Academic Freedom, Church Authority, and Falling Madly in Love with Christ

Thank you Steve Shiffrin and Fr. Araujo for your recent comments (here) and (here) in this ongoing conversation on Academic Freedom and Church Authority.  Following Thérèse of Lisieux, one of thirty-three doctors of the church, I understand my Christian vocation as three-fold:  to engage life with a certain realism, seeing my own weakness and the weakness of others, for example, straight-on without sugar coating; to fall madly in love with the One who came to heal those weaknesses and forgive our sins; and to be Christ – to be love – for others.  I become more aware everyday of the vast difference between this call and my response, but like Thérèse, I take comfort in God’s justice:  “His justice … is clothed with love, for how sweet a joy it is to think that God is just; that, in other words, He makes allowances for our weaknesses and understands perfectly the frailty of our humanity.”

How can I – we – be sure of God’s infinite mercy, this divine justice, 2000 years after Christ walked the earth?  The Catholic answer, is, I think, the one given by Susan in her reflection on the tent; we have a continuing and unbroken line of witnesses (through apostolic succession) testifying to the truthfulness of the Gospel accounts.  These witnesses are our authority.  They are authoritative witnesses.  And, over the millennia that authority has been exercised – even against great odds and political pressure – to decide great questions of faith and morals.  Non-Christians do not believe (they give no authority to) this 2000 year line of witnesses.  Protestants implicitly give authority to much of what these witnesses taught in the first 1000 years, although they ultimately reject their authority. 

In response to (maybe in agreement with) Steve, I believe that the Church is in constant need of reform, and I trust that the Holy Spirit will – in God’s timing – provide holy souls to call the Church, including those in authority, to reformation.  I also see what Cardinal Newman referred to as the development of doctrine.  As the mystery of Christ continues to unfold like a beautiful rose, there are some who want to see it open in one way and others who hope it opens in another, leading to squabbles and more.

Shouldn’t those who seek reformation within the Church (like Francis of Assisi or Catherine of Siena) or who seek certain doctrinal developments, do so with strength, gentleness, love, and humility, rightly recognizing those who have authority over us?  Isn’t “dissent” that is “arrogant, strident, and bitter” or engaged in by “pressure” contrary to the Gospel and contrary to the respect owed to those who have been placed in authority over us?  In short, Cardinal Dulles is not saying don’t “dissent,” he is merely reminding us that such dissent should be expressed with love and humility following in the footsteps of Christ and His many saints, including Thérèse.  Steve, is this wrong?  Do you disagree?

As for the blog’s tenor, I am continually grateful that MOJ has assembled a diverse group of Catholic (and even one who remains on the other bank of the Tiber) legal academics who have managed for over four years now to engage in sometimes robust but almost always respectful debate and dialogue.  What a blessing!