Monday, October 22, 2001 3:47 PM

Obedience – A better offering than Fasting.

Mailings regarding Ana Lizarralde’s difficulties with her Bishop were sent on September 10, /forum/forum408.html and October 19, /forum/forum425.html

Some have asked why Ana signed the document with which she was presented by the Ecclesistical Tribunal. Her answer was: “I don’t know why I signed, it didn’t even occur to me that I could have the chance of refusing to sign. The idea of obedience embedded in my mind!!!

Below is a follow-up item from Fr. Abberton to his mailing of October 10th, /forum/forum424.html It directly addresses Ana’s situation.

Obedience – A better offering than Fasting.

I believe this was the inspiration given to St. Teresa of Avila.

How to obey? First of all, it is true that the conscience is the primary authority in moral actions, but everyone has a duty to inform their conscience. A Christian must read the Scriptures and listen to the teaching authority of the Church. For Catholics this would include the Pope and the Bishops in union with him. For Orthodox it is Holy Tradition as expressed through the saints and patriarchs. For Protestants, the Bible has first place, but there is also a need to discern within the Church community, with the pastor and others etc. In every case, there must be humble prayer. Humility is the primary virtue. Lose that and you end up losing everything.

Vatican II spoke of bishops “in union with the Pope”, so this is my first clear answer. The bishop should be in union with the Pope in the matter requiring our obedience. In the case mentioned, it would seem that the Bishop is not acting in accordance with Cardinal Ratzinger, is not following the correct rule of Canon Law, and is therefore not in union with the Pope in that issue. However, this is where it gets a little complicated.

There is a virtue called prudence which is very important. Not only that, but the Bishop has jurisdictional authority and, in fact, can enforce this even though we might disagree with him. We must also avoid giving any scandal to others who might not understand our position at the time, and whatever course of action we decide on needs to be considered along with the probable consequences – not only to ourselves, but to the cause we espouse.

There are times when we must obey to some extent, but not completely.

Any Bishop has the right to forbid True Life in God meetings in his Diocese. We might appeal, but his jurisdictional authority gives him the right to run his Diocese in such matters as this however he thinks best. Since inspired messages, apparitions and the like are not part of the deposit of the Faith, and are not seen as necessary (as regards our salvation) the Bishop has a right to forbid public presentations of such things if he so wishes. He cannot forbid private (including house meetings) devotions, especially if these have not been forbidden by the Holy See.

In general, obedience should always be offered, even if we consider the Bishop to be wrong. In this we have the example of the saints. I often say that there is no disobedient saint. What I mean by that, is that I do not know of any saint who deliberately and publicly disobeyed a religious superior. St. Thomas More (and others) disobeyed the Crown and were martyred, a bishop who is seriously contradicting the known teaching of the Pope does not deserve our obedience in that matter, but may deserve our obedience in other matters.

One of the best examples of obedience is Teilard de Chardin. Looking back, it seems that he was treated unfairly. The Pope recently said some good things about him. Some of the things he was accused of now seem “silly”. He was not well understood. He was obedient to an exemplary extent. This does not mean that he destroyed his articles or books. In fact, his work was published through secular channels. He died in obscurity and was a very holy priest.

I do not have the time to submit a full treatise on holy obedience, but I make this point very seriously and firmly. Without obedience, we have no safeguards that we are not being deceived. Refuse obedience and you are in danger of becoming a prisoner of your own fallible ideas. It is usually wiser to obey a superior who is wrong than to disobey. There is a right of appeal, of course, and there are times when that path must be taken. On balance though, the suffering of obedience is a more acceptable sacrifice. With regard to the Notification, it was right (and still is right) to appeal. The appeal must be made respectfully and charitably.

The norms for sharing Holy Communion can only be established according to each person’s denomination. I am not saying this is a good situation, but this is what we have at the moment, and there are good reasons for respecting these things.

I hope I have expressed myself reasonably well. (I am tired and unwell at the moment). If I need to, I am happy to return to this subject since it is extremely important.

Fr. John Abberton