The Limits of Papal Authority
(In light of Pope Francis’ recent comments that those who refused to get the Covid ‘vaxx’ is tantamount to quasi-suicide, here are my thoughts in his previous exhortation on this controversial topic from two years ago, on which he is doubling down. Something similar may happen again, so it’s good to clarify our thoughts. The Pope is not a physician, nor is he qualified to offer medical advice, never mind to the entire planet. Odd, now that Covid is no longer a threat to most, nor headline news, while evidence of the potential grave harm of these mRNA therapies is now beyond reasonable dispute, as numerous countries discontinue their use, and consign vast swathes to the rubbish. Why the Holy Father has not thought to reconsider his zeal for all this, one can only wonder. See also some thoughts on the limits of papal power)
Pope Francis has added the heft of his papal authority to the question of the Covid vaccine in a television recent interview:
I believe that morally everyone must take the vaccine…It is the moral choice because it is about your life but also the lives of others. I do not understand why some say that this could be a dangerous vaccine…If the doctors are presenting this to you as a thing that will go well and doesn’t have any special dangers, why not take it?…There is a suicidal denialism that I would not know how to explain but today people must take the vaccine.
As we are discovering quite vividly of late, there are limits to papal authority, not least when offered in impromptu interviews, which are about as far from ‘official Magisterial teaching’ as one might get. The Magisterium – the Pope and the bishops in union with him – teaches authoritatively only under certain conditions, outlined in the Church’s own constitution (cf., Lumen Gentium, 25), and only on matters of faith, morals, as well as certain disciplines (as in liturgical and canonical matters). We should also be clear that the Magisterium is only infallible when the Pope teaches as universal pastor of all the faithful, on faith and morals in a definitive manner. The task of the Church is never to make ‘new teaching’, but to safeguard, expound and apply the teaching of Christ in each era.
Hence, the Magisterium may clarify certain principles concerning vaccines, as was summarized in a recent post, but whether we receive any given vaccine (or any medical treatment) is a particular, concrete moral decision, which must be made in light of one’s own conscience.
Hence, the recent exhortation of the Pontiff seems to stray beyond the pale of papal authority, and Catholics should not feel bound in conscience by such. The Holy Father is free to his opinion, but I, for one, don’t have as much trust in pharmaceutical companies, nor physicians, as Francis apparently does (and my own dear Dad is one of the latter, but I do trust him, but then, he’s old school – most of those under a certain age are compromised with the culture of death to some extent). We are still free to receive or not, as was made clear just last December 19th, in an ‘Note’ issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith:
At the same time, practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.
Each person must make up his own mind, informing his conscience as much as he is able, taking into account such matters as the connection of some variants of the vaccine to abortion, along with the apparent risk to himself – and, secondarily to others, both from Covid, which is minimal in most cases – and from the vaccines themselves, many of them rushed into service.
The Pope and the Pope Emeritus have both been vaccinated, perhaps, in part, pour encourager les autres?
The proof is in the pudding, as the adage has it, and we will see what ensues in the days and weeks ahead as thousand, even millions, receive the treatment.
In the meantime, as I am now in the habit of signing off, keep thy wits about you, dear reader, and pray for the grace and counsel of the Holy Spirit.
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→
The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→
Saint Gemma Galgani
On this April 11th, in 1903 – the same year that the Italian Guiseppe Sarto was elected Pope later that summer as Pius X – a lovely, young Italian woman died, by the name of Gemma Galgani. She lived a brief life of 24 years, as did a number of other young saints, including Pier[…]Continue reading→
An Ideological and Improper Translation
I noticed something odd with the psalm reading at Mass the other day. Our bishops’ conference here in Canada has decreed that the Mass in English – Novus Ordo – use the ‘NRSV’, the ‘New Revised Standard Version’, an ‘updated’ translation of the original RSV, first published in 1952. This ‘new translation’ has the tendency[…]Continue reading→
Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle: A Teacher for Teachers
Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (1651 – 1719), a French nobleman, ordained a priest, founded the first order in the Church’s history entirely without priests, and this came about almost by accident. I say ‘almost’, for, of course, there are no accidents with God. Destined for ordination from an early age, Jean-Baptiste never looked back, even[…]Continue reading→