred Council teaches that bishops by divine institution have succeeded to the place of the apostles, as shepherds of the Church, and he who hears them, hears Christ, and he who rejects them, rejects Christ and Him who sent Christ.“.
As Catholics, we cannot pick and choose. Also the reference in Lumen Gentium 20 above is to Luke 10:16, which ties back to the posted reflection. My reflection is not random opinion but grounded in the teachings of our Catholic Church. I am always very careful of that. I do apologize if my writing and language was confused or not clear.
Very timely message for me today. I really appreciate the reminder to follow all of the church’s teaching in faith 🙏. Thank you for preparing this reflection today! Prayers for you, your family and all of our church leaders. May God bless you always.
I don't agree with your opinion in this article -- unless I'm not understanding it correctly, which I think may be the case. Can you please help clarify? I would like to understand. Here are my concerns.
You seem to be stating that we have to agree with the pope and bishops about everything, even their obvious errors that go against Church Tradition, doctrine, and teachings. For example, do you mean we have to agree with everything the German bishops have been saying lately, because they are bishops? We have to agree with Francis that it's great to put Pachamama idols in our churches? We have to agree with the recent statements put out by the Vatican's social media pages on the "Synod on Synodality," in which they promote female priests and the LBGTQA+ community? We are supposed to applaud the Facebook image put up by synod.va page showing a crowd gathered outside a Catholic Church, with a female priest in the center, next to a woman in a Pride t-shirt? Or the ones they just put on Twitter, also promoting the LBGTQA+ community, among other secular things? We're supposed to agree with the Church conforming to the world as it seems to be doing, just because the Vatican and bishops say so, even though that teaching is not ex cathedra and we've been taught previously that "the Church is essentially unchangeable in her teaching, her constitution, and her liturgy" (Fr. Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary)?
I am truly trying to understand what you're saying in this article. Since many of the things Pope Francis says (and does) is the opposite of all other previous popes, which pope are we to believe? Are we to simply go along with whoever is in the chair at any given time? Or are we to believe the true Tradition of our Catholic faith as it's been passed down to us?
I appreciate your response so I can understand the meaning of this article.
Jenny, I don’t know if you read The Latin Mass Journal. There is an article by Peter Kwasniewski about the need to Balance in different ways, Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium. Tradition and Magisterium always being at the service of Sacred Scripture (Dei Verbum 10). However, we cannot simply throw out the Magisterium when we don’t like it. BTW, I am not saying that you are. I am equally horrified by some of the things I read and hear. However, many are publically attacking our Bishops and this is wrong and we need to be very careful in doing so. I can send you a copy of the article if you would like.
Yes, please send. Thank you! I believe you have my email. If not I can email you. Thanks!
Jenny,
The intent of my reflection is to listen to Christ when He says, “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” What does this mean today if not the Bishops and Pontiff of our Church? If we believe in the grace of the Sacrament of Holy Orders and we believe that the Holy Spirit moves within the leaders of our Church, then we need to be VERY careful to listen to our Bishops and discern their teaching and align it with the “authentic Magisterium”. We need to be very careful not to reject Christ while often rejecting our Bishops in very open, supposedly Catholic, forums.
I shall try to provide some support my answers to your questions using Lumen Gentium 25:
“Bishops, teaching in communion with the Roman Pontiff, are to be respected by all as witnesses to divine and Catholic truth. In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent. This religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra; that is, it must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will. His mind and will in the matter may be known either from the character of the documents, from his frequent repetition of the same doctrine, or from his manner of speaking.
Although the individual bishops do not enjoy the prerogative of infallibility, they nevertheless proclaim Christ’s doctrine infallibly whenever, even though dispersed through the world, but still maintaining the bond of communion among themselves and with the successor of Peter, and authentically teaching matters of faith and morals, they are in agreement on one position as definitively to be held. This is even more clearly verified when, gathered together in an ecumenical council, they are teachers and judges of faith and morals for the universal Church, whose definitions must be adhered to with the submission of faith.”
So we are required as Catholics to accept the teaching of our Bishops and adhere to it with religious assent when:
1. It is within their perview of faith and morals.
2. The teaching is in communion with the Roman Pontiff. So right now that leaves many of the “discussions” of the Synod out. They are just that, discussions, not teaching.
3. The teachings must be consistent with the “authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff.” This is a mouthful. As I read it, we are not required to accept the teachings that are outside of that authentic Magisterium. Also, even when the German Bishops as a whole SPEAK (not teach), it is not to be accepted except when it is consistent with the teaching of the Roman Pontiff. Lumen Gentium in chapter 22 states -
“The college or body of bishops has no authority unless it is understood together with the Roman Pontiff, the successor of Peter as its head. The pope’s power of primacy over all, both pastors and faithful, remains whole and intact. In virtue of his office, that is as Vicar of
Christ and pastor of the whole Church, the Roman Pontiff has full, supreme and universal power over the Church. And he is always free to exercise this power.”
Again, even the word Magisterium must be accurately understood - The purpose of the Magisterium is
“to preserve God’s people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error.” (CCC 890).
That means that the teaching must be consistent with Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. The teaching should extend understanding but cannot defy Truth as established in Sacred Scripture. CCC 890 also states that,
“ the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates.”
For more thinking on this, I recommend St John Henry Newman’s essay on the Development of Doctrine.
4. Finally, even the infallible teaching of the Pope is bounded by Divine Revelation. The pope, and the Bishops cannot teach outside of the truth proclaimed in Sacred Scripture. LG 25 states:
“And this infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed His Church to be endowed in defining doctrine of faith and morals, extends as far as the deposit of Revelation extends, which must be religiously guarded and faithfully expounded.”
I hope that answers your questions. We need to trust Christ and the Holy Spirit. I would say that we need to divorce ourselves from our own opinions and actively discern where “I”/“we” may be arrogantly insisting on our own way instead of humbly bowing before the action of the Holy Spirit which is active within our Church and its BIshops. If the Holy Spirit is not active in our Church … all is lost. The devil constantly seeks to divide the body of Christ …. And we are often very susceptible to this. Just look at how often our Church has been divided when the Lord prayed that we would be one. Just look at the factions that sadly exist within our Catholic Church, all declaring that they are more holy than the other.
We should be very careful not to attack our Bishops when they teach in accordance with the authentic Magisterium. Instead we must seek understanding. That is the role of theologians within the Church. They ask questions that may at times challenge, but they do so SEEKING UNDERSTANDING. I tend to be optimistic and trust Christ when He promised Peter that “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against [the Church]. (Mathew 16:18)
Great comment and thank you for the challenge. I hope my answers are in the ball park. God Bless.
The synod.va website is from the Vatican therefore it's implied that the pope approves. This means he approves of the LBGTA+ agenda (I'm never sure what the current acronym is for this) and for women's ordination. If he didn't, he would speak out. He is silent. Also I will never humbly bow before Pachamama even if the pope approves. I'm Catholic. Sorry, but I just can't do this. We have to realize that although the Holy Spirit should be at work in our clergy, often they, as men, disallow this. I could name so many popes who erred. I won't get into the history of that. Suffice to say, if the pope or bishops are teaching something contrary to true Faith, such as the Vatican is doing now with the Synod drawings and agenda, and as with all the other questionable things from Francis, then this is not a matter of humbly submitting. It's a matter of trusting the Truth of the Catholic faith as the Holy Spirit intended. Which isn't what's happening now. Also the fact that Francis directly contradicts other popes is still an unaddressed issue. I appreciate your response but it doesn't really clear anything up for me.
So, when Jesus gives the Church to Peter, did He err? There have been some good and bad Popes, but the Holy Spirit has protected the Church from departing from the truth. On Pope Francis, I would say that the Pope is allowing open discussion of ideas. I am not sure that I would have done it this way … but I am not the Pope, thanks be to God. I think many jump to conclusions inappropriately just as they did with Vatican Council II, never bothering to read the documents or await for the discussions to end. I have not heard the Pope support the ordination of women as Priests in any Papal official pronouncement. I have seen no directive to bow before a Pachamama. If you have one that he has written, not that some reporter somewhere has reported or taken out of context, please let me know. As Catholics we believe that the Church is Apostolic and is shepherded through the Apostolic Succession. That is what Catholics have always believed… Again, from Lumen Gentium 20 which echoes Sacred Tradition -
Therefore, the Sacred Council teaches that bishops by divine institution have succeeded to the place of the apostles, as shepherds of the Church, and he who hears them, hears Christ, and he who rejects them, rejects Christ and Him who sent Christ.“.
As Catholics, we cannot pick and choose. Also the reference in Lumen Gentium 20 above is to Luke 10:16, which ties back to the posted reflection. My reflection is not random opinion but grounded in the teachings of our Catholic Church. I am always very careful of that. I do apologize if my writing and language was confused or not clear.
God Bless.
Well done!
Very timely message for me today. I really appreciate the reminder to follow all of the church’s teaching in faith 🙏. Thank you for preparing this reflection today! Prayers for you, your family and all of our church leaders. May God bless you always.
When I look at my-self and at o-thers
It seems that no one real-ly bo-thers to love, to love
But when I pray I can see God re-veal-ing
And now I'm real-ly be-liev-ing we'll be the Light of the World
I can see e-very-bo-dy re-viv-ing
I can see e-very-bo-dy striv-ing to love, to love
So lift your hearts and your voi-ces to hea-ven
Je-sus calls us to be his lea-ven and salt, the Light of the World