Questions Answered – May 2023

Guilt in the Spiritual Life Question: Can you explain guilt to me? Is it good or bad for the soul? Answer: To understand the place of guilt, it is necessary to recall that every moral act involves three powers of the soul: the … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – March 2019

What Is the Institutional Church? Question: I hear a lot about the “institutional church.” It seems to be a phrase trotted out by people who want to see the moral law changed or to question authority. What is the “institutional churc … [Read more...]

On Whose Authority…

Jesus has a peculiar, almost provocative way of opening up the deeper recesses of prejudices for inspection. In the New Testament, this is often by way of a rabbinical question. "You ask by what authority I make these proclamations: I will … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Question: I would like to study the problem of universal ideas in Thomas Aquinas.  Can you give me some insight into understanding this problem, and some sources on how to research this problem in Catholic authors? Answer: Pope Benedict i … [Read more...]

What Does Authority Have to Do with Religion?

“Authority” is generally used as a derogatory term in our world. Nazism gave the word a bad name as German officials, one after another, at the Nuremburg war trials sought to excuse themselves by claiming that they were just obeying a hig … [Read more...]

Recognizing a Link in the Hermeneutic of Continuity

A Brief Look at Blessed Pope Paul VI

The ranks of those declared blessed and saint by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit constitute the great array of our brothers and sisters who have been lifted up as models of holiness and powerful intercessors. While … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

Is it true that Vatican II was a complete break with the past? Is authority in society optional? Is it primarily a matter of the intellect or the will? Question: This year the Church is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the … [Read more...]

Benedict XVI on Freedom in Obedience to the Truth: A Key for the New Evangelization

... the more fundamental task ... is to form human hearts, beginning with those who have already been evangelized and need to be “newly evangelized,” those who know something already, but are not living it; those who are showing up in the pe … [Read more...]

Theologians’ academic respectability

The teaching authority of the Church is the only guarantee the theologian has for both his academic respectability, and his intellectual freedom. Over the years, we have printed many articles on the proper relationship that should exist … [Read more...]

Pastoral Authority and Spiritual Warfare

In sharing in the priesthood of Christ, the pastor upholds his own fatherhood (governing), receives his teaching authority, and can uphold his own ministry of healing and holiness (sanctifying).

“Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the p … [Read more...]