{"id":25106,"date":"2009-11-21T10:35:35","date_gmt":"2009-11-21T14:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2009\/11\/a-priests-obedience-remaining\/"},"modified":"2009-11-21T10:35:35","modified_gmt":"2009-11-21T14:35:35","slug":"a-priests-obedience-remaining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2009\/11\/a-priests-obedience-remaining\/","title":{"rendered":"A priest’s obedience = remaining in truth, says Archbishop Piacenza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Obedience is part of everyone’s human experience. Right now I can’t think of anyone on the planet who is not called\/bound to some type of obedience. Can you? In the Catholic priesthood the man being ordained a priest makes a promise of respect and obedience to the bishop (if the man is going to be a diocesan priest), for life. How counter-cultural that is! In a regular letter to those interested, the secretary at the <\/i>Congregation for Clergy has been writing periodic letters exploring various themes in the priesthood because we are in the “Year for Priests.” Today’s reflection is on priestly obedience.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

\"Promise<\/a><\/p>\n

Even if they are not bound by a Solemn Vow of
\nobedience, ordinands profess a “promise” of “filial respect and obedience” to
\ntheir own Ordinary and his Successors. If the theological standing of a Vow and
\na promise is different, the total and definitive moral obligation is identical,
\nand likewise identical is the offering of one’s will to the will of Another: to
\nthe Divine will, mediated through the Church<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
In a time such as ours, marked as
\nit is by relativism and democraticism, by various forms of autonomous
\nindividualism and libertinism, such a promise of obedience appears ever more
\nincomprehensible to the prevailing mindset. It is not rare for it to be
\nconceived as a diminution of dignity and human freedom, as a perseverance in obsolete
\nforms, typical of a society incapable of authentic emancipation.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
We who live
\nauthentic obedience know well that this is not the case. Obedience in the
\nChurch is never contrary to the dignity and respect of the person, nor must it
\never be understood as an abandonment of responsibility or as a surrender<\/b>. The
\nRite utilizes a fundamental adjective for the right understanding of such a
\npromise; it defines obedience only after mentioning “respect”, and this with
\nthe adjective “filial”. Now the term “son”, in every language, is a relative
\nname, which implies, specifically, the relationship of a father and a son. It
\nis in this context that the obedience we have promised must be understood. It
\nis a context in which the father is called to truly be a father, and the son to
\nrecognize his own sonship and the beauty of the fatherhood that has been given
\nto him. As happens in the law of nature, no one chooses his own father, nor
\ndoes one choose one’s own sons<\/span>. Therefore, we are all called, fathers and sons,
\nto have a supernatural regard for one another, one of great reciprocal clemency
\nand respect, that is to say the capacity to look at the other keeping always in
\nmind the good Teacher who has brought him into being, and who always,
\nultimately, moulds him. <\/span>Respect
\nis, by definition, simply this: to look at someone while keeping Another in
\nmind<\/span>!<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
It is only in the context of “filial respect” that an authentic obedience
\nis possible, one which is not only formal, a mere execution of orders, but one
\nwhich is ardent, complete, attentive, which can really bring forth the fruits
\nof conversion and of “new life” in him who lives it.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
The promise is to the
\nOrdinary at the time of ordination and to his “Successors”, since the Church
\nalways draws back from an excessive personalism<\/i>: S<\/span>he has at heart the person,
\nbut not the subjectivism that detracts from the power and the beauty, both
\nhistorical and theological, which characterize the Institution of obedience<\/span>.
\nThe Spirit resides also in the Institution, since it is of divine origin. The
\nInstitution is charismatic, of its very nature, and thus to be freely bound by
\nit in time (the Successors) means to “remain in the truth”, to persevere in
\nHim, present and operative in his living body, the Church, in the beauty of the
\ncontinuity of time, of ages, which joins us enduringly to Christ and to his
\nApostles.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Archbishop Mauro Piacenza<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Secretary, Congregation for Clergy<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Vatican City<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Obedience is part of everyone’s human experience. Right now I can’t think of anyone on the planet who is not called\/bound to some type of obedience. Can you? In the Catholic priesthood the man being ordained a priest makes a promise of respect and obedience to the bishop (if the man is going to be … Continue reading A priest’s obedience = remaining in truth, says Archbishop Piacenza<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2205,1818],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}