Setting the Record Straight:
Important Terms and Phrases to Understand

We in Voice of the Faithful-New Jersey believe that we have a right - and an obligation - to speak our concerns to the Church. This obligation is rooted in our baptismal gifts and based on principles that are embedded deep within our faith, and, indeed, expressed in Church teaching and Canon Law. 

In the documents of the Second Vatican Council ("Dogmatic Constitution on the Church" (Lumen Gentium) n. 37, we read:

They [the laity] are, by reason of knowledge, competence or outstanding ability which they may enjoy, permitted and sometimes even obliged to express their opinion on those things which concern the good of the Church.

In 1994, Pope John Paul II wrote in his apostolic letter, Tertio Millennio Adveniente: "Let us listen to what the faithful say, because in every one of them the Spirit of God breathes."

Guided by these teachings and impelled by the times in which we live, Jim Post, president of national Voice of the Faithful, has said: "Catholics must stand up and speak out because our Church is at a crossroads."   And Rev. Donald Cozzens, in his latest book, Faith That Dares to Speak, has obsrved.

Our first fidelity must be to Christ and our conscience. The Vocie of the Faithful and a growing number of groups calling for renewal and reform are speaking from the center of their souls - what is heard is the voice of conscience.

So that we in VOTF-NJ may understand the foundation - and the value - of our right to speak truth, we present here brief summaries of important terms and phrases in the discussion.

Revelation

God's self-disclosure ("unveiling") to human-kind through creation, event, persons and especially Jesus Christ, as known through the Scriptures.   Revelation, for example, tells us that God loves us.  

Tradition (Upper case "T")

Both the process of "handing on" the faith and that which has been handed on.  Tradition includes Scripture, the essential doctrines of the Church, the Eucharist, and the other sacraments, etc.

Tradition can also be described as "the teaching and practice of the church, formally distinct from the words of Scripture, as this teaching and practice has been carried on continuously from the beginning....Unwritten traditions form(ed) a second, independent, original, authentic source of information and doctrine alongside of scripture, capable of supplementing it, though never contradictory of it." (Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology)

tradition (lower case "t")

Changeable customs, institutions, teachings, and practices.      

An example may help. Tradition (upper case) teaches us that there should be a leadership position in each community (i.e. priesthood) and that this is a sacred office while tradition (lower case) may determine that the priest must be celibate or must be responsible for certain tasks.

Theology, for example, clarifies what the sacraments are and how Christ is to be understood.

Doctrine

An official teaching of the Church.  More specifically: official teachings are promulgated by official teachers and teaching bodies, that is, by the magisterium: ecumenical councils, popes, and regional or national bodies of bishops, including local, regional, and international synods.  These doctrines vary in their gravity. Different teaching bodies have different degrees of authority. Doctrine is changeable.

One example: It was once Catholic doctrine that Church and State must not be separate entities.

Dogma

A doctrine that is taught definitively, that is, infallibly, is called a dogma.  Every dogma is a doctrine, but not every doctrine is a dogma.  Dogma is like Tradition (upper case); doctrine is like tradition (lower case).

A judgment of disagreement with an official Church teaching or practice.  Dissent is not heresy. An understanding of dissent requires an understanding of the various levels of authoritative church teaching and the appropriate response to them. Just as not all doctrine is dogma, not all dissent is heresy.

In 1968, following the encyclical, Humane Vitae, and the dissent of many Catholics, including theologians and priests, the U. S. Bishops noted in a pastoral letter  ("Human Life in Our Day") that dissent is legitimate under three conditions: it is based on serious reasons; it is respectful of teaching authority; it does not cause scandal. 

One may, for example, dissent or disagree with the teaching on mandatory celibacy.

Hierarchy of truths 

A principle that recognizes the relative importance assigned to various Christian doctrines.  "...in Catholic teaching there exists an order or 'hierarchy' of  truths, since they vary in their relationship to the foundation of the Christian faith." (Second Vatican Council, Decree on Ecumenism,11)

While this particular phrase arose during Council discussions, the idea has deep roots in Scripture and in the early creeds. There is a core to our Christian belief; at the very center of our faith are the Trinity, the Incarnation, and Redemption.  "The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life&.it is the most fundamental and the most essential teaching in the hierarchy of the truths of faith.' " (The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 90)  Other truths are to be understood in relationship to these central teachings.

Sensus fidelium  (the sense of the faithful) 

"The body of the faithful as a whole, anointed as they are by the Holy Spirit, cannot err in matters of belief." (Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 12)

The idea goes back to the time of the Apostles (Acts 15:22). From the earliest centuries we learn that Church teaching can never contradict the universal and corporate faith of the Church. Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote that the faithful should be consulted in matters of doctrine.

The sensus fidelium forms part of a theology of the laity, which in turn must be an integral part of our understanding of church.

Reception

The process by which official teachings and disciplinary decrees are accepted, assimilated and interpreted by the whole Church. Reception is the confirming witness of the sense of the faith by the People of God regarding a decision's truth and service.

Discipline 

"The instruction and laws, which the Church legislates for the governing of the actions of the faithful." (Maryknoll Catholic Dictionary) Note that ecclesiastical discipline is usually understood to refer to structures and behaviors, not to doctrine. 

An example of church discipline might be the order of the Mass. Before Vatican II, the Mass was said in Latin and the priest did not face the people. After Vatican II, the discipline was changed.

SOURCES

Our glossary owes a debt to:

McBrien, Richard. Catholicism. New York: Harper San Francisco, 1994.

Mc Brien, Richard, ed. The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism. New York: Harper Collins, 1995.

Additional sources, as noted:

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

Catechism of the Catholic Church.

NOTE

Members Mary Ann Schoettly and Carole Rogers prepared this report for VOTF-NNJ. They have each received M.A. in Theology degrees from the College of Saint Elizabeth. Mary Ann teaches theology and ministry courses; Carole is a writer specializing in religion and spirituality.