Catholic Dogmas, Doctrines and Principles

Catholic Dogmas, Doctrines and Principles - What are they good for?

JMJ

They are good anchors for weathering the storm that is rocking the Barque of Peter and guides for decision making and action taking.

In my earlier article on principles, I provided a list of principles that I think are particularly important in these times - especially when confronted with all sorts of aberrant behaviour from people who should know and act better (the list is long).

To this list I have would add the Four Marks and Visibility of the Church(see link), as in this crisis ignorance is causing people to believe all sorts of fantasies.

Pray lest you enter into temptation.

When you're not praying, read the Catechism of Trent on the 'One Holy Catholic Apostolic' Church.

P^3

The Church is "A body of men united together by the profession of the same Christian Faith, and by participation in the same sacraments, under the governance of lawful pastors, more especially of the Roman Pontiff, the sole vicar of Christ on earth" (Bellarmine, De Eccl., III, ii, 9) - Catholic Encyclopedia

This Church includes both the good and the bad. Even if the hierarchy, is 'debased by crime' they are still within the Church and retain their authority - Catechism of the Council of Trent

There are degrees to heresy with 'heresy - proper' being the 'pertinacious' denial of a defined de fide teaching (238 ish teachings). This degree of heresy must be manifested by the individual publicly and pertinaciously in order for the separation from the Church noted above to be in effect. - Catholic Encyclopedia

Following this a Catholic material heretic remains 'in the Church' as their error is presumed to be temporary and that they would submit when corrected by the Church - Catholic Encyclopedia

In anything less than an explicit denial of a de-fide truth, a compentent authority has to render a judgment. - Robert Siscoe quoting Canon Hesse.

The sin of schism has the same effect as heresy, in that it renders the responsible person outside of the Church. Simple disobedience does not constitute schism, unless it includes a denial of the authorities 'Divine right to command'. As such the refusal of submission to a legitimate command can imply such a denial. - Catholic Encyclopedia

"The Church is indefectible, that is, she remains and will remain the Institution of Salvation, founded by Christ, until the end of the world. (Sent. certa.)" Ott - Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma

The Church is visible, and the foundation of both its visibility and unity is the Pope - Ott and First Vatican Council

Because of indefectibility the Church, even now, retains the four marks (One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic). Following the principle of indefectibility and the special infallibility afforded to the Church in her discipline and laws, the new sacraments as promulgated are valid and provide grace under the normal conditions (form, matter, intention).

Obedience due to a superior is required if the command falls within the scope of authority and are not 'against God'. Disobedience in this condition is sinful - Summa 2,2, Q104, A5

Correction of a superior can be done in charity and must be done 'in a becoming manner, not with impudence and harshness, but with gentleness and respect' - Summa II II Q.33, a.4, ad 2m

Comments

Comparision of the Tridentine, Cranmer and Novus Ordo Masses

+ JMJ I downloaded the comparison that was linked in the previous article on the mass (here) . ... a very good reference! P^3 From: Whispers of Restoration (available at this link) . CHARTING LITURGICAL CHANGE Comparing the 1962 Ordinary of the Roman Mass to changes made during the Anglican Schism; Compared in turn to changes adopted in the creation of Pope Paul VI’s Mass in 1969 The chart on the reverse is a concise comparison of certain ritual differences between three historical rites for the celebration of the Catholic Mass Vetus Ordo: “Old Order,” the Roman Rite of Mass as contained in the 1962 Missal, often referred to as the “Traditional Latin Mass.”The Ordinary of this Mass is that of Pope St. Pius V (1570) following the Council of Trent (1545-63), hence the occasional moniker “Tridentine Mass.” However, Trent only consolidated and codified the Roman Rite already in use at that time; its essential form dates to Pope St. Gregory the Great (+604), in whose time the R...

SSPX and the Resistance - A Comparison Of Ecclesiology

Shining the light of Church Teaching on the doctrinal positions of the SSPX and the Resistance. Principles are guides used to aid in decision making. It stands to reason that bad principles will lead to bad decisions. The recent interactions between Rome and the SSPX has challenged a number of closely held cultural assumptions of people in both sides of the disagreement. This has resulted in cultural skirmishes in both Rome and the SSPX. Since it is the smaller of the two, the skirmishes have been more evident within the SSPX. The cultural fault-line that Bishop Fellay crossed appears to be linked to two points of Catholic Doctrine: Ecclesiology and Obedience. The cultural difference of view points is strong enough that it has resulted in the expulsion of a number of members. It should also be noted that some other priests expelled since the beginning of the latest interactions (starting in 2000) held the same view points and have joined with the l...

If Pope Francis is bad - what about Pope St. John Paul II et al?

+ JMJ So here we are on the apparent cusp of yet another post conciliar Papal canonization. This time we have Pope's John-Paul I and Paul VI canonizations to 'look forward' to. This follows, obviously, on the heels of Pope St. John Paul II's canonization? So the first question that I usually encounter is: How is it possible, keeping in mind the doctrine on infallibility of canonizations (note doctrine not dogma), that Pope St. John Paul II is a Saint? First, what does it mean??? According to the doctrine of dogmatic facts - it is the universal opinion of Theologians that canonizations are infallible. It means that they enjoy the beatific vision. ... that's it. That is the doctrine and it is at the level of universal opinion of theologians. It is called a 'dogmatic fact'. That they made mistakes is obvious. That the miracles seem to not be very miraculous is also a bit of an issue. Here's something to consider: The rush that surrou...

Spiritual Journey Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - Extracts

+ JMJ I have posted these two chapters to provide context for the quote of: It is, therefore, a strict duty for every priest wanting to remain Catholic to separate himself from this Conciliar Church for as long as it does not rediscover the Tradition of the Church and of the Catholic Faith. P^3 Courtesy of SSPX.ca Chapter II The Perfections of God We ought to remember during this entire contemplation of God that we must apply all that is said of God to Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is God. We cannot separate Jesus Christ from God. We cannot separate the Christian religion from Jesus Christ, Who is God, and we must affirm and believe that only the Catholic religion is the Christian religion. These affirmations have, as a result, inescapable conclusions that no ecclesiastic authority can contest: outside of Jesus Christ and the Catholic religion, that is, outsi...

Dogmas of the Catholic Faith (de fide) - Expanded Listing: Answer for Reader

+ JMJ A reader asked the following question in the 2015 version of the article on the Dogmas of the Catholic Faith (link) : 117: "In the state of fallen nature it is morally impossible for man without Supernatural Revelation, to know easily, with absolute certainty and without admixture of error, all religious and moral truths of the natural order." Where can you find this in the documents of the Church? ( Link to comment ) Here's the reference from Ott: The citation that Ott provided was Denzinger 1786 and the source document is Dogmatic Consitution Concerning the Faith from the First Vatican Council (Papal Encyclicals - link) : Chapter 2 On Revelation, Article 3: It is indeed thanks to this divine revelation , that those matters concerning God, which are not of themselves beyond the scope of human reason, can, even in the present state of the human race, be known by everyone, without difficulty, with firm certitude and with no intermingling of error. Here's ...

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