Does the Catholic Church have a means for it's members to respectfully disagree with the church?

Question

I am not trying to attack the church. I'm starting RCIA classes in a few weeks, and am still struggling with the whole "authority of the church" thing.
From research I've done, it appears the church claims to have authority granted from God, even the authority to forgive sins. Essentially they're saying "we're always right". Yet they've been on the wrong side of many things throughout history. I just heard this morning about how they backed the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War.
So, it's hard for me to believe in this authority of the church now, when doing so in the past would have meant I was misled.
If the church had some sort of mechanism where the followers could believe in the church as a concept, yet still question the men running the church, I think I could be on board.

Wow Midge, thanks for the welcome :\
So, according to you, any member of the Catholic church who stood up and questioned the leaders when they covered up the molestation scandal, or maybe questioned the church when they threatened to lock Galileo up and torture him for daring to suggest the earth was not stationary, is against the church and hurting the church's glory? I'd say you got that backwards. It's the people in the church who did (and therefore could still do) those awful things that defame the church, not those that question their actions.

Answer 1

You will learn about this in class, but to answer your question, yes there have been bad things done by Christians and Catholics, we have even had some really bad Pope's over the last 2000 years. We do not run and hide from that, we realize that Christians are still human and we are still going to make mistakes, that is why God sent Jesus and gave us the Sacraments to keep us in the grace of God even though we will always be imperfect.

We do not hold that the Pope is infallible, or worship the Pope, we hold that the teachings on faith and morals are infallible. That is a big difference. I am not sure what mechanism you are wanting, but you are free to question any of the teachings of the Catholic Church, you can talk with a Priest or Deacon and ask anything you wish, we do not get angry at members that ask questions in fact it is encouraged.

Hope this helps and good Luck in class you will enjoy it!

Peace be with you!

Answer 2

AS a political entity the Vatican State claims no infallibility and can ,has and will make all sorts of mistakes. In Spain it came down to supporting the Left which was executing thousands of clergy and lay Catholics for being Catholics and the Falangists who were not.

In the area of dogma if the promises of Jesus that "the Gates of Hell will not prevail against you" made to Peter are true and God can neither "deceive nor be deceived" then the dogmas in faith and morals are true. Without this assurance everything is just a subjective opinion and there is no objective truth or dependability of Bible,Tradition of the Apostles or anything. It's just my opinion over someone else's

Over history many theologians have sought to make explicit what was assumed ,especially when there would be controversy over and attacks against the interpretation of the Bible and Faith (as well as application). Clarifications will always be needed as time goes on.

There is open discussion on the disciplines and customs of the Church An example of this was the public discussion at the last bishop's' synod on the utility or not of maintaining priestly celibacy. Customs and disciplines have changed over the centuries

The Magisterium in its fullness has a guaranteed infallibility not to destroy the Church by error in the matter of dogma. This does not mean that better an fuller wording cannot or will not be found. The Ecumenical Councils of the Church are an example of how the Church faces issues,developes,clarifies,defines and explicitates the basic all unchanging Faith.

As Catholics we all have the duty to hold those in positions of responsibility in the Church to accountability to the teachings of the faith and to give them our advice. There are all sorts of mechanisms from writing to the Bishop to appealing to some Dicastery at the Vatican for questioning the way things are run.

In the area of everything that is not of faith and morals doctrine ,the Church does not claim to be unable to make mistakes. If God wanted that He would not have made the Church a divinely-founded and guided family made up of weak and mortal people.
However, truth is not a matter of "majority opinion rules",if so we would all be saying the sun goes around the Earth.

Check out the Catechism of the Cathokic Church paragraphs 888-919

Answer 3

ALL authority comes from God -- even that of Saddam Hussein, Kim Il Sung, and others. The fact that they greatly usurped that authority has nothing to do with God.

Jesus had many issues with the hypocricy of the Pharisees....yet, listen to his words: "The chief priests and Pharisees occupy the seat of Moses; therefore YOU MUST OBEY THEM AND DO EVERYTHING THEY TELL YOU; however, do not do as they DO..." (MT 23:2-3).

In Catholicism, we have the Chair of Peter (feast day Feb. 22 to celebrate the teaching authority of the Church). the Jews had/have the seat of Moses (Mosaic Law) while we Catholics look to the successor of Peter -- the Pope -- who interprets God's law.

Do we really need someone to interpret Scripture for us? What about the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is there to assist us BUT Scripture is NOT self-interpreting! Those who believe it is would do well to remember that it is for this very reason that there are more than 30,000 different Protestant denominations. Truth (the Holy Spirit) is only one. If self-interpretation were of God, then 100% of the people who read it would come to 100% the same conclusion 100% of the time. The fact that they very obviously don't is proof enough that self-interpretation is NOT of God.

Answer 4

You are mixing apples and oranges. The fact that the Church has made administrative errors in the past, such as putatively backing the wrong side in a civil conflict (though most such stories are bogus anyway), has nothing to do with the Church's authority to teach the Word of God or to administer the sacraments. God never told the leaders of His Church, "whatsoever you do in political affairs has my blessing". He also never said "you will never err in your everyday decisions of administration". So therefore, when the Church does make such moves that Catholics consider erroneous, Catholics should speak up and say so.

On the other hand, God did tell the leaders of His Church, "whatsoever you bind upon earth is bound in heaven". This is a divine guarantee that the doctrinal teaching of the Church is true and reliable, and therefore members of the Church would be foolish to question the doctrinal teaching of the Church. No other church can make such a claim, especially in view of the doctrinal chaos that prevails in denominational religion. God also told the leaders of His Church, "whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them". Pretty straightforward! Therefore the Church 's authority in this area is well founded and unquestionable.

Answer 5

Yes, the Catholic church has 2 "Mechanisms" for "Resolution" of "Disputes" with their Dogma. The First is called "Excommunication" the Second is the "Inquisition". Both seem to have been very Useful in the churchs' control over their members. My friend, be Very Afraid of joining this Organization & Praise God U "Missed the Train" and are NOT ON BOARD!!! Please, I implore U to look Deeper into the History of the Catholic church as its' Leaders have been Murders, Rapists, Thieves, Forgers and ANYTHING BUT CHRISTIAN!!! The church is all about itself Period!!! Many "Papas" have "Outlawed" the Bible, Bible Study Groups and now this "Papa" (who is supposed to be 'Infallible' like his predecessors) has Reverted back against previous "Papas" to having the "Mass" being said only in "Latin"!!! So ...like if the other "Papas" could never be wrong, what's with this guy, is he wrong??? Seek out Christ my friend as He is "The Rock of All Ages", Not O'l Pete (who was never even in Rome) and certainly Not the Catholic church!!! John

Answer 6

You will come to a deeper understanding in your classes

By the Magisterium we mean the teaching office of the Church. It consists of the Pope and Bishops. Christ promised to protect the teaching of the Church : "He who hears you, hears me; he who rejects your rejects me, he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me" (Luke 10. 16). Now of course the promise of Christ cannot fail: hence when the Church presents some doctrine as definitive or final, it comes under this protection, it cannot be in error; in other words, it is infallible. This is true even if the Church does not use the solemn ceremony of definition. The day to day teaching of the Church throughout the world, when the Bishops are in union with each other and with the Pope, and present something as definitive, this is infallible. (Vatican II, Lumen gentium # 25). It was precisely by the use of that authority that Vatican I was able to define that the Pope alone, when speaking as such and making things definitive, is also infallible. Of course this infallibility covers also teaching on what morality requires, for that is needed for salvation.

A "theologian" who would claim he needs to be able to ignore the Magisterium in order to find the truth is strangely perverse: the teaching of the Magisterium is the prime, God-given means of finding the truth. Nor could he claim academic freedom lets him contradict the Church. In any field of knowledge, academic freedom belongs only to a properly qualified professor teaching in his own field. But one is not properly qualified if he does not use the correct method of working in his field, e.g., a science professor who would want to go back to medieval methods would be laughed off campus, not protected. Now in Catholic theology , the correct method is to study the sources of revelation, but then give the final word to the Church. He who does not follow that method is not a qualified Catholic theologian. Vatican II taught (Dei Verbum # 10): "The task of authoritatively interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on [Scripture or Tradition], has been entrusted exclusively to the living Magisterium of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ

Answer 7

Speaking as a Christian --Please remember that though you might not understand all are leaders, we are still held accountable to pray for them and respect the office that they have been placed in by the Lord,When they make bad choices they are held accountable for those choices and as Christians we have the obligation to do are best even when our leaders dont. We need to serve the Lord and the men he put in our offices. we need to hold on to the word of God and teach the truth all the time and love thy neighbor, wither they are Catholic or Baptist . Serve the Lord and let him be the judge of this men and study because you want to help others

Answer 8

Why are you starting classes? No there is not a way you can protest or disagree with the Church officially, If you do not agree--- do not join!. The Church is not a Democracy and we have had our fill of people who do not support her but, still say they are part of her to bring down her majesty in faulty theology and petty bickering with the doctrines. Maybe you should start your own Church. I mean one that worships YOUR thoughts and YOUR desires. Maybe you can get people to do YOUR will and then you can try to raise yourself from death too.

Answer 9

Long and short, the "men" running the church are human.
We should answer only to God.
In the end... it will be God who judges you, not the "church'.
I know this doesn't answer your question, but I was also the kid in private catholic school that got in trouble for wearing a Cross as an earring and for asking the Nun " If Jesus was a Jew how are we catholic?"

Answer 10

I mean no disrespect to Catholics either, but it's my understanding that disagreement results in sin. Before too many Catholics jump on me, this idea comes from my husband, who was educated in private Catholic schools from kindergarten through BA at Villanova.

He subsequently left the Catholic Church.