Magisterium
Vis-a-Vis the Word of God
“Yet this Magisterium
is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what
has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy
Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it
faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn
from this single deposit of faith”. (Vatican
2, Dei Verbum 10, quoted in the CCC 86). Commentating on this
Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict 16) wrote “For the first time a text of
the teaching office expressly points out the subordination of the teaching
office to the Word of God that is its function as a servant”. (Herbert Vorgrimler,
Commentary on Vatican 2, volume 3, p. 197)
“Furthermore, when the
Roman Pontiff, or the body of bishops together with him, define a doctrine,
they make the definition in conformity with Revelation itself, to which all are
bound to adhere and to which they are obliged to submit… they do not, however,
admit any new public revelation as pertaining to the divine deposit of faith. (Vatican 2. Lumen
Gentium 25)
“No new public
revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
(cf. 1 Timothy 6:14 & Titus 2:13)”. Vatican 2, Dei Verbum
4.
“Fight hard for the
faith which has been once and for all entrusted to the saints”. (Jude 3)
“But even if we, or an
angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we
preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say
again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you
received, let him be accursed”.
(cf. Galatians 1:8-9)
Do not be carried along
“with every wind of doctrine by the cunning of men and by their craftiness in
deceitful wiles”.
(Ephesians 4:14)
“Do not let yourselves
be led astray by all sorts of strange doctrines”. (Hebrews 13:9)
“No ecclesiastical law
can dispense from divine law”.
(Aquinas, Summa II-II, Q 88, A11)
“Let novelty ceased to
attack antiquity).
(Pope St Celstine)
Pope Francis says the
Catechism is the memory of God and Christians must transmit the teaching of
Christ and His Church in its totality — by Deacon Nick
Donnelly, September 30th 2013
In his homily to
catechists during the Year of Faith’s International Congress on Catechesis,
Pope Francis clearly stated that the role of the catechist is to transmit the
teaching of Christ and His Church in its totality, ‘neither adding nor
subtracting anything’.
“A catechist is a
Christian who puts this remembrance at the service of proclamation, not to be
important, not to talk about himself or herself, but to talk about God, about
his love and his fidelity — to speak and to transmit all that God has
revealed, i.e. the teaching of Christ and His Church in its totality, neither
adding nor subtracting anything”.
Pope Francis also
highlighted the importance of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as ‘God’s
memory’.
“The catechist, then,
is a Christian who is mindful of God, who is guided by the memory of God in his
or her entire life and who is able to awaken that memory in the hearts of
others. This is not easy! It engages our entire existence! What is the
Catechism itself, if not the memory of God, the memory of his works in history
and his drawing near to us in Christ present in his Word, in the sacraments, in
his Church, in his love? Dear catechists, I ask you: Are we in fact the memory
of God? Are we really like sentinels who awaken in others the memory of God which
warms the heart?
Pope Francis said that
God’s Word saves, transforms and purifies us.
“So, as I look out at
you, I think: Who are catechists? They are people who keep the memory of God
alive; they keep it alive in themselves and they are able to revive it in
others. This is something beautiful: to remember God, like the Virgin Mary, who
sees God’s wondrous works in her life but doesn’t think about honour, prestige
or wealth; she doesn’t become self-absorbed. Instead, after receiving the
message of the angel and conceiving the Son of God, what does she do? She sets
out, she goes to assist her elderly kinswoman Elizabeth, who was also pregnant.
And the first thing she does upon meeting Elizabeth is to recall God’s work,
God’s fidelity, in her own life, in the history of her people, in our history:
“My soul magnifies the Lord… For he has looked on the lowliness of his servant…
His mercy is from generation to generation”. (Luke 1:46, 48, 50)”
“This Canticle of Mary
also contains the remembrance of her personal history, God’s history with her,
her own experience of faith. And this is true too for each one of us and for
every Christian: faith contains our own memory of God’s history with us, the
memory of our encountering God who always takes the first step, who creates,
saves and transforms us. Faith is remembrance of his Word which warms our
heart, and of his saving work which gives life, purifies us, cares for and
nourishes us”.
Protect the Pope
comment: Dissenters in the Church detest the Catechism of the Catholic Church
because it spells out in black-and-white the doctrines of the Church, claiming
our obedience. Pope Francis has highlighted the Catechism as the ‘memory of
God’ which we must safeguard as sentinels. The Holy Father also insists that
Christians must transmit the teaching of Christ and his Church in its totality,
‘neither adding or subtracting anything’. This is a direct challenge to A Call
to Action, Quest, Queering the Church, and the rest of the dissenting groups in
the Church who will resent him insisting that they must ‘neither add or subtract
anything’.
