Surprising contributions by Francis to the Magisterium...
Negative precepts play an important role in moral formation. They remind us that we are limited, dependent and sinful beings, made to lovingly obey an absolute Being who created us and governs us according to his most wise designs. Continue Reading
Imagine someone who becomes seriously ill, and after many attempts for a cure, finally finds a doctor who prescribes an efficacious remedy. After some days of treatment, he finds himself cured. Naturally, gratitude will bring him to transmit to as many as possible the competence of the doctor and efficacious medicine prescribed, emphasizing the gravity of the illness he was saved from. His testimony, besides praising the doctor, will serve for posterior experiences regarding this illness and encourage all of those who suffer from it to hope for a cure. Evidently, no one would think that this propaganda entails an apology of the sad condition of the sick person…Continue Reading
‘For a correct interpretation of Sacred Scripture it is therefore necessary to seek attentively what the hagiographers have truly wished to state and what it has pleased God to express in human words.’ This is the wise counsel that Pope Benedict XVI had imparted to the participants of the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 2009.Continue Reading
It’s normal to be afraid of being bitten by a snake, whose deadly poison kills in just a few minutes. This is especially true in places where such a danger is a reality and not just a remote possibility: one walks through the natural habitat of these perilous creatures with redoubled attention to any suspicious movement….and if possible one even tries to avoid such places.Continue Reading
‘Conscience, conscience! Divine instinct, immortal and celestial voice, sure guide of a being that is ignorant and limited, but intelligent and free; infallible judge of good and evil that makes man like unto God;’ Just as Jean-Jacques Rousseau did 250 years ago, Pope Francis and the atheistic, socialist journalist Eugenio Scalfari — in a prolific and widely publicised exchange of ideas — put particular focus on the riveting theme of the morality of human conduct. Read on…
‘A second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck of lost grace.’ Since the first centuries of Christianity, the sacrament of Penance has been described in this manner (cf. Dz 1542). A vivid and eloquent image, indeed, for when a soul loses its baptismal innocence by committing a serious transgression, it falls like a person drowning into the murky waves of sin. In order not to suffer eternal perdition and to recover the lost treasure of grace, one must have recourse to Confession, the secure plank of salvation for the baptized who do not wish to perish. However, this divine remedy comes with certain conditions. Does God always pardon? Does He pardon even those who do not wish to escape from the seas of sin? Such an important topic requires a profound analysis. Enter into the Denzinger-Bergoglio…
