"How Far Does Papal Authority Go?" Article in "National Catholic Register."

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see http://www.ncregister.com/blog/christianbrugger/how-far-does-papal-authority-go

“DIFFICULT MORAL QUESTIONS: Is a faithful Catholic bound in conscience to accept all the public assertions of a pope?” this article begins.

“Papal authority extends to the deposit of faith and to whatever is necessary to teach, guard and disseminate it.”

“Since guarding it means correcting errors against it, papal authority extends to correction of those in error.”

“Since a functional institutional Church is necessary for living and spreading the Gospel, papal authority also extends to the legal disciplinary and internal government of the Church.”

“But beyond these broad areas of competency — faith, morals, discipline and Church government — papal authority does not extend.”

–Then, this article speaks more of the areas in which Papal authority does not extend. When it comes to areas in which it does not extend, “that judgment and any conclusions derived from it should not be taken to be guarded by the Holy Spirit,” this article explains.
 
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This is a thinly disguised hit piece on Pope Francis. The initial question looks like it was made up specifically for the blogger, Christian Brugger, to answer.

As well as all that, the answer is terrible. It’s political, incomplete and slanted. NCR losses more credibility.
 
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1Lord1Faith said:
This is a thinly disguised hit piece on Pope Francis. The initial question looks like it was made up specifically for the blogger, Christian Brugger, to answer.

As well as all that, the answer is terrible. It’s political, incomplete and slanted. NCR losses more credibility.
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@1Lord1Faith, , I’m not American and have never read the NCR newspaper .

Looking at it after following the link in the OP I read that it is a service of EWTN . What does that mean ? Is the newspaper owned by EWTN ? If it is , things would begin to make sense because I have noticed that some on EWTN follow an anti-Pope Francis agenda .
 
EWTN? The only show I like is the one hosted by Catholics for Dummies priests. What it’s called? Web of Faith 😁
 
Eh, despite the source or the underlying intentions of the writer, this wasn’t a bad description of papal authority, although it misses the fundamental purpose of the papacy which helps us better understand papal authority as a whole, including the teaching aspect.

The purpose of the papacy is to serve the unity of the Church. The unity of the Church is founded on the bonds of the profession of faith, the sacraments, and hierarchical communion. All of the Pope’s power and authority are ordered to unity in those three things. As such, he teaches the faith and condemns errors contrary to it, he regulates the administration of the sacraments, he enacts laws that govern the hierarchical relationships in the Church, he can punish or remove those that threaten or break the unity in those areas, etc. Consequently, his authority does not extend to those things not necessary for those elements of unity.

It should also go without saying that,as the traditional axiom goes, his authority is ad aedificationem non ad destructionem ecclesiae, that is, for the building up not the destruction of the Church. This means he cannot destroy anything of divine right in the Church: Scripture, Tradition, the Commandments, the seven sacraments, the Church’s constitution (including the authority, rights, and duties of his brother bishops), etc.

Of course, serving unity often involves applying the contents of the faith to particular circumstances, not just in general judgments. He is not omnisicient and may not be the most learned, as to the circumstances. But as St. Francis de Sales says in his Catholic Controversy, “for in particular cases which depend on human fact he can err, there is no doubt, though it is not for us to control him in these cases save with all reverence, submission, and discretion.”

St. Francis makes another good analogy in the same work: not everything a king says or does is therefore the law–he actually has to intend for it to be so. The same goes for the Pope and his utterances. Just because a Pope says something, doesn’t mean he necessarily intends for us all to submit to it or to give it the same degree of submission as something else he says. As Vatican II says, we are to adhere to them “according to his manifest mind and will.” This is made manifest in a variety of ways, like the Pope’s own words, manner of speaking or the type of document (obviously, for example, the Pope intends an encyclical to have weight that an “on the fly” --pardon the pun–airplane press conference doesn’t have).

Pope Francis does a really good job of making his mind and will explicitly manifest right up front in his formal documents. See for example Evangelii Gaudium 16-18 , Laudato Si 15 , Amoris Laetitia 6, and Gaudete et Exsultate 2 where he lays out his manifest mind and will for those documents. Even in those, often he simply is offering invitations for reflection, suggesting guidelines, or proposing points for dialogue and they should therefore should not be treated as more or less.

continued…
 
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continued from above…

When it comes to other stuff, I like to think of it this way. A student owes a certain deference to his math teacher teaching him math. When his math teacher mixes in some geography into the lesson, the student was must still give his teacher deference, but it is different than the deference he gives to his geography teacher when he teaches the student geography. Based on his office, the Pope deserves religious submission when teaching about the faith. But even when he proposes things in other areas, he’s still the Pope and deserves a certain level of deference or respect.
 
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Rob2 said:
Looking at it after following the link in the OP I read that it is a service of EWTN . What does that mean ? Is the newspaper owned by EWTN ? If it is , things would begin to make sense because I have noticed that some on EWTN follow an anti-Pope Francis agenda .
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Yes, a few years back, EWTN bought the National Catholic Register.

I’m not sure about the anti-Pope Francis agenda. I don’t watch EWTN, but my mom watches it all the time and she absolutely loves Pope Francis. So if there is a concerted effort to paint Pope Francis in a bad light, it must be subtle enough that she hasn’t picked up on it. 😜
 
I watch EWTN sometimes, not as much as I should. My dad has it on 24-7, it seems. I can’t imagine them overtly saying anything against Pope Francis.
 
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ShowersofRoses said:
Why is this on the spirituality forum? 🤔
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A flat out theology classification might be better, but there is only a theology under apologetics.

Where would you put it?

And there are folks here and elsewhere who would take the pope’s statement as to the best pizza toppings as an infallible statement. :roll_eyes: (and if he says “pineapple”, I’m doxing . . 😱🤔🤣)

hawk
 
dochawk said:
Where would you put it?
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Under the Apologetics main forum, which is for defense of the faith, doctrine and dogmas, and historical controversies.

The Spirituality forum is for our daily walk with Christ, sacramentals, and prayer.
 
dochawk said:
Where would you put it?
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Take it (your convo about the placement of this thread) back to the lounge. There used to be a place for it there…unfortunately it was trashed by college students, so the mods deleted the last thread. Just start another one.
 
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I do urge people to avoid certain other websites, which do in fact print hit pieces on the Pope and bishops.

This article is not unfair, not a hit piece. NCR is a credible source.

Pope Francis is no less authoritative than other popes. But I think he talks and writes on the record far more than other popes, about diverse topics. Therefore it is prudent to point out criteria that were always true, but in need of a restating at this time.
 
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