Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 74(4) Nov 2024
Book Review
The Spirit of Catholicism
by Vivian Boland OP
Pub Bloomsbury Continuum
This
a a very good read. It presents the substance of Catholic belief and life.
It shows how embodiment is at the heart of Catholicism.
The author argues that Catholicism is not just another "spirituality." The Church is an embodied community. The sacraments are physical things. A really important lessonis to be drawn from this: unity matters. It is not possible to have one set of beliefs in Germany and another set in Africa. The Church as a sacrament of unity has a right to "interfere" in politics. Not as a political institution but for reasons of religion. The Church is not there just to follow the latest tends in society. It has a duty to challenge.
Christ's threefold office of king, prophet and priest is reflected in the life of the Church. The office of kingship has Peter at the head. The office of prophet has Paul. And the office of priest has John. The Church has a Petrine office. But it also the kingdom of God, so central in the preaching of Jesus.
While the third and fourth chapters describe the Church as an ideal
community. the fifth chapter describes what happens when there is
corruption in the Church. The last part of the book deals with the Church
as a sacrament where the Trinity dwells. The author's discussion of the
gift of infallibility is excellent. From 1870 when papal infallibility was
defined, the doctrine has been caricatured. The pope cannot predict the
winner of the Grand National. He has no special insight into science. He
is as good as I am when talking
about migrants and weather changing
patterns.
Infallibility is strictly limited. It defines what has always been held as true. The pope cannot invent new doctrines that depart from Tradition. The author also reminds us that the sensus fidelium is no mere vote of hands.
This is an excellent work of theology.