Do you honestly think that the church itself is incapable of heresy?
The reason I asked what you meant by “church” is that Catholicism has a very, in some ways, specific meaning that is embedded in its hierarchy, teachings, ethics and theology that integrates all of these. The Church in this sense is “the Body of Christ” animated by the Holy Spirit to do the will of the Father. By definition, if the Body (the Church) is the “Body” of Christ, it is animated by the Holy Spirit and does the will of the Father, just as Christ did on Earth.
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ( John 6:38) Ipso facto Christ’s current Body (the Church) is to do the will of the Father and not impose our own on the Father.
That by no means implies that any particular Catholic, not even the Pope in personal matters, is protected from error. It is, after all, made up of sinners on the way to becoming saints, but it does mean that the decisions and actions of individuals in the Church who allow themselves to be animated by the Holy Spirit are doing the will of the Father. It also means that there is a guarantee (the gates of Hell will not prevail against it) that God will protect the Church from imparting to the faithful any errors with regard to faith and morals.
Just like a human body, there is a “hierarchical” order and function within the Body of Christ. The foot does not function well as the brain, nor the heart as a stomach.
The “head” of the Body of Christ is the magisterium (Pope and Bishops) or “teaching office” that functions in a sense as the “brain” to a natural body, and relates to other members of the body how they need to act, but the animating spirit is the Holy Spirit that keeps the “brain” from error where faith and morals, though not necessarily practical matters, are concerned. This is because the eternal life of each individual human being hangs in the balance. The Truth, Who is Christ must still be embodied somewhere on Earth, for the Gospel message to be fulfilled. The
Kingdom of God is the Church functioning as the Body of Christ. Christ’s kingship (the promises from the Old Testament) is fulfilled in the Church. Viva Cristo Rey!
Where I find myself disagreeing with a doctrine of the Church, I can rest assured that it would be wise of me to pursue a better understanding of what the Church teaches and why, rather than thinking my position to be more enlightened.
“He who hears you, hears me; he who rejects you rejects me, he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me” (Luke 10: 16)
The reason both faith and morals are matters of concern is because ethics is the “tuning” of our relationships with each other to God’s will and faith is a tuning (getting into order) of our relationship to God. Both of these are done on God’s terms, not on ours. He is the Creator we are creatures. His will for our good is infinitely better than our meager thoughts can come up with.
It is these together that complete and fulfill us as human beings. :egyptian:
