The Papacy and the ‘Sacrifice of the Intellect’
Not long ago, Cardinal Gerhard Müller made some comments during an interview in The Times of London which caught my attention. They echo sentiments he has repeated before but which now, with the conclave to elect a new pope upon us, struck me. “‘No Catholic is obliged to obey doctrine that is wrong,’ he said, adding: ‘Catholicism is not about blindly obeying the Pope without respecting holy scriptures, tradition and the doctrine of the Church.’”
I mention these statements because I find them to be so painfully obvious that I can scarcely conceive how anyone could disagree with them. But in practice, many do.
When news of Pope Francis’ passing broke, I posted a message on my Facebook page reminding everyone that the Holy Spirit does not directly choose popes in a conclave and quoting Joseph Ratzinger to that effect (from a 1997 interview, which I saw being posted in several places). I am aware that, in a sense, everything happens under the direction of the Holy Spirit and, in some way, guides the cardinals in their choice. But that is not what decent, pious Catholics mean when they say things like “we must pray that the Holy Spirit picks a holy pope in the conclave.” What they mean is the Holy Spirit directs which person the cardinals elect as pope. The implication of this is that every pope must, perforce, be a holy pope since the Holy Spirit cannot err.
It is just this sort of idea I wished to dispel, and the reactions to my post were mostly positive. But still, some people left comments arguing that Joseph Ratzinger changed his mind about this when he became pope, or insinuating that I called into question the Holy Spirit by suggesting such things. I wish I could say that I have grown use
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