Live by love and not by fear

“He says, 'Conscience can do more than recognise that a given situation does not correspond objectively to the overall demands of the Gospel. It can also recognise with sincerity and honesty what for now is the most generous response which can be given to God, and come to see with a certain moral security that it is what God himself is asking amid the concrete complexity of one's limits, while yet not fully the objective ideal.' This is too uncertain and self-determining for the liking of the four cardinals. They have been so bold as to assert that the pope is wrong because he is adopting a different approach than did Pope John Paul II who excluded 'a creative interpretation of the role of conscience' and emphasised that 'conscience can never be authorised to legitimate exceptions to absolute moral norms that prohibit intrinsically evil acts by virtue of their object'.” Can one pope contradict other on a matter of faith? If not, only one of the above opinions has been correct for all time.

We Catholics need to understand that over time the changes we make to how we teach and the changes we observe as the outcomes of teachings can result in changes to what we actually teach. Those changes cannot come from individual bishops but they can be authorised by the pope, either with or without a council of bishops. I call to mind the pioneering work of the American jurist John T Noonan who died last month. He was one of the great Catholic thinkers in the US. Prior to the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae in 1968, he wrote a definitive book on contraception. In recent years he wrote a book called 'The Church That Can and Cannot Change'. The great moral theologian Charles Curran wrote an obituary on Noonan in the National Catholic Reporter. Here is part of what Curran wrote reflecting on the life of Noonan: ‘Noonan, in looking back on these changes and developments, notes that the process of change requires a complex constellation of forces. There is no readily available grid for determining how change occurs. Noonan agrees with Vatican II that change comes from the contemplation of believers, the experience of spiritual realities, and the preaching of the church. He wants to avoid the extremes of maintaining that no change can and should occur in what the church has consistently taught in the past on moral issues and the modernist approach that doctrine is only the projection of human needs. The great commandments of love of God and of neighbor, the great principles of justice and charity, continue to govern all development.’

“He wants to avoid the extremes of maintaining that no change can and should occur in what the church has consistently taught in the past on moral issues and the modernist approach that doctrine is only the projection of human needs.” This is consistent with the philosophy of legal change by judges stated by Frank Brennan’s father in Mabo 2: “29. In discharging its duty to declare the common law of Australia, this Court is not free to adopt rules that accord with contemporary notions of justice and human rights if their adoption would fracture the skeleton of principle which gives the body of our law its shape and internal consistency.” The four cardinals want to know whether the Vicar of Christ as supreme legislator/judge of the Roman Catholic Church is free to adopt rules that accord with contemporary notions of justice and human rights but which may fracture the skeleton of principle which gives the body of Tradition its shape and internal consistency. By convention, the proposer of a change bears the onus of proving its worth. The cardinals’ dubia is the mechanism of petition by inferiors to a superior requesting convention be followed.

Father Brennan's citing of Curran and Noonan is problematic. There are American Catholics who can offer reasoned support for the proposition that the ideas of Curran, Noonan and like-minded intellects have wrecked the faith of many thousands of American Catholics and contributed to the devastation of the Church there. "Noonan agrees with Vatican II that change comes from the contemplation of believers, the experience of spiritual realities, and the preaching of the church. He wants to avoid the extremes of maintaining that no change can and should occur in what the church has consistently taught in the past on moral issues and the modernist approach that doctrine is only the projection of human needs. The great commandments of love of God and of neighbor, the great principles of justice and charity, continue to govern all development" are words to which no exception can be taken. But it's never the sentiments expressed in the words that are the problem but how those sentiments are applied. When a national church that has been liberal in character for decades is haemorrhaging believers, how can orthodoxy be blamed?

“A feature of these ACP meetings was how often priests mentioned the lack of leadership or support from their bishop” “All I can see in our hierarchy is fear, anxiety and a desperate clinging to old ways. And this at a time when Pope Francis has by now clearly charted a new way, a new presentation of the Good News of the Gospel, based on openness, listening and courage”…………………….. Is lack of leadership the on-going culprit? It is and it isn’t, yes we have a contradiction and the reason for this is that Christian leadership should be manifest by the serving of the Truth and for many this serving of the Truth in trust is/was given over in obedience to the hierarchy of the Church as “a divide house cannot stand” but in doing so failing to see that the rock of Truth can only be served individual as this is the mortar that holds His house together, it is a precious commodity and rare because to possess it takes courage. The Seminaries that moulded priests (Some now Bishops) taught them (As they were taught) that obedience to the church (Establishment) is paramount, but failed to TELL (teach) them that obedience that does not embrace TRUTH, is an easy option, as it takes away responsibility for ones actions or inactions, and that the price to pay is loss of integrity, in effect one becomes a lackey and the image of Christ in his/their sacrificial life before mankind would be lost. They would have been unaware that the Church since its earliest beginnings was at war within itself, they would not have known that some who taught him and others who would have authority over them, were waterless clouds (producers of deserts), dry trees (those who renounce good/Truth to serve evil) and dreamers (manipulators). See Epistle of Jude. And this obedience without Truth would enable them to prosper This docility (lack of vigour) to uphold the Truth has enabled those in authority to perpetuate great acts of evil, one been the cover up of the child abuse scandal, as our Shepherds/Bishops embrace this truth they must realize that they have been complicit (by neglect) by serving obedience before the Truth. In effect the lack of leadership is due to mutual ongoing collusion within the clerical system. How can fear and, anxiety and a desperate clinging to old ways in the hierarchy be remedied? The priesthood that includes the hierarchy will have to confront the trappings of clericalism, that spider that has caught so many in its web of deceit and arrogance. As all of us Christians need to be seen by mankind in been honest with ourselves by acknowledging openly our warts and all, in doing so we will be seen to be walking in obedience to the Truth (Way) if we do this His Light/Breath will dwell within us manifesting itself as humility. A disarming action in the simplicity of been honest, as His Holy Spirit now dwelling within us will encompass those we encounter along the Way, leading them also to follow His Way of Truth/Love onto the pathway of humility. “Who are the leaders?” The servers of the Truth within the Church “Is there anyone among them with the courage to lead?” We may find some that are deeply committed to the Christian Faith with the courage to embrace this question, which is amplified in the link below. Is an act of humility too much to ask?

We may find some that are deeply committed to the Christian Faith with the courage to embrace this question, which is amplified in the link below. Is an act of humility too much to ask? http://johnmenadue.com/geraldine-doogue-flawed-catholic-church-a-test-for-the-true-believers/#comment-52706 kevin your brother In Christ