February 12, 2013 Martin Mallon (Ireland) Martin's previous articles
In an article in Commonweal Jerry Ryan makes the very important point
that “Dissent can be a sign of vitality”.[i]
This ties in with comments made by Pope Benedict XVI in his Christmas address to
the Roman Curia,
Unfortunately, one of the most effective mechanisms for reform in the
church has always been dissent. This is because there is no proper forum for
discussion within the church and this situation must be remedied.
Jerry Ryan points out that “To understand dissent, you first have to
understand authority. Authority in the church must be based on truth. Episcopal
authority is not the source of truth, as some would have us believe.” [iii]
Ryan suggests that the bishops need to show some humility and admit that
they do not know everything that God wills. Basically, the hierarchy must accept
the sensus fidei, that the People of God cannot err in matters of belief. [iv]
The
late Cardinal Martini also had thoughts on authority and dissent when pointing
out that the “interiority of man” is more important than hierarchy and
church law:
The
Second
In an article entitled Authority and Conscience Cardinal Avery Dulles
wrote that dissent from church teaching can be legitimate:
In
view of collective pastoral letters such as those of the German and American
bishops' conferences, it now seems impossible to deny that dissent from the
noninfallible magisterium is sometimes licit.
[vi]
Not only the above, but we have the Bible reminding us that “Obedience
to God comes before obedience to men” Acts
St
Thomas Aquinas insists that hierarchical superiors must be challenged in public
when the faith is in danger:
It
must be observed, however, that if the faith were endangered, a subject ought to
rebuke his prelate even publicly. Hence Paul, who was Peter's subject, rebuked
him in public, on account of the imminent danger of scandal concerning faith,
and, as the gloss of Augustine says on Galatians 2:11, "Peter gave an
example to superiors, that if at any time they should happen to stray from the
straight path, they should not disdain to be reproved by their subjects."
Summa Theologica Question #33, Art #4
It is clear from the above that justified dissent is necessary and good in and for the church. However, proper discussion forums and other mechanisms for registering disquiet within the church should reduce the necessity for such dissent, so that the CDF would have a much reduced workload and there would be less scandal and unease for everyone.
[i]Dissent
can be a sign of vitality; it can draw out the latent riches of revelation.
The scribe versed in the affairs of the Kingdom will continually bring forth
old things and new. Rather than automatically suppressing it, therefore, the
magisterium should treat it with cautious respect, remembering that the
Spirit is still at work, and the church still a work in progress. Rigidity
and narrowness of vision can lead to the sin against the Spirit—and this
sin can be a collective one.
http://www.jesusourshepherd.org/m130201.php
[ii]
On the one hand, there is an interpretation that I would call "a
hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture"; it has frequently availed
itself of the sympathies of the mass media, and also one trend of modern
theology. On the other, there is the "hermeneutic of reform", of
renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given
to us. She is a subject which increases in time and develops, yet always
remaining the same, the one subject of the journeying People of God.
(from here)
[iii]
http://www.jesusourshepherd.org/m130201.php
[iv]
Lumen Gentium #12
[v]
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=21013