Full series title: “DOMINUS IESUS: A MILESTONE IN RATZINGER’S LEGACY WHICH ASSURES OUR FUTURE IN HOPE”
Whether introducing an unbeliever to Catholic Faith or encouraging the faithful, the “true apostle” knows that it is all about Jesus. (See CCC 905; AA 6.3; AG 15; and EN 27)
As Christ Crucified and Risen is proclaimed, evangelization necessarily demands creating opportunities to encounter and experience Him. Catechesis and apologetics echo, hand on and explain the Catholic Church’s treasures of faith, worship, morality and prayer. Specific and detailed connections to the person of Jesus must be made by effective proclamation, instruction and explanation for a real, lived and fruitful experience of the Grace of God in Christ.
No one knows this better than Joseph Ratzinger. Our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI knows it is all about Jesus, the only Savior of the World who gave us his Catholic Church which He the Lord constituted as a salvific mystery.
When the truth of Jesus Christ and his Catholic Church are denied, neglected or replaced by false theories and philosophies, Ratzinger would rise to the challenge and declare the Gospel and the mission of the Church authorized by the same Christ whom so many refuse to believe and obey.
Wholeheartedly promulgated by Blessed Pope John Paul II in 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee, DOMINUS IESUS is such a Declaration, sorely needed by the Church then and now. (Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.)
Penned by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Doctrine and the Faith, DOMINUS IESUS reminds bishops, theologians and all the Catholic faithful of indispensable elements of Christian doctrine which fortify the Church against those relativistic theories that endanger our missionary proclamation of the Lord Jesus.
The promulgation of this Declaration personally thrilled me. While there was nothing new per se, Catholic faith and Christian doctrine were being declared in a way which encouraged and emboldened. Flawed theologies and erroneous presuppositions that confused the baptized and distorted the Church’s faith and mission were being exposed and countered by DOMINUS IESUS.
I knew God had called the faithful to announce good news of the only begotten Son and to invite inquirers to conversion, initiation into and full communion with the Catholic Church. Called, and now further equipped by the CDF’s Declaration, DOMINUS IESUS recalled and reminded readers of what is beautiful, good and true: Jesus Christ and His Catholic Church. Inspired, Catholics were to remain vigilant always looking for opportunities to announce Christ by word of mouth precisely because it is all about Jesus.
But not without controversy! DOMINUS IESUS was met with shocking objections, and that from within the Church herself. Some separated brothers and sisters voiced rejection. Yet, public refusal to receive the Declaration as a good by Catholic theologians, clergy and religious was disgraceful and harmful.
How providential that the Church is now celebrating a Year of Faith given the serious crisis of faith among those whom one would think knew better!
Next Post in this Series: “DOMINUS IESUS, an unfortunate document, problematic and an embarrassment? No, not now, not ever!”
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