Insights on the Catholic Laity and Theologians*

Insights on the Catholic Laity and Theologians *

“The Church, it is said, has been given the ministry of shepherd; she proclaims the Gospel for the faithful, but does not teach for theologians. But such a distinction between proclamation and teaching is profoundly contrary to nature of the biblical word.

“The Church has brought about the emancipation of simple souls and has promised even to them the ability to be philosophers in the true sense of the word, that is, to comprehend what is essential to human nature as well as, or even better than those who are learned.

“Jesus’ words about the lack of understanding the wise and intelligent and the depth of understanding among infants and children (Mt 11:25) are particularly apposite in this context: they establish Christianity as a religion for the people, as a faith in which there is no class distinction.

“And in fact what is proclaimed in the homily is binding; that its nature. It does not propose this or that recreational activity or a kind of religious entertainment. Its purpose is to tell man what he is and what he must do to be himself. But how can the teaching of the Church be binding if it is not binding on theologians?

“The essence of the Church’s teaching ministry consists precisely in the fact that the proclamation of the Faith is the valid touchstone for theology as well. This proclamation is the object of the reflection of theology.

“The faith of simple souls is far from being a kind of watered –down theology for the laity, so-called “popular Platonism”; the relationship is exactly the opposite: proclamation is the standard for theology, not theology for proclamation.

“It is indeed correct that the Church in her ministry as shepherd is authorized to proclaim the Gospel, not to teach theology as a science. But the ministry of proclamation is likewise the ministry of theology.”
George H. Kubeck *Cardinal Ratzinger, “Co-Workers of the Truth”, Jan. 29th, - Cinops be gone, Sunday, 1-30-11

P.S. Recently, a “Spirituality in Higher Education” in-depth survey was conducted among Catholic college students by the Higher Education Research Institute. It revealed some startling results.

1.) 71% of Catholic seniors believe same-sex couples should legally be able to marry. 2.) 57% of Catholic seniors believe that abortion should be legal. 3.) 49% of Catholic seniors believe if two unmarried people really like each other; it’s okay to have sexual relations, even if they’re barely acquainted. 4.) It’s no wonder then that only half of Catholic seniors say they attend Mass only “infrequently” and 22 % attend not at all…

The above same-sex marriage beliefs drive me up the wall. I don’t think that these Catholic seniors are the children of practicing Catholics. The parents have been ripped off by the Catholic colleges. Who can you trust anymore? I don’t want to ramble on about the CINOP in the U.S.A. and Canada. The CINOP is a horrendous scandal. In Canada in 2005, it was the CINOP [Liberal] who passed same-sex marriage laws? In our November elections about 30 CINOPs were voted out of office. Let’s continue to educate parishioners on marriage and vote another 30 or more out of office in 2012. We can all hold our heads high and proud to be Catholic.