Full series title: “DOMINUS IESUS: A MILESTONE IN RATZINGER’S LEGACY WHICH ASSURES OUR FUTURE IN HOPE”

Could the fault finding with DOMINUS IESUS stem from a loyalty to the very same theories and presuppositions which the CDF’S DECLARATION warned are contrary to Christian Doctrine and the Church’s Mission?

The document highlighted the following philosophical and theological presuppositions which militate against faith in revealed truth: (each can be found listed on page 2 of 19 (para 4) of the Declaration)

1. Divine Truth is elusive and in expressible  (even by Christian revelation)
2. Relativism  (what is true for some would not be true for others)
3. The logical mentality of the West and the symbolic mentality of the East are radically opposed
4. The subjectivism which regards reason as the only source of knowledge and thus becomes incapable of raising its “gaze to the heights, not daring to rise to the truth of being”
5. The presence of definitive and eschatological events in history are too difficult to understand and accept (don’t the Scriptures witness to the principle that faith precedes understanding?)
6. Emptying the historical incarnation of the Eternal Logos of its metaphysical reality (reduced to mere appearing of God in history)
7. The eclecticism of those who uncritically absorb ideas from a variety of philosophical and theological contests without regard for consistency, systematic connection, or compatibility with Christian truth (to me it seems, once again, these theologians should know better)
8. The tendency to read and interpret Sacred Scripture outside the Tradition and Magisterium of the Church (again it seems these Catholics should know better)

Should any of us be surprised that defiant loyalty to erroneous or ambiguous positions rooted in the above presuppositions weakens faith (or destroys it), endangers the Church’s missionary proclamation (or stops it) and eventually manifests itself openly by vociferously objecting to this CDF Declaration?

The document is very clear as to its purpose:  to “take up what has been taught in previous Magisterial documents, in order to reiterate certain truths that are part of the Church’s faith and recall to Bishops, theologians and all the Catholic faithful certain indispensable elements of Christian doctrine”.

What is really at stake here?

The Church’s faith, identity and mission are in jeopardy when some Catholics believe the following truths have been set aside and replaced:

1. The definitive and complete character of the revelation of Jesus Christ
2. The nature of Christian faith as being distinct from belief in other religions
3. The inspired nature of the books of Sacred Scripture
4. The personal unity between the Eternal Word and Jesus of Nazareth
5. The unity of the Incarnate Word and the Holy Spirit in the economy of salvation
6. The unicity and salvific universality of the mystery of Jesus Christ
7. The universal salvific mediation of the Church
8. The inseparability – while recognizing the distinction – of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ and the Church, and the subsistence of the one Church of Christ in the Catholic Church

Thank God for the Apostolic boldness of  both the former Cardinal Ratzinger who presented Pope John Paul II with DOMINUS IESUS and for the Pope who ordered it to be published.  While certainly now part of Pope Emeritus Benedict’s legacy, this Declaration still helps refocus us on our faith, our identity and our mission despite  the objections of naysayers.

Next article:  “A synopsis of the indispensable elements of Christian doctrine which belong to the Church’s faith.”

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