***** “St. Worm” is a friendly guy with whom I’ve interacted off and on through the years. Lately he has started asking some penetrating questions about infallibility. His words will be in blue. *** Hey Brother St. Worm (I feel like St. Francis . . .), I have many affinities to your view of things. Cool. Maybe one day we can persuade you of the infallibility of popes, councils, and the Church, and we can be even more alike. I did... Read more
***** Catechism of the Catholic Church The episcopal college and its head, the Pope 880 When Christ instituted the Twelve, “he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them.”[398] Just as “by the Lord’s institution, St. Peter and the rest of the apostles constitute a single apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter’s successor, and the bishops, the successors of the apostles,... Read more
Explanation of the Subtleties of Church Teaching and Debate with Several Radical Catholic Reactionaries [words of several radical Catholic reactionary opponents will be in blue] I. THE REACTIONARY POSITION STATED I do not accept the infallibility of Vatican II. I do not because not even the Pope who promulgated it, Paul VI, denied its infallibility. He EXPLICITLY stated that the Council did not invoke the extraordinary magisterium and consequently did not make any infallible definitions: The magisterium of the... Read more
Proof from Holy Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: I. THE JUDGMENT OF CONSCIENCE 1777 Moral conscience, present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular choices, approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil. It bears witness to the authority of truth in reference to the supreme Good to which the human person is... Read more
A Catholic wrote, troubled about something he had read (his words will be in blue): *** [A self-described Catholic] columnist wrote this in a recent article in my diocesan newspaper that “the deepest strand of Catholic tradition insists that even if one’s conscience is in error one must follow the directives of conscience.” The same author notes that Pope John Paul II repeats this in his book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope and is championed by John Henry Cardinal Newman. What is the... Read more
Pastor Larry A. Nichols (Lutheran – Missouri Synod, or “LCMS”) is the author of several books, including Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions, and the Occult (Zondervan Publishing House, 1993, with George A. Mather & Alvin J. Schmidt), Masonic Lodge (Zondervan, 1995; with George A. Mather & Alan W. Gomes), Discovering the Plain Truth: How the Worldwide Church of God Encountered the Gospel of Grace (Intervarsity Press, 1997; co-author George A. Mather), and Encyclopedic Dictionary of World Religions (2006; with George A. Mather & Alvin J. Schmidt). He has also... Read more
The vivid Greek term anathema, meaning “accursed,” is directed by the Council of Trent and other Catholic ecumenical councils primarily towards doctrines, rather than persons, based on the ancient practice in the Church of condemning heretical teachings — a procedure itself derived biblically from passages such as Galatians 1:8-9 and 1 Corinthians 16:22 (the latter has anathema both in Greek and in many English versions). There is nothing improper whatsoever in defining correct doctrine and rejecting contrary notions. St. Paul does this constantly. The Catholic... Read more
A. Servant of God John A. Hardon, S .J. ‘The remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned, which the follower of Christ with the proper dispositions and under certain determined conditions acquires through the intervention of the Church, which, as minister of the redemption, authoritatively dispenses and applies the treasury of the satisfaction won by Christ and the saints’ (Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution on Indulgences). As originally understood,... Read more
I. PENANCE: INTRODUCTION / DEFINITIONS 1. Penance A. Servant of God John A. Hardon, S. J. The virtue or disposition of heart by which one repents of one’s own sins and is converted to God. Also the punishment by which one atones for sins committed, either by oneself or by others. And finally the sacrament of penance, where confessed sins committed after baptism are absolved by a priest in the name of God. (Pocket Catholic Dictionary, New York: Doubleday Image,... Read more
Servant of God John A. Hardon, S. J. The place or condition in which the souls of the just are purified after death and before they can enter heaven. They may be purified of the guilt of their venial sins, as in this life, by an act of contrition deriving from charity and performed with the help of grace. This sorrow does not, however, affect the punishment for sins, because in the next world there is no longer any possibility... Read more
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