The development of doctrine is
fidelity in newness
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| 'Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven' (Mt 5:20) |
Certain critiques of the current pontificate challenge the
Second Vatican Council and end up forgetting the Magisterium of Saint John Paul
II and Benedict XVI.
Sergio Certofanti
Certain doctrinal criticisms of the current pontificate show
a gradual but increasingly clear-cut separation from the Vatican II
Council — not from a certain interpretation of some texts,
but from the Council texts themselves. Some interpretations that
insist on contrasting Pope Francis with his immediate
predecessors thus end up openly criticizing even St John Paul II and Benedict
XVI, or by passing over in silence some fundamental aspects of
their ministry that represent evident developments of the latest Council.
The prophecy of dialogue
One example of this was the recent 25th anniversary of
the encyclical Ut
unum sint, in which Pope St John Paul II stated that ecumenical
commitment and dialogue with non-Catholics are a priority of the Church.
This anniversary has been ignored by those who today propose a reductive
interpretation of tradition, closed to that “dialogue of
love,” beyond the doctrinal, which was promoted by the Polish
Pope in obedience to our Lord's ardent desire for unity.
The prophecy of forgiveness
Equally overlooked was another important anniversary:
the request
for jubilee forgiveness strongly desired by St John Paul II on 12
March twenty years ago. The prophetic power of this Pontiff who
asked forgiveness for the sins committed by the children of the
Church was overflowing. And when one speaks
of “children” the popes are also included. As we know, those
who ask forgiveness for mistakes made put themselves in a risky situation of
scrutiny. Saint John Paul II prophetically chose the path of truth.
The Church cannot and must not be afraid of the truth. The then-Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
underlined the “novelty of this gesture,” a “public act of repentance of
the Church for the sins of the past and today,” a “mea culpa of
the Pope in the name of the Church,” a truly “new gesture, but
nevertheless in profound continuity with the history of the Church, and with
its self-awareness.”
The Inquisition and violence: a growing consciousness
Many dark stories have been stirred up about
the inquisition, burnings and various forms
of intolerance of the Church throughout history, exaggerating, falsifying,
slandering and decontextualizing in order to erase from
memory the great and decisive contributions of Christianity to humanity.
And historians have often restored the truth in the face of so many myths
and distortions of reality. But this does not prevent us from making a serious
examination of conscience in order “to recognize past wrongs,” as John
Paul II affirmed, and “reawaken our consciences to the
compromises of the present.” From this came the request for
forgiveness, in 2000, “for the divisions which have occurred among
Christians, for the violence some have used in the service of the truth and for
the distrustful and hostile attitudes sometimes taken towards the followers of
other religions.” “With the passage of time,” he said in 2004, “the
Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, perceives with ever clearer awareness what
she needs in order to conform” to the Gospel, which rejects the
intolerant and violent methods that have disfigured her face in history.
The Galileo case
A particularly significant case was that of Galileo Galilei,
the great Italian scientist. A Catholic who, said John Paul II, “suffered a lot
- we cannot hide it - from men and ecclesial bodies”. Pope St. John Paul
II examined the story “in light of the historical context of the time” and “the
mentality of the time”. The Church, though founded by Christ, “remains
nevertheless made up of limited men and women linked to their cultural
epoch." She too “learns by experience,” and the history of Galileo
“allowed a more just maturation and understanding of Her authority." The
understanding of the truth grows - it is not given once and for all.
A Copernican revolution
Saint John Paul II recalls that “the geocentric
representation of the world was commonly accepted in the culture of the time as
fully consistent with the teaching of the Bible, in which some expressions,
taken literally, seemed to constitute statements of geocentrism”. The problem
posed by the theologians of the time was therefore that of the compatibility of
heliocentrism and Scripture. Thus, new science, with the methods and the
freedom of research that it presupposed, forced theologians to question their
criteria for interpreting Scripture. Most were unable to do so. Paradoxically,
Galileo, a sincere believer, showed himself on this point “more discerning than
his theologian adversaries” who had fallen into error trying to defend the
faith. “The upheaval caused by the Copernican system” thus had
“repercussions on the interpretation of the Bible.” Galileo, not a theologian,
but a Catholic scientist, “introduces the principle of interpretation of sacred
books, beyond even the literal sense, but in accordance with the intent and the
type of exposition proper to each of them” according to their literary genres.
This position was confirmed by Pius XII in 1943 with the Encyclical “Divino
afflante Spiritu”.
The theory of evolution
A similar growth in the Church's awareness occurred with the
theory of evolution which seemed to contradict the principle of creation. A
first opening was that of Pius XII with the Encyclical “Humani
generis” of 1950 (its 70th anniversary will be on 12 August). St. John Paul
II affirmed that “creation places itself in the light of evolution as an event
that extends over time - as a ‘creatio continua’ - in which God becomes visible
to the eyes of the believer as the Creator of Heaven and earth”. Pope
Francis underlines that “when we read the story of Creation in
Genesis, we risk imagining that God was a magician, complete with an
all-powerful magic wand. But that was not so. He created beings and he let them
develop according to the internal laws with which He endowed each one, that
they might develop, and reach their fullness (…) The Big Bang theory, which is
proposed today as the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention
of a divine creator but depends on it. Evolution in nature does not conflict
with the notion of Creation, because evolution presupposes the creation of
beings who evolve.”
The development of the concept of freedom
In the New Testament, but not only there, there are very
deep calls to freedom that have changed history; but they are discovered
slowly. Pope Boniface VIII, with the Bull Unam sanctam of
1302, reaffirmed the superiority of spiritual authority over temporal authority.
It was a different era.
Almost 700 years later, John
Paul II, speaking in Strasbourg before the European Parliament, observed
that medieval Christianity still did not distinguish “between the proper
spheres of faith and that of civil life”. The consequence of this vision was
the “integralist temptation to exclude those who did not profess the true faith
from the temporal community”. Even as late as 1791, in a letter to the French
bishops, Pius VI criticized the Constitution passed by the National Assembly
that “established as a principle of natural law that a person living in Society
must be completely free. That is, he or she must not be disturbed by anyone,
and can freely think as he or she likes, and write and even publish in print
anything in matters of Religion."
And in 1832, Gregory XVI's Encyclical Mirari
vos spoke of freedom of conscience as a “most poisonous error” and
“delirium”; while Pius IX in the 1864 Syllabus condemns among “the principal
errors of our age” the idea that it is no longer appropriate “that the Catholic
religion should be considered the only religion of the State, excluding all other
religions, never minding what one wants” and the fact that “in some
Catholic countries it has been established by law that those who go there are
entitled to have public worship proper to each one." The Second Vatican
Council, with its Declarations “Dignitatis
humanae,” on Religious Freedom; and “Nostra
aetate,” on Dialogue with non-Christian Religions, makes a leap forward
that recalls the Council of Jerusalem of the first Christian community that
opened the Church to all humanity. Faced with these challenges, St John Paul II
affirmed that “the pastor must show that he is ready for authentic
boldness”.
When does tradition stop?
In 1988 the schism
of the Lefebvrian traditionalists was confirmed. They rejected the
developments brought about by Vatican Council II, saying that a new Church had
been created. Benedict XVI used a strong image when he exhorted them to not
"freeze the Church’s teaching authority... in the year 1962.” Something
similar had already happened in 1870, when the so-called “old Catholics”
condemned the First Vatican Council on account of the dogma of papal
infallibility.
The Catholic Church has journeyed through more than twenty
Councils in history. Each time there was someone who did not accept the new
developments and stopped. Pius IX in 1854 proclaimed the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception. But a great saint, Bernard of Clairvaux, though one of
the most ardent propagators of Marian devotion, expressed his opposition to
this truth some centuries earlier. “I am very concerned, since many of you
have decided to change the conditions of important events, such as introducing
this feast unknown to the Church, certainly not approved by Reason, and not
even justified by ancient Tradition. Are we really more erudite and pious than
our ancient fathers?” This was in the 12th century. The Church, since then, has
introduced other unknown feasts that probably would have scandalized many of
the faithful who lived in previous centuries.
The way of Jesus: new and old things
Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the Law, “but to
fullfill it” (Mt 5:17). He taught us not to break “even the smallest of these
precepts” (Mt 5:19). Yet he was accused of violating the mosaic rules, such as
the Sabbath rest or the prohibition of associating with public sinners. And the
apostles took the great leap: they abolished the sacred obligation of
circumcision, dating back even to Abraham and in force for 2000 years, and
opened the door to the pagans - something unthinkable at that time. “Behold,”
says the Lord, “I make all things new” (Rev 21, 5). It is the “new wine” of
evangelical love that always suffers the risk of being put in the “old
wineskins” of our religious security, which so often silences the living God
who never stops speaking to us. It is the wisdom of the “disciple of the
kingdom of heaven” who seeks the fullness of the Law and justice that
surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, bringing out “new and old things
from his treasure” (Mt 13:52). Not new things only, nor only old things.
(This is a working translation from the original text)
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