05.15.08
The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God!
“…In St. John’s Gospel, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to the disciples in order to lead them into the fullness of the truth. It is Catholic teaching that the Church has been endowed with this gift of truth.”The book’s questioning of the authority of the Church is connected to Bishop Robinson’s uncertainty about the knowledge and authority of Christ himself.”
“Catholics believe that the Church, founded by Christ, is endowed by him with a teaching office which endures through time. This is why the Church’s magisterium teaches the truth authoritatively in the name of Christ. The book casts doubt upon these teachings,” underlined the Australian bishops.
The prelates continued: “This leads in turn to the questioning of Catholic teaching on, among other things, the nature of Tradition, the inspiration of the Holy Scripture, the infallibility of the Councils and the Pope, the authority of the Creeds, the nature of the ministerial priesthood and central elements of the Church’s moral teaching.”
“The authority entrusted by Christ to his Church may at times be poorly exercised, especially in shaping policy and practice in complex areas of pastoral and human concern,” the statement acknowledged. But, it went on, “This does not, in Catholic belief, invalidate the Church’s authority to teach particular truths of faith and morals.”
—–The Australian bishops’ conference raised questions last week about a book published in 2007 by retired Auxiliary Bishop Geoffrey Robinson of Sydney, titled “Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus.”
