Quote:
Originally Posted by SWTXBelle
Tee-hee. I love irony.
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So do I, but in this case no irony was intended. I just wanted to point out that my thoughts were only opinions and not statements of "official policy".
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That being said, I think intelligent, educated people can discuss Roman Catholic doctrine and practice with a fair amount of authority.
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I'd like to think that we can discuss doctrine and practice based on what we understand to be received authority but that authority is really reserved to the "teaching magisterium" of the Church. (The Bishops acting collegially in agreement). The idea is that any one or even several bishops could get hold of the wrong end of the stick but all the bishops acting collegially would be guided by the Holy Spirit to make sure that they don't screw up. I could not claim "a fair amount of authority" at all. Domine, non sum dignus!
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Any questions could certainly be given to a true authority - i.e. a bishop or priest in the RC Church.
eta - although even they (priests, bishops, cardinals) can disagree as to some "exact meanings", doctrine and practice.
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A priest would lack the authority to speak with authority beyond what his
Bishop had promulgated. The Bishop would hesitate to go beyond what the Magisterium had agreed. As the Bishop is the Teacher of his diosese he is morally responsible for his guidance to his people. And yes, there is often much discussion and disagreement as to exact meanings of doctrine and practice. That is why the Magisterium acts collegially invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit before making any pronouncements. (you can fool some of the people ... but you cant fool all of the people all the time, especially if they have the HS checking them out).
There is a bottom line to all of this. If we are people of faith we should remember that JC Himself gave us the blueprint. Remember what he said about the two greatest commandments:
Love the Lord your God;
and love your neighbor as yourself.
If one thinks that through to its conclusion and acts accordingly I would think we could not go far wrong.
Hybrid Mode
