|
Obedience
/ Disobedience / Assent
Note:
Obedience is necessarily limited to appropriate commands of lawful
authorities. Obedience is not accorded to commands which violate faith
or morals. |
"Obey
your leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you and will
have to give an account, that they may fulfill their task with joy and
not with sorrow, for that would be of no advantage to you." (Heb.
13:17)
"Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it, for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer. Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience."
(Rom. 13:1-5)
"True
obedience to the Pope is due from all who are considered
Christians." (Pope Pius VI)
"Obedience is not servitude of man to man, but
submission to the will of God, Who governs through the medium of
men." (Pope Leo XIII)
"If anyone disobey the things which have been
said by Him through us, let them know that they will involve themselves
in transgression and in no small danger." (Pope St. Clement I,
circa 80-98 A.D.)
"As the body must obey the head, so the
Universal Church (which is the body of Christ) should obey him who has
been appointed by Christ the Lord, head of the whole Church" (As
quoted by Pope Leo XIII)
"I am moved to obedience to that See not only by
what learned and holy men have written, but by this fact especially,
that we shall find that on the one hand every enemy of the Christian
faith makes war on that See, and that, on the other hand, no one has
ever declared himself an enemy of that See who has not also shortly
shown most evidently that he was the enemy of the Christian
religion." (St. Thomas More)
"We exhort you in every respect, honorable
brother, to heed obediently what has been written by the Most Blessed
Pope of the City of Rome; for Blessed Peter, who lives and presides in
his own see, provides the truth of the faith to those who seek it. For
we, by reason of our pursuit of peace and faith, cannot try cases on the
faith without the consent of the bishop of the city of Rome." (St.
Peter Chrysologus, Doctor of the Church, circa 449 A.D.)
"Religious submission of will and of mind must
be shown in a special way to the authentic teaching authority of the
Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra. That is, it
must be shown in such a way that his supreme Magisterium is acknowledged
with reverence, the judgements made by him are sincerely adhered to,
according to his manifest mind and will." (Second Vatican Council)
"Take pains to impress on the Christian people a
due obedience and subjection to rulers and governments. Do this by
teaching, in accordance with the warning of the Apostle, that all
authority comes from God. Whoever resists authority resists the ordering
made by God Himself, consequently achieving his own condemnation;
disobeying authority is always sinful except when an order is given
which is opposed to the laws of God and the Church." (Pope Pius IX,
"Qui Pluribus", 1846)
"Can. 750 §1 A person must believe with divine
and Catholic faith all those things contained in the word of God, as it
has been written or handed down by tradition, that is, in the single
deposit of faith entrusted to the Church, and which are at the same time
proposed as divinely revealed either by the solemn magisterium of the
Church or by its ordinary and universal magisterium which is manifested
by the common adherence of Christ's faithful under the guidance of the
sacred magisterium. All are therefore bound to avoid any doctrines
whatsoever contrary to them." (1983 Code of Canon Law)
"Christ instituted in the Church a living,
authoritative and permanent Magisterium, which by His own power He
strengthened, by the Spirit of truth He taught, and by miracles
confirmed. He willed and ordered, under the gravest penalties, that its
teachings should be received as if they were His own. As often,
therefore, as it is declared on the authority of this teaching that this
or that is contained in the deposit of divine revelation, it must be
believed by everyone as true. If it could in any way be false, an
evident contradiction follows; for then God Himself would be the author
of error in man. 'Lord, if we be in error, we are being deceived by
Thee' (Richardus de S. Victore, De Trin., lib. i., cap. 2)." (Pope
Leo XIII, "Satis Cognitum", 1896)
"Nor must it be thought that what is expounded in
Encyclical Letters does not of itself demand consent, since in writing
such Letters the Popes do not exercise the supreme power of their
Teaching Authority. For these matters are taught with the ordinary
teaching authority, of which it is true to say: 'He who heareth you,
heareth me'; and generally what is expounded and inculcated in
Encyclical Letters already for other reasons appertains to Catholic
doctrine. But if the Supreme Pontiffs in their official documents
purposely pass judgment on a matter up to that time under dispute, it is
obvious that that matter, according to the mind and will of the
Pontiffs, cannot be any longer considered a question open to discussion
among theologians." (Pope Pius XII, "Humani Generis",
1950)
"Can. 2331 § 1 Whoever pertinaciously does not
obey the Roman Pontiff or a proper Ordinary or another [competent
authority] legitimately precepting or prohibiting shall be punished with
appropriate penalties, not excluding censures, according to the gravity
of the fault. § 2 But those conspiring against the authority of the
Roman Pontiff or his Legates or a proper Ordinary or against their
legitimate mandates, and likewise those provoking their subjects to
disobedience regarding same, are to be coerced with censures and other
penalties; and if they are clerics, [they are deprived of] dignities,
benefices, and other duties; [and they are deprived of] active and
passive voice and office, if they are religious." (1917 Code of
Canon Law)
"Indeed, when you submit to the bishop as you
would to Jesus Christ, it is clear to me that you are living not in the
manner of men, but as Jesus Christ, who died for us, that through his
faith in His death you might escape dying. It is necessary, therefore, and such is your practice,
that you do nothing without the bishop, and
that you be subject also to the presbytery, as to the Apostles of Jesus
Christ our hope, in whom we shall be found, if we live in Him. It is
necessary also that the deacons, the dispensers of the mysteries of
Jesus Christ, be in every way pleasing to all men. For they are not the
deacons of food and drink, but servants of the Church of God. They must,
therefore guard against blame as against fire." (St. Ignatius of
Antioch, circa 110 A.D.)
"The eternal Father, who will never abandon his
flock up to the close of the age, so loved obedience, as the Apostle
testifies, that to make expiation for the sin of disobedience of the
first parent, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death.
Moreover, when he was about to depart from the world to the Father, he
established Peter and his successors as his own representatives on the
firmness of a rock. It is necessary to obey them as the book of the
Kings testifies, so that whoever does not obey, incurs death. As we read
in another place, the person who abandons the teaching of the Roman
pontiff cannot be within the church; for, on the authority of Augustine
and Gregory, obedience alone is the mother and protector of all virtues,
it alone possessing the reward of faith. Therefore, on the teaching of
the same Peter, we ought to be careful that what has been introduced in
due season and for sound reasons by our predecessors the Roman pontiffs,
especially in sacred councils, for the defense of obedience of this
kind, of ecclesiastical authority and freedom, and of the apostolic see,
should be duly discharged by our effort, devotion and diligence and be
brought to the desired conclusion." (Fifth Lateran Council)
"It
is important, therefore, to give them a clear idea of the
foundation of the Church - a foundation, without which the Church
could not exist, and upon which they must rest, if they would
preserve in the faith wherein they have been baptized. They cannot
obtain salvation unless they keep their faith inviolate. Now they
alone have this firm and pure faith who are docile to the
teachings of Peter, and recognize him as the rock on which our
Lord has built his Church. In the episode related in our Gospel (Jn.
xx), we are taught by an Apostle what respect and deference are
due to him whom Christ appointed to feed both lambs and sheep (Jn.
xxi 15, 17), that is, the whole flock. Peter and John run together
to the sepulchre; John, the younger of the two, arrives there
before Peter; he looks in, but does not enter. What means this
humble reserve of the disciple who was so specially beloved of Jesus? For whom does he wait? He waits for him, whom the Master has
placed over all, and who is to act as their head. Peter, at
length, comes to the sepulchre;
he goes in; he examines the holy
place; and then John also enters. It is John himself who writes
this, and gives us the admirable instruction embodied in what he
relates. Yes, it is for Peter to lead the way, and judge, and
decide as master; it is the Christian's duty to follow him, to
listen to his teachings, to honor and obey him. How can we have
any difficulty in doing this, when we see an Apostle, and such an
Apostle, behaving thus to Peter, and this, too, at a time when
Peter had received the promise only of the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, which were not really given to him until some days
after?" (Gueranger)
"In defining the limits of the obedience owed to
the pastors of souls, but most of all to the authority of the Roman
Pontiff, it must not be supposed that it is only to be yielded in
relation to dogmas of which the obstinate denial cannot be disjoined
from the crime of heresy. Nay, further, it is not enough sincerely and
firmly to assent to doctrines which, though not defined by any solemn
pronouncement of the Church, are by her proposed to belief, as divinely
revealed, in her common and universal teaching, and which the [First]
Vatican Council declared are to be believed 'with Catholic and divine
faith.' But this likewise must be reckoned amongst the duties of
Christians, that they allow themselves to be ruled and directed by the
authority and leadership of bishops, and, above all, of the apostolic
see. And how fitting it is that this should be so any one can easily
perceive. For the things contained in the divine oracles have reference
to God in part, and in part to man, and to whatever is necessary for the
attainment of his eternal salvation. Now, both these, that is to say,
what we are bound to believe and what we are obliged to do, are laid
down, as we have stated, by the Church using her divine right, and in
the Church by the supreme Pontiff. Wherefore it belongs to the Pope to
judge authoritatively what things the sacred oracles contain, as well as
what doctrines are in harmony, and what in disagreement, with them; and
also, for the same reason, to show forth what things are to be accepted
as right, and what to be rejected as worthless; what it is necessary to
do and what to avoid doing, in order to attain eternal salvation. For,
otherwise, there would be no sure interpreter of the commands of God,
nor would there be any safe guide showing man the way he should
live." (Pope Leo XIII, "Sapientiae Christianae", 1890)
"But as this heavenly doctrine was never left to
the arbitrary judgment of private individuals, but, in the beginning
delivered by Jesus Christ, was afterwards committed by Him exclusively
to the Magisterium already named, so the power of performing and
administering the divine mysteries, together with the authority of
ruling and governing, was not bestowed by God on all Christians
indiscriminately, but on certain chosen persons. For to the Apostles and
their legitimate successors alone these words have reference: 'Going
into the whole world preach the Gospel.' 'Baptizing them.' 'Do this in
commemoration of Me.' 'Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven
them.' And in like manner He ordered the Apostles only and those who
should lawfully succeed them to feed - that is to govern with authority
- all Christian souls. Whence it also follows that it is necessarily the
duty of Christians to be subject and to obey. And these duties of the
Apostolic office are, in general, all included in the words of St. Paul:
'Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the
dispensers of the mysteries of God' (I Cor. iv., I). Wherefore Jesus
Christ bade all men, present and future, follow Him as their leader and
Savior; and this, not merely as individuals, but as forming a society,
organized and united in mind. In this way a duly constituted society
should exist, formed out of the divided multitude of peoples, one in
faith, one in end, one in the participation of the means adapted to the
attainment of the end, and one as subject to one and the same authority.
To this end He established in the Church all principles which
necessarily tend to make organized human societies, and through which
they attain the perfection proper to each. That is, in it (the Church),
all who wished to be the sons of God by adoption might attain to the
perfection demanded by their high calling, and might obtain salvation.
The Church, therefore, as we have said, is man's guide to whatever
pertains to Heaven. This is the office appointed unto it by God: that it
may watch over and may order all that concerns religion, and may,
without let or hindrance, exercise, according to its judgment, its
charge over Christianity." (Pope Leo XIII, "Satis
Cognitum", 1896)
"Christian
faith reposes not on human but on divine authority, for what God has
revealed 'we believe not on account of the intrinsic evidence of the
truth perceived by the natural light of our reason, but on account of
the authority of God revealing, who cannot be deceived nor Himself
deceive.' It follows as a consequence that whatever things are
manifestly revealed by God we must receive with a similar and equal
assent. To refuse to believe any one of them is equivalent to rejecting
them all, for those at once destroy the very groundwork of faith who
deny that God has spoken to men, or who bring into doubt His infinite
truth and wisdom. To determine, however, which are the doctrines
divinely revealed belongs to the teaching Church, to whom God has
entrusted the safekeeping and interpretation of His utterances. But the
supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds,
therefore, requires, together with a perfect accord in the one faith,
complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman
Pontiff, as to God Himself. This obedience should, however, be perfect,
because it is enjoined by faith itself, and has this in common with
faith, that it cannot be given in shreds; nay, were it not absolute and
perfect in every particular, it might wear the name of obedience, but
its essence would disappear. Christian usage attaches such value to this
perfection of obedience that it has been, and will ever be, accounted
the distinguishing mark by which we are able to recognize Catholics.
Admirably does the following passage from St. Thomas Aquinas set before
us the right view: 'The formal object of faith is primary truth, as it
is shown forth in the holy Scriptures, and in the teaching of the
Church, which proceeds from the fountainhead of truth. It follows,
therefore, that he who does not adhere, as to an infallible divine rule,
to the teaching of the Church, which proceeds from the primary truth
manifested in the holy Scriptures, possesses not the habit of faith; but
matters of faith he holds otherwise than true faith. Now, it is evident
that he who clings to the doctrines of the Church as to an infallible
rule yields his assent to everything the Church teaches; but otherwise,
if with reference to what the Church teaches he holds what he likes but
does not hold what he does not like, he adheres not to the teaching of
the Church as to an infallible rule, but to his own will.'" (Pope
Leo XIII, "Sapientiae Christianae", 1890 A.D.)
"When about to ascend into heaven He sends His
Apostles in virtue of the same power by which He had been sent from the
Father; and he charges them to spread abroad and propagate His teaching.
'All power is given to Me in Heaven and in earth. Going therefore teach
all nations...teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you' (Matt. xxviii., 18-20). So that those obeying the
Apostles might be saved, and those disobeying should perish. 'He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believed not shall
be condemned' (Mark xvi., 16)... Hence He commands that the teaching of
the Apostles should be religiously accepted and piously kept as if it
were His own - 'He who hears you hears Me, he who despises you despises
Me' (Luke x., 16). Wherefore the Apostles are ambassadors of Christ as
He is the ambassador of the Father. 'As the Father sent Me so also I
send you' (John xx., 21). Hence as the Apostles and Disciples were bound
to obey Christ, so also those whom the Apostles taught were, by God's
command, bound to obey them. And, therefore, it was no more allowable to
repudiate one iota of the Apostles' teaching than it was to reject any
point of the doctrine of Christ Himself. Truly the voice of the
Apostles, when the Holy Ghost had come down upon them, resounded
throughout the world. Wherever they went they proclaimed themselves the
ambassadors of Christ Himself. 'By whom (Jesus Christ) we have received
grace and Apostleship for obedience to the faith in all nations for His
name' (Rom. i., 5). And God makes known their divine mission by numerous
miracles. 'But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working
withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed' (Mark xvi.,
20)... [T]he Apostolic mission was not destined to die with the Apostles
themselves, or to come to an end in the course of time, since it was
intended for the people at large and instituted for the salvation of the
human race. For Christ commanded His Apostles to preach the 'Gospel to
every creature, to carry His name to nations and kings, and to be
witnesses to him to the ends of the earth.' He further promised to
assist them in the fulfillment of their high mission, and that, not for
a few years or centuries only, but for all time - 'even to the
consummation of the world.' ... But how could all this be realized in
the Apostles alone, placed as they were under the universal law of
dissolution by death? It was consequently provided by God that the
Magisterium instituted by Jesus Christ should not end with the life of
the Apostles, but that it should be perpetuated. We see it in truth
propagated, and, as it were, delivered from hand to hand. For the
Apostles consecrated bishops, and each one appointed those who were to
succeed them immediately 'in the ministry of the word.' Nay more: they
likewise required their successors to choose fitting men, to endow them
with like authority, and to confide to them the office and mission of
teaching. 'Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace which is in
Christ Jesus: and the things which thou hast heard of me by many
witnesses, the same command to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach
others also' (2 Tim. ii., 1-2). Wherefore, as Christ was sent by God and
the Apostles by Christ, so the Bishops and those who succeeded them were
sent by the Apostles. 'The Apostles were appointed by Christ to preach
the Gospel to us. Jesus Christ was sent by God. Christ is therefore from
God, and the Apostles from Christ, and both according to the will of
God...Preaching therefore the word through the countries and cities,
when they had proved in the Spirit the first-fruits of their teaching
they appointed bishops and deacons for the faithful...They appointed
them and then ordained them, so that when they themselves had passed
away other tried men should carry on their ministry' (S. Clemens Rom.
Epist. I ad Corinth. capp. 42, 44). On the one hand, therefore, it is
necessary that the mission of teaching whatever Christ had taught should
remain perpetual and immutable, and on the other that the duty of
accepting and professing all their doctrine should likewise be perpetual
and immutable. 'Our Lord Jesus Christ, when in His Gospel He testifies
that those who are not with Him are His enemies, does not designate any
special form of heresy, but declares that all heretics who are not with
Him and do not gather with Him scatter His flock and are His
adversaries: He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that gathereth
not with Me scattereth' (S. Cyprianus, Ep. lxix., ad Magnum, n.
I)." (Pope Leo XIII, "Satis Cognitum", 1896) "The nature of this supreme authority, which all
Christians are bound to obey, can be ascertained only by finding out
what was the evident and positive will of Christ. Certainly Christ is a
King forever; and though invisible, He continues unto the end of time to
govern and guard His Church from Heaven. But since He willed that His
kingdom should be visible He was obliged, when He ascended into Heaven,
to designate a vice-regent on earth. 'Should anyone say that Christ is
the one head and the one shepherd, the one spouse of the one Church, he
does not give an adequate reply. It is clear, indeed, that Christ is the
author of grace in the Sacraments of the Church; it is Christ Himself
who baptizes; it is He who forgives sins; it is He who is the true
priest who hath offered Himself upon the altar of the cross, and it is
by His power that His body is daily consecrated upon the altar; and
still, because He was not to be visibly present to all the faithful, He
made choice of ministers through whom the aforesaid Sacraments should be
dispensed to the faithful as said above' (cap. 74). 'For the same
reason, therefore, because He was about to withdraw His visible presence
from the Church, it was necessary that He should appoint someone in His
place, to have the charge of the Universal Church. Hence before His
Ascension He said to Peter: 'Feed my sheep'' (St. Thomas, Contra
Gentiles, lib. iv., cap. 76). Jesus Christ, therefore, appointed Peter
to be that head of the Church; and He also determined that the authority
instituted in perpetuity for the salvation of all should be inherited by
His successors, in whom the same permanent authority of Peter himself
should continue. And so He made that remarkable promise to Peter and to
no one else: 'Thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church'
(Matt. xvi., 18). 'To Peter the Lord spoke: to one, therefore, that He
might establish unity upon one' (S. Pacianus ad Sempronium, Ep. iii., n.
11). 'Without any prelude He mentions St. Peter's name and that of his
father (Blessed art thou Simon, son of John) and He does not wish Him to
be called any more Simon; claiming him for Himself according to His
divine authority He aptly names him Peter, from petra the rock, since
upon him He was about to found His Church' (S. Cyrillus Alexandrinus, In
Evang. Joan., lib. ii., in cap. i., v. 42). From this text it is clear
that by the will and command of God the Church rests upon St. Peter,
just as a building rests on its foundation. Now the proper nature of a
foundation is to be a principle of cohesion for the various parts of the
building. It must be the necessary condition of stability and strength.
Remove it and the whole building falls. It is consequently the office of
St. Peter to support the Church, and to guard it in all its strength and
indestructible unity. How could he fulfill this office without the power
of commanding, forbidding, and judging, which is properly called
jurisdiction? It is only by this power of jurisdiction that nations and
commonwealths are held together. A primacy of honor and the shadowy
right of giving advice and admonition, which is called direction, could
never secure to any society of men unity or strength. The words - and
the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it - proclaim and establish
the authority of which we speak. 'What is the it?' (writes Origen). 'Is
it the rock upon which Christ builds the Church or the Church? The
expression indeed is ambiguous, as if the rock and the Church were one
and the same. I indeed think that this is so, and that neither against
the rock upon which Christ builds His Church nor against the Church
shall the gates of Hell prevail' (Origenes, Comment. in Matt., tom.
xii., n. ii). The meaning of this divine utterance is, that,
notwithstanding the wiles and intrigues which they bring to bear against
the Church, it can never be that the Church committed to the care of
Peter shall succumb or in any wise fail. 'For the Church, as the edifice
of Christ who has wisely built 'His house upon a rock,' cannot be
conquered by the gates of Hell, which may prevail over any man who shall
be off the rock and outside the Church, but shall be powerless against
it' (Ibid.). Therefore God confided His Church to Peter so that he might
safely guard it with his unconquerable power. He invested him,
therefore, with the needful authority; since the right to rule is
absolutely required by him who has to guard human society really and
effectively. This, furthermore, Christ gave: 'To thee will I give the
keys of the kingdom of Heaven.' And He is clearly still speaking of the
Church, which a short time before He had called His own, and which He
declared He wished to build on Peter as a foundation. The Church is
typified not only as an edifice but as a Kingdom, and every one knows
that the keys constitute the usual sign of governing authority.
Wherefore when Christ promised to give to Peter the keys of the Kingdom
of Heaven, he promised to give him power and authority over the Church.
'The Son committed to Peter the office of spreading the knowledge of His
Father and Himself over the whole world. He who increased the Church on
all the earth, and proclaimed it to be stronger than the heavens, gave
to a mortal man all power in Heaven when He handed him the Keys' (S.
Johannes Chrysostomus, Hom. liv., in Matt. v., 2). In this same sense He
says: 'Whatsoever thou shall bind upon earth it shall be bound also in
Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth it shall be loosed also
in Heaven.' This metaphorical expression of binding and loosing
indicates the power of making laws, of judging and of punishing; and the
power is said to be of such amplitude and force that God will ratify
whatever is decreed by it. Thus it is supreme and absolutely
independent, so that, having no other power on earth as its superior, it
embraces the whole Church and all things committed to the Church. The
promise is carried out when Christ the Lord after His Resurrection,
having thrice asked Peter whether he loved Him more than the rest, lays
on him the injunction: 'Feed my lambs - feed my sheep.' That is He
confides to him, without exception, all those who were to belong to His
fold. 'The Lord does not hesitate. He interrogates, not to learn but to
teach. When He was about to ascend into Heaven He left us, as it were, a
vice-regent of His love...and so because Peter alone of all others
professes his love he is preferred to all - that being the most perfect
he should govern the more perfect' (S. Ambrosius, Exposit. in Evang.
secundum Lucam, lib. x., nn. 175-176). These, then, are the duties of a
shepherd: to place himself as leader at the head of his flock, to
provide proper food for it, to ward off dangers, to guard against
insidious foes, to defend it against violence: in a word to rule and
govern it. Since therefore Peter has been placed as shepherd of the
Christian flock he has received the power of governing all men for whose
salvation Jesus Christ shed His blood." (Pope Leo XIII, "Satis
Cognitum", 1896)
Also
See: All
Should Agree With the Holy See | The
Church is Not a Democracy | The
Church Rests on St. Peter | Duties
of the Faithful to the Holy See | Infallibility
| National
Churches May Not Be Separate from the Authority of the Roman Pontiff
| Necessity
of Union With the Roman Pontiff | Papal
Primacy / Supremacy | Preservation
of Truth / Unity | Those
Who Condemn or Judge Dogmas / Decrees of the Apostolic See | Those
Who Wander From the Apostolic See Wander From the Church | Unlawful
to Make Recourse Against the Roman Pontiff to an Ecumenical Council
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