To Submit or Not to Submit:Obsequium to a Diocesan Bishop's Authoritative Magisterium (c. 753)
Secular society is quick to denigrate, if not altogether dismiss, any argument that is based on the authority of another. Yet, as St. Thomas Aquinas notes, the argument from authority that is based on mere human reason may be the weakest, but the argument from authority that is based on divine revel...
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
The jurist
Year: 2022, Volume: 78, Issue: 1, Pages: 231-273 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274
/ Authority
/ Revelation
/ Catholic church, Verfasserschaft1, Codex iuris canonici (1983). 753
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| IxTheo Classification: | SA Church law; state-church law SB Catholic Church law |
| Online Access: |
Volltext |
| Summary: | Secular society is quick to denigrate, if not altogether dismiss, any argument that is based on the authority of another. Yet, as St. Thomas Aquinas notes, the argument from authority that is based on mere human reason may be the weakest, but the argument from authority that is based on divine revelation is the strongest. But what happens when the authority's teaching is based partly on human reason and partly on divine revelation? Canon 753 codifies what it means for the Christian faithful to adhere religioso animi obsequio ("with religious submission of mind") to the teaching authority of their diocesan bishops. However, the notion of obsequium is highly nuanced and requires a more involved explanation—this article attempts to provide just such an explanation. The first part considers the Second Vatican Council's development of the notion of obsequium vis-à-vis a bishop's teaching authority. The second part examines the evolution from Vatican II's theological understanding into the juridical norm of canon 753. And the final part examines the practical implications of obsequium for the Christian faithful—i.e., what it means to adhere religioso animi obsequio to a bishop's teachings on Church doctrine or Church praxis, how to render obsequium when a bishop's teachings venture into areas of prudential judgment, and the impact of obsequium on the universal call to holiness. |
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| ISSN: | 0022-6858 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The jurist
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