Pope urges doctrinal congregation to support discernment
January 21, 2022
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CWN Editor's Note: At a January 20 audience with members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Pope Francis said that “a faith that does not raise questions is a faith that has to be questioned.”
The Pope recommended that the CDF focus its work on human dignity, discernment, and faith. He decried the “growing temptation to consider the other as a stranger or enemy,” which threatens respect for human dignity. Discernment is especially necessary, he continued, at a time when “on the one hand believers find themselves faced with unprecedented and complex questions, on the other, there is an increasing need for spirituality that does not always find its point of reference in the Gospel.
The Pontiff said that he had given greater authority to the CDF in cases involving abuse, urging “more incisive” action. As an example of discernment, he said that when he uses his authority to dissolve a marriage, “I always intend to foster the Catholic faith... in the new union and in the family of which this new marriage will be the nucleus.”
Pope Francis concluded his talk by discussing preparation for the Synod on Synodality, saying: “A synodal journey without discernment is not a synodal journey.”
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