"Don't give in to discouragement....... If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about people's opinions. Be obedient to truth. For with humble obedience, you will never be disturbed." - Teresa of Calcutta
"We must put aside all judgment of our own, and keep the mind ever ready and prompt to obey in all things the true Spouse of Christ our Lord, our holy Mother, the hierarchical Church." - Ignatius of Loyola
“What seems to me white, I will believe black if the hierarchical Church so defines.” - Ignatius of Loyola
"Discouragement is not from God." - Ignatius of Loyola
I found it interesting when the Pope gave the interview to America and touched on the rules for thinking with the Church. Whereas Ignatius stresses the hierarchical Church, for Francis,
ReplyDelete“The people itself constitutes a subject. And the church is the people of God on the journey through history, with joys and sorrows. Thinking with the church, therefore, is my way of being a part of this people. And all the faithful, considered as a whole, are infallible in matters of belief, and the people display this infallibilitas in credendo, this infallibility in believing, through a supernatural sense of the faith of all the people walking together. This is what I understand today as the ‘thinking with the church’ of which St. Ignatius speaks. When the dialogue among the people and the bishops and the pope goes down this road and is genuine, then it is assisted by the Holy Spirit. So this thinking with the church does not concern theologians only.
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"We should not even think, therefore, that ‘thinking with the church’ means only thinking with the hierarchy of the church.
After a brief pause, Pope Francis emphasizes in a very direct manner the following point, in order to avoid misunderstandings: “And, of course, we must be very careful not to think that this infallibilitas of all the faithful I am talking about in the light of Vatican II is a form of populism. No; it is the experience of ‘holy mother the hierarchical church,’ as St. Ignatius called it, the church as the people of God, pastors and people together. The church is the totality of God’s people."
And so if this citing of St. Ignatius is meant to be some kind of suggestion that one who questions the "reform of the reform" is disobedient (because the hierarchy has, in the past and now, called for such a reform), then it seems that, by the Holy Father's reading of Ignatius, he couldn't agree about assent only on the grounds of the hierarchy's call. Do you see the constant irony and confusion? Or is it me?
I think the answer to all of this has to be found in the distinction between what we are bound to by the hierarchical Church, without question, and other degrees of assent on various matters in which Catholics can vary. That "the Pope" has become such a predominant figure--beyond what the very office itself is intended for--is itself at the root of some of the confusion, I think.
Don't read too much into what I write - if I meant something else I would write it. If it was directed to another, I would note it.
DeleteThese reflections arise from my personal meditation - I have been discouraged by the things I read online, the discussions in com boxes of Catholic bloggers, as well as the news - be it secular or religious news agencies. As for me and my salvation, I find refuge in the Church, Church teaching, the hierarchy-magisterial teaching, and so on.
all I can say is the level of eloquence or intelectual analysis of some topics are beyond my understanding.. plus I discovered many things I didn't even imagine...
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