Make Conservatives Catholic Again (part II)

“With this impiety spreading in every direction, it has come about, alas, that many even among the children of the Catholic Church have strayed from the path of genuine piety, and as the truth was gradually diluted in them, their Catholic sensibility was weakened. Led away by diverse and strange teachings...they are found to distort the genuine sense of the dogmas which holy mother church holds and teaches, and to endanger the integrity and genuineness of the faith.” (Vatican I, Pastor Aeternus, Session 3) 

[Part I of this series is here.]

If you’re Catholic, you follow the pope. This is what distinguishes Catholics from other Christians. Conservative Catholics used to insist on this obvious truth. But too many have lost sight of it over the course of the past decade. They’re now making some very strange arguments to the tune of “Hey Protestants, you have to become Catholic! But the pope can teach heresy just like your pastors, so watch out!” Thus effectively making Catholicism just another fallible branch of Protestant Christianity.

With all the distortions in the media of the things Pope Francis is actually saying, it’s easy to just assume that where there’s smoke there’s fire. Where there’s doctrinal umbrage, there’s heresy. But rather than be lazy and just assume, we need to be mature and examine these things carefully. While we do so, we need to keep a number of the Church’s teachings in mind.

First: “‘God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.’ He bestowed upon His Church, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, a participation in His own infallibility. Thanks to the ‘supernatural sense of Faith’, the People of God enjoys this privilege under the guidance of the Church's living Magisterium, which is the sole authentic interpreter of the Word of God, written or handed down, by virtue of the authority which it exercises in the name of Christ.” (Donum Veritatis, 13) (Emphases mine)

Read the catechism (and canon law and all the papal encyclicals and so on). Nowhere will you find reference in any of it to a “magisterial oversight committee”; to a group of the faithful who are tasked with policing and approving or rejecting papal actions and statements. Such a thing doesn’t exist. The closest you’ll come to finding something of this nature in the Catholic faith would probably be in a concept called the sensus fidelium, or “sense of the faithful.” And here is what Pope Benedict XVI had to say about the sense of the faithful:

“It is particularly important today to clarify the criteria used to distinguish the authentic sensus fidelium from its counterfeits. In fact, it is not some kind of public opinion of the Church, and it is unthinkable to mention it in order to challenge the teachings of the Magisterium. This is because the sensus fidei cannot grow authentically in the believer except to the extent in which he or she fully participates in the life of the Church, and this requires a responsible adherence to her Magisterium.” (Emphasis mine)

“But what happens if the pope teaches heresy?” some are wondering. “we cant just stand by and let that happen, can we?”

It must be grasped that the pope is unable to teach heresy in his official capacity as universal shepherd. We noted this in part I. The Holy Spirit wont allow him to do it. Not just when it comes to infallible pronouncements but to anything in the Church’s theology “of substance.”

As Donum Veritatis 17 explains:

“Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and in a particular way, to the Roman Pontiff as Pastor of the whole Church, when exercising their ordinary Magisterium, even should this not issue in an infallible definition or in a ‘definitive’ pronouncement but in the proposal of some teaching which leads to a better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals and to moral directives derived from such teaching.

“One must therefore take into account the proper character of every exercise of the Magisterium, considering the extent to which its authority is engaged. It is also to be borne in mind that ALL ACTS of the Magisterium derive from the same source, that is, from Christ who desires that His People walk in the entire truth. For this same reason, magisterial decisions in matters of discipline, even if they are not guaranteed by the charism of infallibility, are not without divine assistance and call for the adherence of the faithful.” (Emphasis mine)

Those wondering how we can square this assertion with documents like Amoris Laetitia and Fiducia Supplicans need to trust Vatican I when it says, “[the] See of St. Peter always remains unblemished by any error, in accordance with the divine promise of our Lord and Savior.” (Pastor Aeternus, 4) And they need to pay attention to accredited theologians, not “dads with webcams.” Ask the Holy Spirit for assistance in cutting through the fog. Ask Him to help you to perceive the teaching in these documents for what those teachings really are, rather than what confused Catholic pundits and – even worse – the mainstream media would like to make them. You’re in for a substantial treat if you do.

“But what about people like Cardinals Burke and Mueller and Sarah,” some will want to persist, “who are alleging the pope has, in fact, taught heresy? They’re obviously not stupid!” No, they’re not. But sometimes that’s the problem. As St. Paul notes, “we realize that ‘all of us have knowledge’; knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up. If anyone supposes he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.” (1 Cor. 8:1-2)

No one is immune. No sooner did he demonstrate supernatural knowledge then Peter stumbled when he thought he “knew” that the Lord didn’t have to suffer and tried to persuade him accordingly. The Lord had to put him in check for having knowledge but not understanding. (cf. Matt 16:21-23)

Pope Pius X speaks explicitly to this issue by noting, “we do not set above the authority of the Pope that of other persons, however learned, who dissent from the Pope, who, even though learned, are not holy, because whoever is holy cannot dissent from the Pope.” (Allocution, Nov. 18, 1912) (Emphasis mine) Beware of the very fallible nature of pronouncements from priests, bishops, and even cardinals when they contradict the supreme pontiff.

Part III in two weeks. Meanwhile, it’s time to make conservative Catholics fully Catholic again.