Dear Father - Let Christ be Your Guide

Q: I am finding it hard to accept some of the direction of Pope Francis and other Church leaders and their way of teaching; am I wrong to do so?

A: This is a difficult question to answer, and it may not win me any popularity contests.

Let’s start with two interesting statistics. In a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 83 percent of Catholics in the United States have a favorable opinion of our Holy Father. In another poll taken by St. Leo University Polling Institute in Florida, 74 percent of Catholics in the United States have a favorable opinion of the Catholic Church. So overall, the Catholic Church is seen very favorably.

That being said, it is a normal hu-man reaction to find ourselves forming opinions about the Church and her leadership, as well as some of her teachings. And it is not necessarily sinful to have such reactions. Part of the question is solved by examining things such as papal infallibility, Church dogmas and doctrines, Ecumenical Councils, pastoral letters and the like. Every teaching falls under various categories.

And, of course, we aren’t the only ones who have had questions. I’m reminded of Jesus teaching in the synagogues where we hear, “many of his disciples who were listening said, ‘This saying is hard; who can accept it?’” In this case, they are referring to Jesus’ explanation of himself being the “Bread of Life.” We know that some disciples walked away because the teaching was too difficult for them to understand. Then we hear the great confession of St. Peter: “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (Jn 6:68)

I think it is safe to say that some disciples walked away from Jesus because of other things he taught. But was this the right solution? Certainly not. It can do no good to walk away because something is hard to accept. So, we look to the Church, founded by Christ himself, to guide us and teach us. And during this Jubilee Year of the Holy Spirit, we are invited to reflect on how the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit. Put all of this together, and it tells us that we should take our faith seriously and respond generously and openly to what the Catholic Church teaches.

However, that being said, we know that the human leadership of the Church has made mistakes — some very serious. But we have to remember the Church is both human and divine. In her humanity, the Church sometimes can be flawed, broken and even sinful. But in her divinity, the Catholic Church is steady, inspired and beautiful.

When things are hard to accept, we have to ask ourselves at least two questions. First, do we really understand what a given teaching is? In other words, have we taken the time to read about it, study about it, find out what the Church is really teaching and not just take the word of someone else or blindly accept what’s being reported by various media channels? Second, are we keeping an open mind? If we have definitively closed ourselves to a given teaching, how can the Holy Spirit inspire us and make us think more deeply about it?

If we do those two things, we might be surprised at what we learn.


DOCTRINE VS. DOGMA

In general, doctrine is all Church teaching in matters of faith and morals. Dogma is more narrowly defined as that part of doctrine which has been divinely revealed and which the Church has formally defined and declared to be believed as revealed.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:

The Church’s magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these. (CCC: 88)