Christians are called to renounce the world, even within the Church

VATICAN - WORDS OF DOCTRINE: Rev Nicola Bux and Rev. Salvatore Vitiello -

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - There is a "file rouge" which connects the Holy Father's homily during the Easter Vigil and the now famous meditations for the Way of the Cross 2005, to that of the 22 February 2006 on careerism the following April "social climbers in the sheepfold" and recently during the homily at the Chrism Mass where he affirms, " Being united to Christ calls for renunciation. It means not wanting to impose our own way and our own will, not desiring to become someone else, but abandoning ourselves to him, however and wherever he wants to use us. "

However, he had already expressed this thought in his book "Introduzione al Cristianesimo": "True believers never give excessive weight to the struggle to re-organize ecclesial forms. They live of what the Church is always. And if we wish to know what the Church truly is, it is to them that we must go. The Church, in fact, is not there where she is organized, reformed, directed, instead she is present in those who believe in all simplicity, receiving in her the gift of the faith which becomes for them, the source of life [...] This does not mean that we must leave everything as it is and bear with it. Bearing with it can be a must active process..." (ed. Queriniana-Vaticana, 2005 with regard to the article on the Spirit and the Church, in particular pages 333-337).

The Catholic faith needs healthy and serene theological pluralism: every opinion has a right to citizenship in the Church, on the condition that it can exhibit the pertinent theological reasons. To do this one must be able to distinguish between that in which Christians must believe, that is doctrine authoritatively proposed by the church magisterium as a divinely revealed truth (doctrine, reliable, certain and pure of which Paul writes to Timothy) and that which they may believe, that is an opinion they have reached themselves, or an adopted opinion of a theologian. The power to teach the truth, Christ gave only to his Church.

The Pope is bringing to proper maturation authentic implementation of Vatican II, in continuity with Tradition and this happens only through the communication of reliable doctrine. "Sine doctrina - Catone said - vita est quasi mortis imago". Saint Paul speaks of doctrine that is authentic, healthy and pure (Cfr Tito 1,7-11; 2,1-8): in our opinion doctrine is "authentic" if it is founded on Jesus Christ and on the primacy of Peter; it is "healthy" if it is immune from misleading thoughts; and it is "pure" if it is free of pollution from worldly opinions.

Therefore Joseph Ratzinger reaffirmed that the Church cannot change the faith and at the same time ask believers to remain faithful to it. She, the Church, is intimately bound to the Word of God and to Tradition. This explains her gestures.

This means, as some have said, Vatican II neither created nor denied any dogma, nor did it interpret any dogma differently from Tradition. The indefectible nature of the Church is this: being assisted by the Holy Spirit so that she cannot and will not deny the faith handed down by the Apostles.

The so-called " post-council fracture" is the result of a certain type of theology which interpreted the Council arbitrarily, speaking of a presumed 'spirit', distinct from the Holy Spirit who until then had guided the Church (cfr Benedict XVI, Discourse to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2005).

So people started talking about " pre-Council theology" which must be overcome and eliminated for good, substituting it with representatives of "Council theology". Now, authentic theology never claims to be bearer of an absolute truth for all to accept out of faith; a theological opinion or school cannot impose itself as the only manner of living the faith, nor can it "excommunicate" other schools or opinions.

Real theology is simply an attempt to interpret the doctrine of the faith, always founded on dogma, never putting human opinion before the word of God. Authentic theology never tries to eliminate dogma (removing parts of it, that is making a selection of "articles of faith") or declare it outdated (adding new "articles of faith").

Therefore, the present day crisis in faith among Catholics is due to the grave error of mistaking theology for Magisterium, and Magisterium for theology. Theologians are considered, or they consider themselves, more important than the bishops and the Pope, almost the legitimate interpreters of Vatican II, which they claim to have "anticipated" and then "inspired". The truth of the Catholic faith comes solely from the Magisterium of the Pope and of those bishops who are truly united with him.

(Agenzia Fides 16/4/2009; righe 53, parole 744)