02: Be Docile before the Magisterium of the Popes and Councils
What We Do
Secular society teaches us to behave a certain way towards the Popes and the Ecumenical Councils. Not directly. And of course, it's not an explicit teaching. But implicitly, in very subtle ways, sinful secular society teaches us bad behavior, faithless, uncharitable, unchristian, pride-filled behavior. And the adoption of this behavior pattern is one of the main causes of the rebellion against the Pope and the Magisterium.
The teaching is essentially this: that we should, society proposes, put our own understanding above all else, and use that understanding to judge everything and everyone. We go online and hear about persons we've never met, who live far away, and we judge the details of their lives, and put that judgment online. This is not charitable; it is not humble. Jesus taught us not to judge others. We can judge whether a type of act is good or evil, so as to avoid that which is evil, and do that which is good. But we are not judges over others.
When this is applied to the Pope, suddenly every Catholic sees themselves to have the role to judge each Pope, not only Pope Francis, but also to judge Pope Saint John Paul II and all others, even to judge Peter himself. And they judge with ignorance, arrogance, and without charity or faith. For no one can rebel against the Church with charity and humility.
What Should We Do?
Any Pope's mere personal theological opinion should be put above our own opinion. No Pope requires his opinions to be held or to receive the assent of faith. But to denigrate the theological opinions of the Pope below our own understanding is the beginning of the problem. Practice humility.
Each Roman Pontiff has the charism of truth and of never failing faith, such that he can never fail gravely in faith and can never teach grave error. If it seems as if a Pope has taught grave error, or if many persons loudly proclaim a list of Popes who supposedly taught heresy, put your faith in the promise of Christ and the teaching of the Church:
* No Pope can ever teach grave error or heresy.
* No Pope can ever fail in faith by apostasy, heresy, or schism, by idolatry, sacrilege, or blasphemy.
* Every Pope accused of teaching grave error, or of a grave failure of faith is innocent.
* Every Catholic who accuses any Pope of the same is guilty of bearing false witness and guilty of heresy and schism.
* Pope Liberius, Pope Marcellinus, Pope Honorius, Pope John XXII, and all the others, including Pope Francis, are innocent of teaching grave error and innocent of apostasy, heresy, idolatry and the like.
Read these teachings of the Church again and again
* Everything taught by any Ecumenical Council, including Vatican II, on faith and morals, and approved by the Roman Pontiff, is without any error at all. And the decision on discipline are without grave error. It is not true that Vatican II made changes on discipline that are so gravely erroneous as to cause grave harm to the Church, or to cause the Church to lead the faithful astray. Neither is it true that the teachings of Vatican II are merely pastoral, and therefore can be ignored or contradicted.
Bellarmine: "It must be held with Catholic faith that general Councils confirmed by the Supreme Pontiff can neither err in faith nor morals." [Saint Robert Bellarmine, De Controversiis, On the Church, Book II, trans. Ryan Grant, Mediatrix Press, 2017, chapter 2, p. 122.]
The same idea is expressed by Ludwig Ott, in his famous book, The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma: "It has been the constant teaching of the Catholic Church from the earliest times that the teachings of the General Councils are infallible." [Ott, The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma Revised and Updated Edition (London: Baronius Press, 2018), p. 321.]
It has never been known for an Ecumenical Council to have been corrected on a teaching of faith or morals by any Pope, nor by any other Council. It a Council were to err, correction would be impossible. For if another Council "corrected" the previous one, we cannot assume that the most recent Council is the one that is correct. And if a Pope were to "correct" a Council, why would be conclude that a Pope were right, and a Pope gathered with the body of Bishops in a Council were wrong? Then, too, it has never been the practice of Popes to use Papal Infallibility to change or "correct" a Council. In addition, whatever is taught by a Council is then subsequently taught by the successive Popes and by the body of Bishops, such that the teaching also falls under the ordinary universal Magisterium. Such is the case also with the teachings of Vatican II. Therefore, every teaching on faith or morals of every Ecumenical Council is infallible.
* When the Pope teaches non-infallibly, he cannot err to a grave extent. Therefore, if his non-infallible teaching is either a grave error, or is true, then it must be true.
We should live by faith. We should not presume to judge any Roman Pontiff, neither in his teachings, nor in his decisions on temporal matters. Those who trust in the Popes and Councils will remain faithful to the Church.
Those who arrogantly judge the Popes and Councils, who proclaim the supposed errors of Francis and of other Popes, who reject even teachings of Ecumenical Councils, will fall away. The Lord God will put them to the test. They will be given teachings that they cannot accept by reason, but only by faith. And they will rack their brains trying to figure out how these teachings could be anything but heresy. Their fallen sinful faculty of reason will fail. They will reject the papal Magisterium and fall away from the one true Church. And the Angels will ridicule them.
"He who dwells in heaven will ridicule them, and the Lord will mock them." (Ps 2:4)
Humble yourself before the Popes and Councils of the Church, as before Christ and the Holy Spirit. Live by faith. Do not live by your own faculty of reason, which can fail. Do not live by the opinions of others, even of those priests and faithful whom you admire. Adhere to the teachings of the Roman Pontiff over your own ideas and the ideas of those whom you find to be most wise and most holy. Otherwise, you will lose your faith entirely and possibly end up in Hell.
The McCarrick Report
This detailed report is a reasonable explanation for how McCarrick could have risen through the ranks of the Church, and for why it took so long to remove him. There were failures, admitted in the report. But essentially the report finds that the Church leaders behaved like anyone else would behave when they find that a family member is accused of sexual abuse: disbelief and denial. It is easy to look back on the situation and to imagine that if we were making the decision, we would realize that McCarrick was an abuser. But it is not so easy when you are in the situation.
Unfortunately, once a leader in the Church rises above a certain level, it is still, even today, much more difficult to bring him to justice in the Church. Accused priests are often removed. Unfortunately, sometimes the situation is unclear and a wrong decision might be made. We cannot assume that every accusation is true. On the other hand, though it is much easier today to remove a priest accused of abuse, it remains difficult to remove a Bishop or Cardinal.
We must not lose faith in the Church when the faults of some of Her leaders come to light. And the personal faults of any Pope, real or imagined, have no effect on the truth of the teaching of the papal Magisterium. For these teachings are from Christ through the Holy Spirit.
It is arrogant and sinful to use the McCarrick Report as a way to denigrate Pope Saint John Paul II or Pope Francis. The sins of McCarrick are to be blamed mainly on McCarrick. Those who knew of his sins and helped him despite that knowledge will be judged and punished by God. It is just not possible in this life to discover and punish every hidden sin.
Conservative Catholics tend to assume that Pell is innocent because he is conservative. That is a very dangerous path for the Church to take. We should not fight against Pope Francis because he is liberal, and we are conservative. We should not reject Vatican II because it is liberal, and we are conservative. We should not defend every conservative leader, in Church and society, and oppose every liberal leader. This type of bias conflicts with a life of being led by grace and providence, a life of being led by prayer and faith.
Civil Unions
Church teaching has not changed, neither on marriage, nor on the condemnation of sexual sins. But in a pluralistic society, the Church cannot expect to control the lives of non-Catholics nor to control a society which is mainly non-Catholic. Moreover, most Catholics reject some teachings of the Church, on one subject or another, so we should put our own house. If a democratic free society permits same-sex civil unions or same-sex marriage, the Church should continue to teach the truth, but should not attempt to deprive non-Catholics of their fundamental human right to freedom of religion and of conscience. We must live in peace with those who disagree.
The whole world will not be converted at any time; there will always be those who disagree with Church teaching, until after Christ returns. The Church should be at peace with those who disagree with Her teachings, and not treat them like an enemy. It is wrong for Catholics on the far right to see gay persons or transgender persons or others whose lives are not in agreement with Church teaching as enemies to be opposed at every turn. (It's also wrong to see the Pope that way.)
Pope Francis did nothing wrong by proposing to the Argentina legislature that they should approve of same sex civil unions instead of same sex marriage. And there would be nothing wrong with a Pope supporting the right of non-Catholics to disagree with Church teaching and to live according to their own consciences.
Trials Ahead
Great difficulties are ahead for faithful Catholics. There will be great conflicts within the Church and between Church and society. Do not lose heart. Forward in faith. Trust in the promises of Jesus that each Pope will be the Rock on which the Church is founded, and that Peter and his successors can never fail in faith (Mt 16:18; Lk 22:32).
Many persons will be led astray by false teachers, by wolves in sheep's clothing. The wolves are not those who teach contrary to your own understanding, but those who teach contrary to the Popes, Councils, and the body of Bishops. The wolves are those who attack the Popes, Councils, and the body of Bishops. Never think yourself to be fit to stand in judgment over any Pope or Council or the body of Bishops.
The Church will continue to teach new definitions of doctrine. In the past, after each Ecumenical Council, there was often a large group of Catholics who fell away, rather than accept what the Council taught. Be corrected by Popes and Councils. Do not join those who attack any Pope or Council. Stand with Peter.
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
ronconte.com
"That Your Faith May Never Fail"