There's a big fight in the St Louis Catholic diocese between the local bishop and dissident parishioners of a church who are insisting on financial independence. In a letter to the W$J's editor, Andrew Pohlman asserts that:
As a St. Louis resident and a member of the Catholic church, I am deeply offended and saddened by the actions of Archbishop Raymond L. Burke and his team of prosecutors attempting to uphold canon law ("Out of Line: A Catholic Parish Pays High Price for Independence," page one, Dec. 20). He would be best served adopting a philosophy made popular by the bracelets seen worn by Christians throughout the country: WWJD -- What Would Jesus Do? Canon law is as a matter of historical fact; man's law, not God's law. If this debate was held in front of the Pearly Gates, I am quite confident the outcome wouldn't result in the excommunication of devoted parishioners and clergy. Although I don't typically attend St. Stanislaus, I plan to attend Christmas Mass at that parish to show my support for the parishioners' mission. I don't, however, plan to repent in any way for spending time worshipping with a devoted group of followers who are simply asserting their independence under the leadership of a bishop engaged in a land-grab under the guise of a divine quest.
Pohlman's letter reflects a fundamental lack of understanding of Catholic theology; indeed, the implicit premise of Pohlman's letter is the core Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura. It is a core tenet of Catholic belief that the Church's magisterial teaching is authoritative:
We are talking not about an optional or secondary aspect of the faith, but about that which in final analysis makes Catholics Catholic and separates Catholics from other Christians. Acceptance of the magisterium and assent to the magisterium is the identifying Catholic belief.
In a real sense magisterium is an identifying mark of the Catholic Church, and acceptance of the magisterium is an identifying mark of the Catholic. In this ecumenical age I have come to understand the different Christian communities as differing indeed in doctrine, but differing also according to where they place final ecclesial authority under Christ. For the Orthodox it is the Patriarchate; for the Episcopalians it was the episcopoi or bishops; for the Presbyterians the presbytery; for the Congregationalists the individual congregation; and for the Baptists, no authority exists above the individual Christian. But for Catholics, as Section 25 of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Council teaches, final authority under Christ is found in the Pope and bishops, just as in the New Testament it reposed in Peter and the Apostles. (Link)
The canon law Pohlman so cavalierly dismisses is a core part of the magisterium:
... the lay Christian faithful are bound by the obligations and possess the rights which are enumerated in the canons of this title. (Canon 224)
What we have here thus is an example of the basic problem of the American Catholic Church; namely, the belief that the Church is a cafeteria.
