Previous reflections | The 16 Documents of Vatican II | Resolution |
LUMEN GENTIUM , 1964 |
Jesus was a prophet, priest and king.
All the members of his family share in his prophetic work
By living a life of faith and charity,
each member of the family is a witness to Jesus
Since Jesus has consecrated his family in the
truth,
and given them the Holy Spirit of Truth,
they are guaranteed by Jesus not to be mistaken
when they all agree together about the life of faith
The successors of the apostles,
the bishops, with the pope,
are the mouthpiece of the family
in the understanding and expression of truth
If the bishops and pope go one way,
and the people another way,
neither can claim to be expressing the truth
It's the pope, bishops and people all together
who have been given the gift of being able to "sniff" the truth
The term "papal infallibility"
and the way the "doctrine" of "papal infallibility" was
rushed through Vatican Council One
make many people hope
that a better way can be found
of expressing the gift of "inerrancy"
given by Jesus to the Church
Jesus, please help the Church,
your spiritual family,
better understand
your gift of "inerrancy"