I READ with interest the letters in this section. I am often at a loss to understand what it is in the teaching of the Catholic Church that has not been made available to me.
It has been my understanding that the Church is not just a human social club but of divine origin because Scripture clearly teaches this.
Faith, put simply, means the act of the mind prompted by the will which accepts Christ’s teaching as true.
When Pope John Paul II launched the Catechism of the Catholic Church, his foreword said this: ‘The Catechism of the Catholic Church, lastly is offered to every individual who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (cf Peter 3:15) and who wants to know what the Catholic Church believes’.
Yet we see people writing to your columns expressing their exasperation at Catholics who would read a Catechism. The impression I gain from some of your letter writers is that the Ten Commandments are ‘old hat’. What do they say of the message of Jesus and the rich young man in the Gospels.
Just what is it that people believe has changed with respect to doctrine after Vatican II. The Holy Spirit is constantly giving greater understanding and we all therefore have expanded knowledge.
The Church must always be faithful to the deposit of faith since this is the Church’s data given her by her Lord. The Church cannot change or delete any part no matter how unpopular it may become to any section of humanity.
The Church can and does explore and interpret her original deposit of faith and ‘change’ it by enlarging it. She is constantly explaining the development of doctrine. Do we have the humility to listen?
BERNICE SELLARS Bowen, Qld
