Let me see whether I can clarify something. You donâ??t have to like a pope. You donâ??t have to like the way he talks to reporters, the way he addresses people in public, or the kinds of shoes he wears. You donâ??t even have to like the approach he takes to various topics. But you do have to respect the teaching authority of his office when he exercises that authority officially.
In making this claim, Iâ??m merely echoing Pope Saint John Paul II who in Ad Tuendam Fidem, a document composed with the explicit intention â??of protecting the faith (ad tuendam fidem) of the Catholic Church against errors arising from certain members of the Christian faithful,â? considered it â??absolutely necessary to add to the existing texts of the Code of Canon Law. . .new norms which expressly impose the obligation of upholding truths proposed in a definitive way by the Magisterium of the Church.â?
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