Real moral authority

There has been a lot of debate recently about whether the President has lost his “moral authority” by the way he has handled the recent explicit incident of racism. 

The truth is there is only one moral authority, and that is God.    No man or woman can be a moral authority on anything, unless he or she is given it by God.   A President, when he is speaking on behalf of a nation, is not speaking in the name of God.   Ideally, his words and actions should reflect moral principles, but we really should not consider him having “moral authority”.

Now parents, in their role as the primary teachers of their children, are given by God a moral authority.   Why?  The Catholic religion encompasses both faith and morals.   This is the essence of Christian life.  We believe what we have received and we live what we believe.   Therefore, part of raising one’s children is to teach them morals.   To do that, one must have a certain moral authority.   That means God must grant that person such a gift, and he does just that to parents.  They do speak on behalf of God.  Being a moral authority is intrinsic to the vocation of being a parent.

As we spoke about when we discussed Holy Orders, those who receive Holy Orders (deacons, priests, and Bishops) are given the authority to teach in the name of the whole Church.  So, they too, must be given the gift of moral authority because, as we stated, the Catholic religion entails both faith and morals. 

What I say next may be a little controversial, but we shall see.  In my opinion, deacons, priests, and Bishops (in the supernatural order) and parents (in the natural order) are the only groups of people in this world who have the ability to, and in fact do receive the divine gift of moral authority.  Now one might ask what about others such as teachers, police, and yes, even Presidents?   Those people have to exercise a certain moral authority when they do their jobs, but it is not theirs in the same way that a parent or a priest’s gift of moral authority is.  In the latter cases, it is intrinsic and fundamental to whom they are as persons.   It is not just for a job, it is for their persons.   How about pastors in other denominations and religions?  Well they, too, may exercise a certain moral authority when they do their jobs, but they do not own or possess it to the same degree as a parent or priest because being a pastor is not an ontological reality to the degree that being a parent or priest is.   Becoming a parent or priest changes one in his core, it changes him ontologically.   I do not believe the same holds true in the other cases.

So I think as a society, when we look too much to those who have not received the divine gift of moral authority, but rather, may merely try to exercise such a thing, such as Presidents, it causes us trouble.  No, we must look for genuine moral authority in the right places.

Besides these specific individuals (parents and those in Holy Orders), there is one other entity, a collective body, to which God has given the divine gift of moral authority, and that is the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.   The word “magister” in Latin means “teacher” in old ecclesial Latin.   The magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church, which, as referenced earlier, necessitates teaching faith, and morals.   We read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (p.2032):  The Church, the "pillar and bulwark of the truth," "has received this solemn command of Christ from the apostles to announce the saving truth. To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any human affairs to the extent that they are required by the fundamental rights of the human person or the salvation of souls."

Specifically in the Church, what constitutes the Magisterium?   This teaching authority is exercised by the Bishops, as a collective body, in unity with the Holy Father.   I have referenced before the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to “teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19).   This is what he told his first disciples to do.    He instructed them to go out and teach faith and morals to all people, to the ends of the earth, until the end of the earth.  He gave them moral authority.   This teaching mission has been going on down through the ages, through the successors of the Apostles, the Bishops.  We read in paragraph 2033 of the Catechism:

The Magisterium of the Pastors of the Church in moral matters is ordinarily exercised in catechesis and preaching, with the help of the works of theologians and spiritual authors. Thus from generation to generation, under the aegis and vigilance of the pastors, the "deposit" of Christian moral teaching has been handed on, a deposit composed of a characteristic body of rules, commandments, and virtues proceeding from faith in Christ and animated by charity. Alongside the Creed and the Our Father, the basis for this catechesis has traditionally been the Decalogue which sets out the principles of moral life valid for all men.

This is the mission the Magisterium carries out today, as the successors of the Apostles, the Bishops, continue on with the Great Commission, to teach faith, and to teach morals.   You see the Magisterium exercising its moral authority in Papal encyclicals, in pastoral letters, and at liturgy, especially in homilies.   You see it also when you talk to your priest one on one for direction, in a regular conversation, or in the Sacrament of Penance.  This great gift of the Magisterium is where the world needs to look to today for moral clarity in a world that is often morally confused.

One could get very detailed on the topic of the Magisterium, and the nuances on when and how this teaching authority is exercised in the life of the Church, but that is beyond the mission of this blog.  

Before we close, I want to make two things clear:  

1)      When the Church teaches on faith, and on morals, it is not just teaching on supernatural things.   The faith, yes, is divinely revealed, and we know things in the Faith (like the Trinity) that we could not know in the natural order.  However, grace builds on nature, so the things of the natural order must, too, be under the direction of divine moral authority.   We come to know God, as we have said in prior posts, through the natural word, reason, and Divine Revelation.   The Magisterium, therefore, has the authority to speak on matters that pertain to both the natural and the supernatural.   One can discern morality through the natural world, and through the power of reason.   But Divine Revelation is an aid to this, both to knowing it, and living it out.   The moral authority of the Church sheds light on the natural and supernatural ends of morality.

2)      The Church does not just tell us what the moral rules and regulations are.  She just doesn’t teach us what is right and what is wrong.  She just doesn’t tell us to be moral and then leave us to do so on our own.    No, she, through the seven Sacraments (see my recent series on them); gives us the graces needed to live the moral life, and therefore, the ability to be saved.   She truly is a Mother in this regard.   In fact, the section of the Catechism where the quotes came from in this post is entitled “The Church, Mother and Teacher”.    We can see why.

So, please, when looking for true moral authority in the world, look in the right place.  Look to your family.  Look to your pastor.  But above all, look to the teachings of Holy Mother Church.  

I thank God often for the gift of the Magisterium.    I thank God he did not leave us orphans, but left us a real Mother to guide us in the ways of salvation, so that we can live moral, upright, grace-filed lives in this Earth, and he happy forever  with him in the Kingdom of Heaven, where the joys of living a moral life will be celebrated forever.

Joseph, light of Patriarchs, pray for us.