In our legal system, if we don't like a law, we push for new laws and
elect new legislators who might listen to us. When it comes to
interpreting and applying existing laws, we hire the most skilled
attorneys we can afford, whose job is not to seek the truth but to
present our side most effectively. Even if we lose at trial, we can
still pursue our cause through various avenues of appeal, all the
while using the media to put pressure on the government.
We have many "disciplines" in the Church which are "positive law,"
meaning that they're the product of human invention. While Church
leaders in general make the best pastoral judgments they can, such
disciplines may turn out to be good, bad, or somewhere in between, and
they may be in effect for a week or for 100 years or more.
Church disciplines have been subject of "lobbying," especially in our
time, from altar girls and Communion on the hand to a wider, more
readily available access to the extraordinary (Tridentine) form of the
Roman rite. The laity have the right to be heard on such matters,
though in the meantime the current discipline calls forth our
obedience and filial respect for the Church.
However, when it comes to the deposit of faith--what the Church
teaches in the area of faith and morals--American democratic concepts
simply are out of place. No matter how many petitions are signed, no
matter how fervently and repeatedly dissent is allowed to foment and
lead people astray, what God has revealed through Christ as proclaimed
by the Church is not up for grabs.
Some dissenters express frustration that some "celibate old man" in
Rome can say that I have to believe and act in a certain way. Clearly
there is a misunderstanding of authority here. The Pope does have
considerable juridical or legal power, but in matters of faith and
morals his authority is that of guardian and mouthpiece, not
scriptwriter or legislator.
For example, if someone has a problem with the Immaculate Conception,
the problem is not with Pope Pius IX, but with the way God has chosen
to come among us to save us. If someone has a problem with the
Church's teaching on contraception, the problem is not with Pope Paul
VI, but with the way God has created the human person and human
society.
If I were given a speeding ticket and appeared before a judge to
contest it, what would happen if my defense proceeded as follows:
"But your honor, modern legal scholars say that traffic laws are
repressive, archaic, and the product of a male-dominated, pre-modern
era and do not speak to the contemporary citizen . . ."
Obviously the judge, depending on his or her temperament, would either
laugh at me or cite me for contempt.
Let's note that there are two distinct problems with my defense.
First, the argument itself is defective. Most people would agree that
some traffic laws are necessary to promote public safety.
The second issue is what possible authority does some "scholar" have
to change the law? In deciding the case, the judge will have to
ascertain the actual speed limit where I was driving, how fast I was
going, and consequently whether I exceeded the speed limit. The
scholar's opinion regarding the speed limit is utterly irrelevant.
The same two problems exist today regarding some theologians. First,
what they teach is contrary to the deposit of faith. (In plain
English, they're wrong!) Second, their opinions are accorded weight in
some circles not only because they're the product of "scholars" or
"experts," but also because they purportedly represent the "modern
Catholic."
As the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith set forth
some time ago in its Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the
Theologian, theologians do play a critical role in the Church's
understanding and communication of the faith. What all of us,
especially theologians, need to keep before us, however, is that we
have a teaching that is not our own, but one that has been handed on
to us. Our faith seeks understanding, but presupposes content.
Behind our laws, values, and culture is a blending, or melting pot, of
our founding fathers' ideals, diverse ethnic and religious cultures,
pragmatic court decisions, legislative compromises, narrow agendas,
and special interests that continue to evolve. And we must admit (as
has become part of Barack Obama's political mantra) that such
evolution has an ever-increasing bias in favor of that which is new--
in other words, change.
Behind the teaching of the Church, however, there is Jesus Christ, the
Mediator and sum total of Revelation, who not only is with us always
(Mt. 28:20), but who is "the same yesterday and today and for
ever" (Heb. 13:8).
It Matters Not What You Do with What You have, But it is what You Make of What You Have that Counts.Be Blessed in All your Endeavors.Humphrey
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