Jocose wrote: ↑15 Nov 2023, 06:23
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/terry ... -of-faith/
Terry Barber reveals US nuncio Cardinal Pierre told Bishop Strickland ‘there is no deposit of faith’
Terry Barber said that Christophe Pierre, Pope Francis’ apostolic nuncio to the US, told Bishop Strickland, ‘You need to stop talking about the deposit of faith. There is no deposit of faith.’
…
“Bishop Strickland communicated to me that … Pierre confronted [him] and said, ‘Look, the Holy Father is watching you. You need to stop talking about the deposit of faith. There is no deposit of faith.’”
“Well, you can imagine how shocking that is to hear a nuncio say there’s no deposit of faith, because if you don’t believe in the deposit of faith, you’re not Catholic,” continued Barber. “That’s not just my opinion. That’s the Church teaching.”
This is difficult to believe. If this actually happened as reported, it is difficult to hear.
The "Deposit of the Faith" is a common term, in every language spoken by the Universal Church. This phrase is used in the Documents of Vatican II (
Dei Verbum) devoted to our foundational matter.
There are several common synonyms:
"Apostolic Teaching" or "The Teaching of the Apostles"
"Sacred Tradition"
"Scripture and Tradition"
Whatever you call it, it is the bedrock foundation of Apostolic Faith. The Church cannot add to it, nor take away from it. Any attempts to do so by bishops (including the Pope) "undermine" the foundations.
We need to be very scrupulous about preserving the Deposit of Faith. The Orthodox scold the Western Apostolic Church even for defining things like "Original Sin" a bit too firmly.
But the real danger is in bowing to the World in matters of morality and sin. Jesus spoke clearly against serial polygamy, asserting that covenant marriage is from God and must be respected. Moses and St. Paul spoke clearly against L-gibbity stuff. Thus the Church has no authority to baptize those sins, much less encourage them to be widely accepted.
The denial of the Latin Mass is another concern. The worship that fed the hearts of Catholics for centuries and which has re-kindled devotion in a new generation is being tyrannically suppressed again.... and this time, there is not even enough respect for the faithful to explain why it must be suppressed.
I'm not a Latin Mass guy myself, but I can't deny the blessed fruit growing in the families who appreciate praying more closely with the Early Church. Paragraph 84 in the CCC (quoted below) respects how our ancient worship brings us in communion with the generations before us, being part of the Deposit of the Faith.
Catechism of the Catholic Church wrote:The heritage of faith entrusted to the whole of the Church
84 The apostles entrusted the "Sacred deposit" of the faith (the depositum fidei),45 contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. "By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practicing and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful."46
The Magisterium of the Church
85 "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ."47 This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
86 "Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith."48
[...]
I. MORAL LIFE AND THE MAGISTERIUM OF THE CHURCH
2032 The Church, the "pillar and bulwark of the truth," "has received this solemn command of Christ from the apostles to announce the saving truth."74 "To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any human affairs to the extent that they are required by the fundamental rights of the human person or the salvation of souls."75
2033 The Magisterium of the Pastors of the Church in moral matters is ordinarily exercised in catechesis and preaching, with the help of the works of theologians and spiritual authors. Thus from generation to generation, under the aegis and vigilance of the pastors, the "deposit" of Christian moral teaching has been handed on, a deposit composed of a characteristic body of rules, commandments, and virtues proceeding from faith in Christ and animated by charity. Alongside the Creed and the Our Father, the basis for this catechesis has traditionally been the Decalogue which sets out the principles of moral life valid for all men.
2034 The Roman Pontiff and the bishops are "authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach the faith to the people entrusted to them, the faith to be believed and put into practice."76 The ordinary and universal Magisterium of the Pope and the bishops in communion with him teach the faithful the truth to believe, the charity to practice, the beatitude to hope for.
