Saturday, October 13, 2012

The Year of Faith...

...is about seeking the truth in freedom. Pope Benedict, at Loreto this week, entrusted the project to Our Lady, and spoke about her "yes" to the Incarnation.

The Christian way is not to coerce or impose. Freedom is the key.

"God asks for mankind's 'yes.' He has created a free partner in dialogue, one from whom he requests a reply in complete liberty."

2 comments:

Sharon said...

The Christian way is not to coerce or impose.

You know, sometimes I wish that the Holy Father would impose a bit and insist that bishops promote authentic Catholicism and not go along with the ersatz variety . Just learned that out of 5 million self identifying Catholic in Australia only 9% at least go to Mass on some Sundays. If dissident priests and school teachers hadn't been allowed free rein by the bishops over the last 40 years or so we wouldn't be in this state.

Joanna Bogle said...

Dear Sharon
You miss the point. Of course the Pope and the Bishops must exhort and teach, and they must govern the Church and sanctify it. They must do this with vigour, and priests must be obedient and loyal, and Catholic schools must teach Catholic doctrine. What the Holy Father was expressing was the reality that the Church cannot impose itself through the State machinery - that she must be free to carry out her mission. The Church must be evangelistic: teaching the truth in freedom, following the mandate of Christ.
Auntie J.