Archbishop Dolan: Pope cannot change Catholic teaching

November 24, 2010

Catholic teaching on the immorality of condom use has not changed, and not even the Pope can change Catholic moral teaching, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York has told The New York Times.

“The Pope didn’t say, ‘Oh good, you should use a condom,’” Archbishop Dolan said. “You get the impression that the Holy See or the Pope is like Congress and every once in a while says, ‘Oh, let’s change this law,’” he said. “We can’t.”

During the interview, Archbishop Dolan also lamented the decline of Sunday Mass attendance and said that 2011 would be commemorated as the Year of the Mass in the archdiocese. Praising the forthcoming revised English translation of the Roman Missal, he said, “I think there’s a renewed awe, a sense of reverence, a greater fidelity to the ancient texts.”

 

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Further information:

• A New Leader Confronts Catholics’ Disaffection (New York Times)