MANIFESTO OF FAITH
“Let not your heart
be troubled!” (John 14:1)
In the face of growing confusion about the
doctrine of the Faith, many bishops, priests, religious and lay people of the
Catholic Church have requested that I make a public testimony about the truth
of revelation. It is the shepherds' very own task to guide those entrusted to
them on the path of salvation. This can only succeed if they know this way and
follow it themselves. The words of the Apostle here apply: “For above all I
have delivered unto you what I have received” (1 Cor. 15:3). Today, many
Christians are no longer even aware of the basic teachings of the Faith, so
there is a growing danger of missing the path to eternal life. However, it
remains the very purpose of the Church to lead humanity to Jesus Christ, the
light of the nations (see LG 1). In this situation, the question of orientation
arises. According to John Paul II, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a
“safe standard for the doctrine of the faith” (Fidei Depositum IV). It was
written with the aim of strengthening the Faith of the brothers and sisters
whose belief has been massively questioned by the “dictatorship of
relativism.”[1]
1. The one and triune God
revealed in Jesus Christ
The epitome of the Faith of all Christians is
found in the confession of the Most Holy Trinity. We have become disciples of
Jesus, children and friends of God by being baptized in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The distinction of the three persons in
the divine unity (CCC 254) marks a fundamental difference in the belief in God
and the image of man from that of other religions. Religions disagree precisely
over this belief in Jesus the Christ. He is true God and true Man, conceived by
the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. The Word made flesh, the Son of
God, is the only Savior of the world (CCC 679) and the only Mediator between
God and men (CCC 846). Therefore, the first letter of John refers to one who
denies His divinity as an antichrist (1 John 2:22), since Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, is from eternity one in being with God, His Father (CCC 663). We are to
resist the relapse into ancient heresies with clear resolve, which saw in Jesus
Christ only a good person, brother and friend, prophet and moralist. He is
first and foremost the Word that was with God and is God, the Son of the Father,
Who assumed our human nature to redeem us and Who will come to judge the living
and the dead. Him alone, we worship in unity with the Father and the Holy
Spirit as the Only and True God (CCC 691).
2. The Church
Jesus Christ founded the Church as a visible sign
and instrument of salvation realized in the Catholic Church (816). He gave His
Church, which “emerged from the side of the Christ who died on the Cross”
(766), a sacramental constitution that will remain until the Kingdom is fully
achieved (CCC 765). Christ, the Head, and the faithful as members of the body,
are a mystical person (CCC 795), which is why the Church is sacred, for the one
Mediator has designed and sustained its visible structure (CCC 771). Through it
the redemptive work of Christ becomes present in time and space via the
celebration of the Holy Sacraments, especially in the Eucharistic Sacrifice,
the Holy Mass (CCC 1330). The Church conveys with the authority of Christ the
divine revelation, which extends to all the elements of doctrine, “including
the moral teaching, without which the saving truths of the faith cannot be
preserved, explained, and observed” (CCC 2035).
3. Sacramental Order
The Church is the universal sacrament of salvation
in Jesus Christ (CCC 776). She does not reflect herself, but the light of
Christ, which shines on her face. But this happens only when the truth revealed
in Jesus Christ becomes the point of reference, rather than the views of a
majority or the spirit of the times; for Christ Himself has entrusted the
fullness of grace and truth to the Catholic Church (CCC 819), and He Himself is
present in the sacraments of the Church.
The Church is not a man-made association whose
structure its members voted into being at their will. It is of divine origin.
"Christ himself is the author of ministry in the Church. He set her up,
gave her authority and mission, orientation and goal (CCC 874). The admonition
of the Apostle is still valid today, that cursed is anyone who proclaims
another gospel, “even if we ourselves were to give it or an angel from heaven”
(Gal 1:8). The mediation of faith is inextricably bound up with the human
credibility of its messengers, who in some cases have abandoned the people
entrusted to them, unsettling them and severely damaging their faith. Here the
Word of Scripture describes those who do not listen to the truth and who follow
their own wishes, who flatter their ears because they cannot endure sound
doctrine (cf. 2 Tim 4:3-4).
The task of the Magisterium of the Church is to
“preserve God’s people from deviations and defections” in order to “guarantee
them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error”
(890). This is especially true with regard to all seven sacraments. The Holy
Eucharist is “source and summit of the Christian life” (CCC 1324). The
Eucharistic Sacrifice, in which Christ includes us in His Sacrifice of the
Cross, is aimed at the most intimate union with Him (CCC 1382). Therefore, the
Holy Scripture admonishes with regard to the reception of the Holy Communion:
“Whoever eats unworthily of the bread and drinks from the Lord's cup makes
himself guilty of profaning the body and of the blood of the Lord” (1 Cor
11:27). “Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of
Reconciliation before coming to communion” (CCC 1385). From the internal logic
of the sacrament, it is understood that civilly remarried divorcees, whose
sacramental marriage exists before God, as well as those Christians who are not
in full communion with the Catholic Faith and the Church, just as all who are
not properly disposed, cannot receive the Holy Eucharist fruitfully (CCC 1457)
because it does not bring them to salvation. To point this out corresponds to
the spiritual works of mercy.
The confession of sins in Holy Confession at least
once a year is one of the Church’s commandments (CCC 2042). When the believers
no longer confess their sins and no longer experience the absolution of their
sins, salvation becomes impossible; after all, Jesus Christ became Man to
redeem us from our sins. The power of forgiveness that the Risen Lord has given
to the Apostles and their successors in the ministry of bishops and priests
applies also for mortal and venial sins which we commit after Baptism. The
current popular practice of confession makes it clear that the conscience of
the faithful is not sufficiently formed. God's mercy is given to us, that we
might fulfil His Commandments to become one with His Holy Will, and not so as
to avoid the call to repentance (CCC 1458).
“The priest continues the work of redemption on
earth” (CCC 1589). The ordination of the priest “gives him a sacred power” (CCC
1592), which is irreplaceable, because through it Jesus becomes sacramentally
present in His saving action. Therefore, priests voluntarily opt for celibacy
as "a sign of new life" (CCC 1579). It is about the self-giving in
the service of Christ and His coming kingdom. With a view to receiving the
ordination in the three stages of this ministry, the Church is “bound by the
choice made by the Lord Himself. That is why it is not possible to ordain
women”(CCC 1577). To imply that this impossibility is somehow a form of discrimination
against women shows only the lack of understanding for this sacrament, which is
not about earthly power but the representation of Christ, the Bridegroom of the
Church.
4. Moral Law
Faith and life are inseparable, for Faith apart
from works is dead (CCC 1815). The moral law is the work of divine wisdom and
leads man to the promised blessedness (CCC 1950). Consequently, the
"knowledge of the divine and natural law is necessary" to do good and
reach this goal (CCC 1955). Accepting this truth is essential for all people of
good will. For he who dies in mortal sin without repentance will be forever
separated from God (CCC 1033). This leads to practical consequences in the
lives of Christians, which are often ignored today (cf 2270-2283; 2350-2381). The
moral law is not a burden, but part of that liberating truth (cf Jn 8:32)
through which the Christian walks on the path of salvation and which may not be
relativized.
5. Eternal Life
Many wonder today what purpose the Church still
has in its existence, when even bishops prefer to be politicians rather than to
proclaim the Gospel as teachers of the Faith. The role of the Church must not
be watered down by trivialities, but its proper place must be addressed. Every
human being has an immortal soul, which in death is separated from the body,
hoping for the resurrection of the dead (CCC 366). Death makes man's decision
for or against God definite. Everyone has to face the particular judgement
immediately after death (CCC 1021). Either a purification is necessary, or man
goes directly into heavenly bliss and is allowed to see God face to face. There
is also the dreadful possibility that a person will remain opposed to God to
the very end, and by definitely refusing His Love, "condemns himself
immediately and forever" (CCC 1022). “God created us without us, but He
did not want to save us without us” (CCC 1847). The eternity of the punishment
of hell is a terrible reality, which - according to the testimony of Holy
Scripture - attracts all who “die in the state of mortal sin” (CCC 1035). The
Christian goes through the narrow gate, for “the gate is wide, and the way that
leads to ruin is wide, and many are upon it” (Mt 7:13).
To keep silent about these and the other truths of
the Faith and to teach people accordingly is the greatest deception against
which the Catechism vigorously warns. It represents the last trial of the
Church and leads man to a religious delusion, “the price of their apostasy”
(CCC 675); it is the fraud of Antichrist. “He will deceive those who are lost
by all means of injustice; for they have closed themselves to the love of the
truth by which they should be saved” (2 Thess 2:10).
Call
As workers in the vineyard of the Lord, we all
have a responsibility to recall these fundamental truths by clinging to what we
ourselves have received. We want to give courage to go the way of Jesus Christ
with determination, in order to obtain eternal life by following His
commandments (CCC 2075).
Let us ask the Lord to let us know how great the
gift of the Catholic Faith is, through which opens the door to eternal life.
“For he that shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and
sinful generation: The Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when He shall
come in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38). Therefore,
we are committed to strengthening the Faith by confessing the truth which is
Jesus Christ Himself.
We too, and especially we bishops and priests, are
addressed when Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, gives this admonition to his
companion and successor, Timothy: “I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ,
Who shall judge the living and the dead, by His coming, and His kingdom: Preach
the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all
patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure
sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their
hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant,
labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry. Be
sober.” (2 Tim 4:1-5).
May Mary, the Mother of God, implore for us the
grace to remain faithful without wavering to the confession of the truth about
Jesus Christ.
United in faith and prayer
Gerhard
Cardinal Müller
Prefect
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 2012-2017
[1] The numbers in the text refer to the Catechism of The Catholic
Church.
