{"id":106215,"date":"2018-10-26T00:24:55","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T07:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=106215"},"modified":"2018-10-24T17:50:29","modified_gmt":"2018-10-25T00:50:29","slug":"real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html","title":{"rendered":"Real Prudence and Disagreement with Clergy and Bishops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Part 2 of my four part series over at The Catholic Weekly<\/em>.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a taste<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Last time, in this space, I talked about the idea of docility to the Church\u2019s teaching, dogmatic or not.\u00a0 The basic point was simply that we should do as the Church calls us do even when the Church does not bind us under pain of heresy or schism (which is to say, virtually always).<\/p>\n

Of course, the obvious reply to this is, \u201cEven when the Church calls us to not report the rape of our child by a priest?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a perfectly reasonable question.\u00a0 And the obvious answer is \u201cOf course not.\u201d\u00a0 Nobody, not even the Pope can compel us to do evil.\u00a0 Nor can anybody, even the Pope, command us to let evil happen by our inaction.\u00a0 This is what the Church means by the\u00a0real<\/em>\u00a0idea of primacy of conscience.\u00a0 We must do what we know\u2014really know\u2014to be the right thing no matter what.\u00a0 So if, God forbid, somebody is sexually assaulted by a priest, it is vital that it be reported to the cops and the culprit called to account.<\/p>\n

What then of the docility I was speaking about last week?\u00a0 Am I not contradicting myself?\u00a0 No, because docility means docility to the Tradition the Magisterium articulates, not to every single thing to come out of a bishop\u2019s or priest\u2019s mouth.\u00a0 When the Church says something like, \u201cThe gospel tells us to welcome the stranger\u201d and then says \u201cA reasonable application of that is to not cage children at the border\u201d this is indeed an obvious extrapolation from the gospel.\u00a0 When a priest or bishop tells a victim of rape to keep their mouth shut and not call the cops, this is an obvious violation of the gospel which calls us to protect the least of these.\u00a0 The cleric who does this is not living according to the Tradition but in direct contradiction to it.\u00a0 And it falls to us to obey the gospel, not the cleric, in such a case.<\/p>\n

Learning to make such distinctions is a problem as old as the gospel and it is why it behooves each of us to learn the Tradition so that we can obey the Magisterium and discern how to live with true prudence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More here<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 2 of my four part series over at The Catholic Weekly.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a taste: Last time, in this space, I talked about the idea of docility to the Church\u2019s teaching, dogmatic or not.\u00a0 The basic point was simply that we should do as the Church calls us do even when the Church does not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[836],"class_list":["post-106215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-catholic-weekly-stuff"],"yoast_head":"\nReal Prudence and Disagreement with Clergy and Bishops<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Part 2 of my four part series over at The Catholic Weekly.\u00a0 Here's a taste: Last time, in this space, I talked about the idea of docility to the Church\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Real Prudence and Disagreement with Clergy and Bishops\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Part 2 of my four part series over at The Catholic Weekly.\u00a0 Here's a taste: Last time, in this space, I talked about the idea of docility to the Church\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-26T07:24:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-25T00:50:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html\",\"name\":\"Real Prudence and Disagreement with Clergy and Bishops\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-26T07:24:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-25T00:50:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"Part 2 of my four part series over at The Catholic Weekly.\u00a0 Here's a taste: Last time, in this space, I talked about the idea of docility to the Church\u2019s\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Real Prudence and Disagreement with Clergy and Bishops\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Real Prudence and Disagreement with Clergy and Bishops","description":"Part 2 of my four part series over at The Catholic Weekly.\u00a0 Here's a taste: Last time, in this space, I talked about the idea of docility to the Church\u2019s","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Real Prudence and Disagreement with Clergy and Bishops","og_description":"Part 2 of my four part series over at The Catholic Weekly.\u00a0 Here's a taste: Last time, in this space, I talked about the idea of docility to the Church\u2019s","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2018-10-26T07:24:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-10-25T00:50:29+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html","name":"Real Prudence and Disagreement with Clergy and Bishops","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-10-26T07:24:55+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-25T00:50:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"Part 2 of my four part series over at The Catholic Weekly.\u00a0 Here's a taste: Last time, in this space, I talked about the idea of docility to the Church\u2019s","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2018\/10\/real-prudence-and-disagreement-with-clergy-and-bishops.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Real Prudence and Disagreement with Clergy and Bishops"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106215\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}