Confused by Catholic apologists; can you help?

[theidler]

Hi guys,
I am experiencing some trouble with the views of some Catholic apologists. It seems like a lot of the names I know of (Sungenis, Matatics, Salza) view the Church as it presently is as being in grievous error, or without a pope, or some other such view. I am not sure about Salza entirely, but its really frustrating:blush: for me as a catechumen to hear so many different views on the status of the current church. I am afraid of falling into heresy on anything, and wish to submit myself to the true church of Christ, but feel I am being pulled this way and that all the time. I agree with traditionalists that a lot of the beauty of the pre-Vatican II church has been lost, but I do not think that the Church as a whole is in error - I would place the blame on the whole spirit of Vatican IImovement... Anyways, its very confusing for me as a convert to hear so much dissent coming from all sides…what should I do…(and sorry I mean to put a question mark there but my keyboard is acting very funny…)
Thanks!!!

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

You are obviously looking in the wrong places. Dissent is not coming from All sides. Not all apologists teach that the Church is in error—just the type of apologists you mention here. The presence of the Holy Spirit guarantees that the Church will not err in its teaching of faith and morals. This does not hold for apologists—especially apologists that criticize the Church. When such apologists pass judgment on the Church, they condemn themselves. The Church produced Vatican II. Therefore, that council was protected from error by the Holy Spirit. How the teachings of the council have been distorted is what is problematic. You need to begin with what the Church teaches—not with its critics.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.