Friday, July 09, 2010

You'll Never Guess Who Said This

"Over the pope as expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there stands one's own conscience which must be obeyed before all else, even if necessary against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority. This emphasis on the individual, whose conscience confronts him with a supreme and ultimate tribunal, and one which in the last resort is beyond the claim of external social groups, even the official church, also establishes a principle in opposition to increasing totalitarianism."


The author revealed after the break





Pope Benedict XVI, when he was Father Joseph Ratzinger, in: Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II ,Vol. V., pg. 134 (Ed) H. Vorgrimler, New York, Herder and Herder, 1967.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

That quote, of course, was from a time before he was appointed to replace Cardinal Ottaviani as the head of the Holy Inquisition, err, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The idea of the priority of the informed conscience is how I managed to remain a Roman Catholic, cafeteria-style, until I was finally thrown out after I started transition.