On the question of credibility:
Shouldn’t we be careful here? Yes, when a member of clergy openly disagrees with Church teaching, and, yes, if some gross immorality were discovered, that doesn’t mean that ‘we of little faith’ should discredit any of his priestly acts; say, when he preaches in accordance with Church teaching, when he Baptizes, when he celebrates mass.
He is still a priest. He still has credibility in these matters.
Wasn’t there an heresy in the early church concerning a priest’s authority or ‘credibility’ on the basis of some known fault on their part?
The rule is very simple. The sins of the priest take nothing away from his priesthood or from those rights and privileges that come with the priesthood. To believe that such would be the case, that sin takes something away from the man’s rights and authority as a deacon, priest or bishop is to imply that sin can trump sacrament. No, sin cannot trump the Sacrament of Holy Orders. That’s why even Fr. Cutie is still Fr. Cutie, not Mr. as some want to call him. Until he is dismissed from the clerical state by the Holy Father, he is a priest of the Catholic Church. Sin does not trump sacrament.
From the standpoint of the person who does not understand the concept of ontological change, I can see how they would believe that a sinful cleric is not credible or has lost authority in some way.
To protect the Church, especially the laity, from this, our holy Father Francis of Assisi wrote into our rule what we must teach the laity to observe and I quote from the rule.
“**We must lose ourselves and surrender to obedience at the hands of the prelate. And what we do and say that we know is not contrary to his (the prelate’s) will, provided that it is good, is true obedience. And when the subject see that something is more useful for his soul than what the prelate commands, let him offer it up to God as a sacrifice; and instead earnestly try to fulfill the wishes of the prelate. For this is loving obedience for it pleases God and neighbor.”
“But if the prelate commands something contrary to the conscience [guided by the Church], although the subject does not obey him, it is forbidden for the subject to abandon him [the prelate]. There are many who under the pretext of seeking something better look back and return to the vomit from which they came.”
“And let all the brothers take care never to be angered or distubed by the sin of another, no matter what their rank, because the devil wishes to destroy many through the fault of one.”
“And if where ever you go, you meet the most sinful priest and an angel. You are to kiss the hands of the priest first, for he is the only minister through whom we see any physical sign of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in this world. He alone receives and distributes the most holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.”**
At the time of profession the members of my community solemnly vow to obey this rule until death and the superior promises us eternal life if we observe all these things.
In his testament, our holy Father reminded us to hold on to the teachings of the rule, because they were the teachings of the Gospel and to teach them to the faithful.
I share them with you for your consideration. I hope that it is helpful.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
