QUESTION : The German cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller states that “when it comes to obedience to ecclesiastical authority, one must distinguish between religious obedience, which refers to the authoritative submission of revealed faith, and willingness to willingly follow the Pope and the bishops even concerning the discipline of ecclesiastical organization and the order of the liturgy”. “We distinguish between the substance of the sacraments, over which the Pope and the bishops have no power of disposition, and the liturgical rite, which has historically developed into the various legitimate rites within the single Catholic Church”, adds the cardinal. What are the consequences of such a distinction in the exercise of obedience in the context of one’s faith and worship? – Jacob Thomas

ANSWER: Jacob Parappally MSFS

The statement of the German cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller concerning obedience to the ecclesiastical authority and his nuancing of religious obedience to the revealed truths taught by the Church and the obedience involved in following the Church’s organizational discipline and the order of liturgy is both confusing and liberating. Should a Catholic faithful give the same degree of obedience to both the revealed truths and the means by which they are communicated authoritatively and lived authentically? Would one cease to be a member of the Church if some organizational disciplines are not followed?
In Germany, thousands leave the Church as they do not want to pay church-tax as determined by the Government following the agreement reached between the Church and the State. Would the paying of tax determine one’s membership of the Body of Christ and not one’s baptism? Would following the order of the Mass before Vatican II by a group or a large number of the faithful make them less Catholic or not Catholic at all ? Or can only those who accept the post-Vatican II liturgical reform be called truly Catholic? Can a rite for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist or other sacraments which was legitimately considered authentic Catholic worship for centuries or for a considerable period of time be declared not legitimate anymore by any ecclesiastical authority? Can one separate what is essential to Catholic faith and is important but not that essential? From the statement of Cardinal Müller, many such confusing questions can be raised.
From another perspective, the distinction Cardinal Müller makes can give a liberative outlook on the relationship between one’s faith and the various expressions of it. When an originary religious experience is articulated in creed, code and cult and lived by a community it becomes a religion. The early Christian community celebrated the originary faith-experience of both the risen Jesus and the Pentecostal experience of the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in their worship especially in the table-fellowship of breaking the bread. Paul says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”( I Corinthians 11:26). The celebrated dictum, Lex orandi, lex credendi, the law of prayer is the law of belief, has become an important tenet of liturgical theology. It is an adaptation of the words of Prosper of Aquitaine, a Christian writer and contemporary of St Augustine. Originally what Prosper wrote was, ut legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi (that the law of praying establishes the law of believing). It meant that the teaching of the Church (lex credendi) concerning the revealed truths articulated and expressed in dogmas and doctrines become one’s life of faith in the celebration of the liturgy and prayers(lex orandi).
The teaching of the Church, or the content of faith, or the articulated faith finds meaning and expression in liturgy. The content of faith is expressed not in the how of the liturgy but in the what of the liturgy. Unfortunately, the how is given more importance than the what of the liturgy that leads to emptying the content of faith or questioning its credibility for those who take their faith-affirmations seriously. However, if one takes the statement of Cardinal Müller in a liberative sense, it can mean that while total and unconditional surrender or obedience to the revealed truth taught by the magisterium of the Church is absolutely necessary the same degree of obedience is not absolutely necessary to the organizational and liturgical matters of the Church. This is implicit in the historical and organic development of various liturgical rites in different cultural traditions in the one Catholic Church. The call for the development of an Amazonian rite during the Amazonian Synod itself is an example for the same. Unity of faith and diversity of its expressions make faith living and vibrant.
Enslaving Obedience and Liberating Obedience
Total and unconditional obedience or submission of one’s will to God is absolutely necessary for any Christian in order to be a member of the Church. According to Thomas Aquinas, God must be obeyed in all things but human authorities are to be obeyed only in certain things (Summa Theologiae II, II, Q 104, 4 & 5) . The Church teaches that all Catholics must practice obedience of faith. It is assent of faith to the magisterium and divine revelation (word of God) and religious submission to the Pope and other bishops. A large number of Catholics would easily and unquestionably accept whatever the Pope or the bishops command them to practice. They take it for granted that these are authoritative teachings and therefore a catholic must accept them and practice them. A few who raise any serious questions about them are warned, reprimanded and even excommunicated if they persist in holding on to their views stubbornly and not prepared to change it and refuse to submit to the Church authorities blindly. Is a blind obedience in reality obedience at all? True obedience is not easy to practice especially when one finds such as assent of the intellect goes against one’s conscience as it is found unreasonable to the one who submits to it. However, one who stubbornly refuses to accept a particular teaching of the Church must honestly ask himself or herself whether he/she has such a deep knowledge of a particular matter concerning faith that is beyond the collective wisdom of the Church. In all cases, only that obedience to God and to any legitimate authority of the Church that flows from the free will of a person can be liberative. By the same argument, one can affirm that any blind obedience is enslaving and it is not obedience at all in the true sense of the term.
A Difficult Question about Obedience
A few questions are raised about obedience in matters of faith holding on to the doctrines of the Church using the Latin phrase. Obsequium fidei or its equivalents as used in the decrees of the Second Vatican Council. It can mean a binding obedience when it is concerned about matters of faith and doctrine. When it means obsequium religiosum or religious obedience which is also necessary for the communion in the Church it has a fluid meaning as religious attitude, submission, loyalty etc. If obsequium fidei is binding submission, obsequium religiosum is a loyal submission, reverence, respect or simple loyalty to the Church. It may be also noted that dissent or opposition to certain organizational aspects of the Church or certain liturgical aspects of the Church can also be an expression of loyalty or obsequium religiosum to the Church though it may not appear to be so. In the third chapter of his book, The Church: Learning and Teaching, the author Ladislas Örsy discusses these two types of obedience and affirms that both are needed for communion in the Church . The distinction made by Cardinal Müller is relevant in this context.
In the context of the changes brought about in all aspects of the life of the Church through the Second Vatican Council, there were questions about one’s submission to some of the teachings of Vatican II, especially, the liturgical reforms. If one finds it difficult to accept them in its entirety would it make him or her less Catholic? When some centuries-old traditional beliefs and practices are abandoned and new ones are introduced it is difficult for some believers to submit to such teachings because they were taught by the Church as authentic, valid and legitimate and obligatory to follow. Suddenly, they are told that they were no more valid. One of them was the use of the Tridentine Mass which was in use throughout the Latin rite Church since 1570.
The liturgical reforms made after Vatican II was not accepted by some and especially by a group led by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905 -1991). This group wanted to continue the Tridentine Mass or the traditional Latin Mass which was celebrated since 1570 till the new revised Roman Missal of 1970 was introduced after its promulgation in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. Already in 1962 Pope John XXIII promulgated an edition of the Tridentine Mass. In 2007 Pope Benedict XVI promulgated that the 1962 Tridentine Mass can be validly celebrated by priests normally without the people participating in it but those who seek to participate in it could do it with permission from competent authorities. .He called it an extraordinary form and the Paul VI Mass of 1970 as the ordinary or standard form. In his Apostolic Letter motu proprio Traditionis Custodes Pope Francis while permitting the use of 1962 edition of the Tridentine Mass of John XXIII made further restrictions concerning the celebration of it.
Responding to this new restrictions with regard to the use of Tridentine Mass Cardinal Müller observes that it is an expression of “brutal intolerance” against those who prefer to participate in the traditional celebration of the Mass. He observes that Pope Benedict permitted the use of the Tridentine Liturgical celebrations with pastoral concern. Cardinal Müller, alluding to Pope Benedict XVI says that “it was not necessary for him to insist on formal obedience in an authoritarian way, because even the obedience of faith to God, which is decisive for salvation, does not require blind servility, but a devotion to God Trinity with reason and free will, that is, an obesequium rationabile” . However, he says that “when it comes to obedience to ecclesiastical authority, one must distinguish between religious obedience, which refers to the authoritative submission of revealed faith, and readiness to willingly follow the Pope and the bishops even concerning the discipline of ecclesiastical organization and the order of the liturgy”. Further he says, “We distinguish between the substance of the sacraments, over which the Pope and the bishops have no power of disposition, and the liturgical rite, which has historically developed into the various legitimate rites within the single Catholic Church”. What Cardinal Müller argues for is freedom in the Church to celebrate various rites of liturgical celebration whether traditional or new without imposing sanctions or restrictions with a pastoral heart and not with a judicial mind.
Unity reveals life and Uniformity death
The true catholicity of the Church becomes visible when it celebrates plurality in all aspects of its life. Both obedience of faith or obsequium fidei which is the binding submission to the faith handed over by the apostles and faithfully taught by the Magisterium of the Church and religious obedience or obsequium religiosum which is loyal submission to all religious practices including the liturgical ones need to be evoked in the believer not by authoritarian commands but by pastoral relationship and docility to the Holy Spirit who is the originator of differences and the instigator of communion. Divisions that destroy the relationship of communion do not come from the Holy Spirit.
What is required of individual faithful, the Christian communities and the hierarchy is to discern what the Spirit wants from them to foster communion among the faithful without any hidden agenda and without any manipulation of the perceptions of the people. Political leaders do manipulate perceptions to remain in power and the controllers of the global markets do the same to acquire wealth, But the leaders of the Church should listen to the Spirit rather than using the standards of the world to determine the organizational needs including the way of celebrating the sacraments. What is imperative for the Church is to promote communion and thus unity in the Church. It nurtures life and witness to Christ and his Kingdom. Uniformity in all aspects of the Church kills the spirit of communion. When opposing unhealthy divisions and death show up, not obedience but disobedience is a virtue. When disunity is promoted in the Church or when there are forces seen at work against communion, loyalty to the Church can mean loyal obedience or loyal opposition!