Not too long ago, as I recall, the Catholic Church throughout the world was singing the praises of John Paul II.
Is it not sobering, not to say hypocritical, that so many can pay lip service to a pope’s life while conveniently forgetting his unequivocal teaching on the absolutes of the moral law and the demanding requirements of the Gospel? Quite possibly the greatest doctrinal legacy of his pontificate is the sweeping
Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor of 1993, the first comprehensive treatment of the foundations of moral theology in the papal magisterium.
Curiously, it seems to have escaped the notice of some members of the hierarchy that the authoritative teaching of this encyclical condemns ahead of time Cardinal Kasper’s outrageous “pastoral” proposals that violate Catholic doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage—proposals shamefully echoed once again in the
Instrumentum Laboris of the upcoming Synod on the Family in October 2015.
Anyone who plans to engage these issues in a public way had better set aside a weekend for reading (or re-reading) Veritatis Splendor, because it exposes the deep roots of the entire discussion and shows clearly what is at stake: the mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the credibility of the New Covenant, the reality of God’s grace, and the infallibility of the Church.
While one might usefully quote nearly the entire encyclical, what follows are some passages particularly relevant to our times.
Excerpts from Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor (1993)
26.
In the moral catechesis of the Apostles, besides exhortations and
directions connected to specific historical and cultural situations, we find an ethical teaching with precise rules of
behaviour. . . . From the Church’s beginnings, the Apostles, by virtue of
their pastoral responsibility to preach the Gospel, were vigilant over the
right conduct of Christians, just as they were vigilant for the purity of
the faith and the handing down of the divine gifts in the sacraments. … No damage must be done to the harmony
between faith and life: the unity of the
Church is damaged not only by
Christians who reject or distort the truths of faith but also by those who
disregard the moral obligations to which they are called by the Gospel (cf.
1 Cor 5:9-13). The Apostles decisively rejected any separation between
the commitment of the heart and the actions which express or prove it (cf. 1 Jn
2:3-6). And ever since Apostolic times the Church’s Pastors have unambiguously
condemned the behaviour of those who fostered division by their teaching or by
their actions.
49. A
doctrine which dissociates the moral act from the bodily dimensions of its
exercise is contrary to the teaching of Scripture and Tradition. Such a
doctrine revives, in new forms, certain ancient errors which have always been
opposed by the Church, inasmuch as they reduce the human person to a
“spiritual” and purely formal freedom. This reduction misunderstands the moral meaning of the body and of kinds of behaviour
involving it (cf. 1 Cor 6:19). Saint Paul declares that “the
immoral, idolaters, adulterers,
sexual perverts, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers” are excluded from the Kingdom of God
(cf. 1 Cor 6:9). This condemnation — repeated by the Council of Trent —
lists as “mortal sins” or “immoral practices” certain specific kinds of
behaviour the wilful acceptance of which prevents believers from sharing in the
inheritance promised to them. In fact, body
and soul are inseparable: in the person, in the willing agent and in the
deliberate act, they stand or fall together.
