What Does Belief in the Church Mean?

Credo means “I Believe”. The definitive Latin text of the Profession of Faith we make every Sunday at Holy Mass begins Credo in unum Deum – I Believe in one God. This seems to be an easy-enough thing to say. Further on, we say Et unam, sanctam, cathòlicam, et apostòlicum Ecclèsiam – and [in] one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. This seems an easy-enough thing to say too. But what does belief in the Church mean? And how does that translate into public life? Dr. Ed Hogan, director of Paul VI Institute in St. Louis will give a presentation at 1 PM on Saturday, September 15 with a Q & A session on this. Free.

Date: Saturday, September 15, 2012 - 1:00pm
Location: St. Martin of Tours Parish – Lemay
610 W. Ripa Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63125
Click Here for a Map

To “believe in the Church” means to believe everything set forth by the Church as divinely revealed. But what about other things the Pope or Bishops tell us? Do we have to believe them true? Which of them must be obeyed? How should I respond to something they say that I don’t understand or that I disagree with? In this presentation, Dr. Hogan will unpack this and show us a framework for evaluating the various levels of Church Teaching and what the response of a believer ought to be in each case.

But the point of theologizing is to guide our thought and behavior. For the past few election cycles we have been hearing about policy proposals that are all in some way “Catholic” – health care finance, immigration, environmental protection, and religious freedom. Somehow, we have to weigh all these things against other things that aren’t Catholic: abortion, contraception, gay “marriage”, and preemptive war. But how? And how can our Catholic faith help?

In their statement Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship the Bishops of the Unites States say starting at paragraph 27:

 Two temptations in public life can distort the Church’s defense of human life and dignity: The first is a moral equivalence that makes no ethical distinctions between different kinds of issues involving human life and dignity…. The second is the misuse of these necessary moral distinctions as a way of dismissing or ignoring other serious threats to human life and dignity.

How do we avoid both errors? It seems that we are always asked to accept some evil in order to achieve some good. Dr. Hogan will build on the first framework with some principles to help us properly decide among the choices on the Public Policy Menu we’re presented with at each election.

Ed Hogan has a PhD in Systematic Theology from Boston College. He has taught theology on the high school, college, and graduate school levels, as well as in parishes and adult faith formation programs. Ed served as Director of Deacon Formation, Director of the Center for Ministry, and Director of the Department of Formation for the Diocese of Saginaw, MI. He currently lives in Saint Louis, where he serves as Director of the Pontifical Paul VI Institute of Catechetical and Pastoral Studies for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, and Associate Professor of Theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. Ed and his wife have six children.