My actual experience with cradle Catholics is that none of them have ever even browsed the CCC never mind read it. Yes I do mean none of them. I live in the Philippines which is 85% Catholic and I really have not met anyone who has read the CCC and that includes my wife, all her relatives and all the friends I have made here over the years.
My point still remains. How does anyone who reads the CCC know if what they are reading is infallible, non-infallible or discipline. There are 2865 paragraphs in the CCC. Are you suggesting people make an appointment with their priest and go through each paragraph so they can note beside each one whether its infallible, non-infalible or a discipline. I bet the priests don’t even know that.
Well, I’m a cradle Catholic who has bothered to read the CCC. This situation reminds me of a quote from G.K. Chesteron, “
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” (G.K. Chesteron, *What’s Wrong with the World, *Pt. I, Ch. 5).
Yet, I think we must all be aware that the
about 2/3 of the world, even today, cannot read and write. Another large percent choose not to study their Holy Religion, either because of the busy nature of their lives or simple sloth. This is why those that do know their faith are called upon to be a living light to others.
Consequently, the Catholic faith cannot simply be a “self-study” deposit of faith. Even the Ethiopian Eunuch described in Scripture, who COULD read, did not understand what he was reading until it was explained to him by one given authority and “sent” by Christ to teach His Word.
In the final analysis, the deposit of faith is not a book to be definitively interpreted by any individual inquirer of the truth. Like all communciation, there’s some ambiguity embedded within God’s revelation. St. Augustine taught that God does this purposefully, such that we come to Him by Faith. If one desires to know the distinction between de fide catholicus, de fide definite, sententia fidei proxima, sententia certa or theologice certa, [all of which are binding], and sententia communis, sententia probabilis, probabilior, bene fundata, sententia pia, etc. [none of which are binding], I recommend they seek such knowledge from the Teaching Church, which is indeed a living magisterium.
There are some helpful texts on dogmatic theology (e.g. Ludwig Ott’s
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma) which can help advance a Catholics understanding of systematic theology with regard to these matters.
According to the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium), Catholics are obliged to “sincerely adhere” to the teaching of the magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, “according to his manifest mind and will. His mind and will in the matter may be known either from the character of the documents, from his frequent repetition of the same doctrine, or from his manner of speaking.” (Lumen Gentium, 25).
Every Catholic of basic intelligence should be able to discern the difference between “counsel” and “command.” We do it every day with our boss, our parents, or government. The same discernment skills are used to distinguish what the magisterium of the Roman Pontiff teaches as requiring assent or is of pious opinion and therefore
may be believed, but is not obligatory.
