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Churchier Than Thou

Abstract: Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith issues FAQ on church.

In Rome on July 10, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document titled Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church that is a kind of FAQ on, well, the doctrine of the Church. The document was issued with the approval of Pope Benedict, and follows closely on the heels of the Pope's relaxation of the rules surrounding the use of the Latin Mass.
Regular viewers of The Colbert Report may find something familiar in this new document. Colbert's truthiness was voted word of the year by various lexicographical groups in 2005 and 2006.
It now appears that the Vatican will make a bid for 2007 honors with "Churchiness".
Explaining why the "Christian Communities born out of the Reformation of the sixteenth century" should not be referred to as "Churches":
"According to Catholic doctrine, these Communities do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the Church. These ecclesial Communities which, specifically because of the absence of the sacramental priesthood, have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic Mystery cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'Churches' in the proper sense."
Responding the newly published document, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson said, "The question all Christian people should reflect on today is how best to exercise forbearance and love for one another."

(Vol. I, xxxvi July 19, 2007 )

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