{"id":532,"date":"2012-07-13T17:57:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-13T17:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/arlington-diocese-seeks-to-strengthen-teaching-with-fidelity-oath\/"},"modified":"2012-07-13T17:57:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-13T17:57:00","slug":"arlington-diocese-seeks-to-strengthen-teaching-with-fidelity-oath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/07\/arlington-diocese-seeks-to-strengthen-teaching-with-fidelity-oath\/","title":{"rendered":"Arlington diocese seeks to strengthen teaching with fidelity oath"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Arlington, Va., Jul 13, 2012 \/ 11:57 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The Diocese of Arlington hopes to strengthen teaching in Catholic schools and churches, by asking religious instructors to promise allegiance to the Church's teachings, even on controversial subjects.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis is viewed as a positive gesture \u2013 one of community and communion, in which our catechists profess their faith in communion with Bishop Loverde, Pope Benedict, and the entire Church,\u201d diocesan communications director Michael Donohue said in a July 12 CNA interview.<\/p>\n

\tWhile a small number of teachers say they cannot make the profession, Donohue said a \u201cfar greater number\u201d have told the diocese they see the profession of faith as \u201ca positive gesture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe profession has been sent to religious instructors to sign by September 2012. It contains the articles of the Nicene Creed, and an affirmation of faith in all teachings \u201cwhether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church \u2026 sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIt asks signatories to \u201cfirmly accept and hold each and every thing definitively proposed by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals,\u201d giving \u201csubmission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIts requirements are based on teachings found in the Second Vatican Council document \u201cLumen Gentium,\u201d which reaffirms the status of bishops as successors to the apostles and states that the faithful \u201care to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent\u201d in matters of faith and morals.<\/p>\n

\tNearly half a million Catholics, including almost 5,000 religious instructors, live and worship in the Arlington diocese. On July 11, the Washington Post published a lengthy story about five Sunday school teachers who left their positions after refusing to sign the oath of fidelity to Church teaching.<\/p>\n

\tObjectors were quoted describing the faith requirement as a \u201cshock\u201d and \u201ca slap in the face.\u201d A former teacher acknowledged the bishops' \u201cauthoritative role,\u201d but told Arlington's Bishop Paul S. Loverde that only someone \u201cwilling to abandon her own reason and judgment\u201d could sign the statement.<\/p>\n

\tBut Donohue explained that the pledge was not instituted to punish dissent from Church teaching. Rather, its purpose is to build and strengthen the faith within Catholic institutions, ensuring that they pass on the truth of the Gospel in its entirety.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis all occurs in the context of the Year of Faith, as well as the context of marking the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council,\u201d Donohue noted.<\/p>\n

\tIn his announcement of the Year of Faith, the Pope described various ways in which dioceses and parishes could join in professing the Church's beliefs. Based on this suggestion, the Arlington diocese extended the profession of faith \u2013 already expected of others in Church offices \u2013 to its religion teachers.<\/p>\n

\tWhile some Catholics may struggle with particular doctrines, Donohue suggested it would be wrong for religion teachers to withhold anything that the Church accepts as revealed by God.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAll Catholics, at some point or another, might have had difficulty understanding or accepting the truth of a particular teaching,\u201d he acknowledged.<\/p>\n

\tThat sort of personal struggle, he said, is \u201cnot an uncommon experience. That's not what this is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tDonohue also said the oath should not be seen primarily in terms of the errors it forbids, but in terms of the faith it promotes. Since every aspect of Church teaching relates to God's grace, and Christ's offer of eternal life, the faithful deserve to hear the Gospel message without omissions.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe Church wants what's best for its flock, and for everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tFor this reason, \u201cit provides the tools, and the teaching, to help every individual Catholic \u2013 and anyone who would come to the Church \u2013 to understand and accept the teaching of Christ's Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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