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Obligation To Correct Error. Help!


Nihil Obstat

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Nihil Obstat

I can't explain right now, but pretty soon I'll probably need to justify myself, and I'll need to do it CHARITABLY. This is critical. I've made a mistake and things spiralled out of control.

What I need urgently are any sources and quotes that can be dug up from authoritative sources which prove that we as Catholics have the obligation to correct error in other Catholics and enlighten non Catholics with Truth.

I wish I could explain the situation, but trust me, this is extremely important.

Thanks in advance. You guys are the best.

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[quote]No one, however, must entertain the notion that private individuals are prevented from taking some active part in this duty of teaching, especially those on whom God has bestowed gifts of mind with the strong wish of rendering themselves useful. These, so often as circumstances demand, may take upon themselves, not, indeed, the office of the pastor, but the task of communicating to others what they have themselves received, becoming, as it were, living echoes of their masters in the faith. Such co-operation on the part of the laity has seemed to the Fathers of the Vatican Council so opportune and fruitful of good that they thought well to invite it. "All faithful Christians, but those chiefly who are in a prominent position, or engaged in teaching, we entreat, by the compassion of Jesus Christ, and enjoin by the authority of the same God and Saviour, that they bring aid to ward off and eliminate these errors from holy Church, and contribute their zealous help in spreading abroad the light of undefiled faith." Let each one, therefore, bear in mind that he both can and should, so far as may be, preach the Catholic faith by the authority of his example, and by open and constant profession of the obligations it imposes. In respect, consequently, to the duties that bind us to God and the Church, it should be borne earnestly in mind that in propagating Christian truth and warding off errors the zeal of the laity should, as far as possible, be brought actively into play.

--Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical "Sapientiae Christianae"[/quote]
[quote]Taking up an idea expressed by Pope John XXIII at the opening of the Council, the Decree on Ecumenism mentions the way of formulating doctrine as one of the elements of a continuing reform. Here it is not a question of altering the deposit of faith, changing the meaning of dogmas, eliminating essential words from them, accommodating truth to the preferences of a particular age, or suppressing certain articles of the Creed under the false pretext that they are no longer understood today. The unity willed by God can be attained only by the adherence of all to the content of revealed faith in its entirety. In matters of faith, compromise is in contradiction with God who is Truth. In the Body of Christ, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6), who could consider legitimate a reconciliation brought about at the expense of the truth? The Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae attributes to human dignity the quest for truth, "especially in what concerns God and his Church", and adherence to truth's demands. A "being together" which betrayed the truth would thus be opposed both to the nature of God who offers his communion and to the need for truth found in the depths of every human heart.

Even so, doctrine needs to be presented in a way that makes it understandable to those for whom God himself intends it. ...

--Pope John Paul II, Encyclical "Ut Unum Sint"[/quote]

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goldenchild17

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' post='1883853' date='Jun 5 2009, 12:18 AM']I can't explain right now, but pretty soon I'll probably need to justify myself, and I'll need to do it CHARITABLY. This is critical. I've made a mistake and things spiralled out of control.

What I need urgently are any sources and quotes that can be dug up from authoritative sources which prove that we as Catholics have the obligation to correct error in other Catholics and enlighten non Catholics with Truth.

I wish I could explain the situation, but trust me, this is extremely important.

Thanks in advance. You guys are the best.[/quote]


Try this :smokey:

“Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it; and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it, is no less a sin than to encourage them.”

Pope St. Felix III

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KnightofChrist

"In our time more than ever before, the chief strength of the wicked, lies in the cowardice and weakness of good men... All the strength of Satan’s reign is due to the easy-going weakness of Catholics. Oh! if I might ask the Divine Redeemer, as the prophet Zachary did in spirit: What are those wounds in the midst of Thy hands? The answer would not be doubtful: With these was I wounded in the house of them that loved Me. I was wounded by My friends, who did nothing to defend Me, and who, on every occasion, made themselves the accomplices of My adversaries. And this reproach can be leveled at the weak and timid Catholics of all countries."

Pope St. Pius X, Discourse at the Beatification of St. Joan of Arc, Dec. 13, 1908"

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[quote name='goldenchild17' post='1883913' date='Jun 5 2009, 02:38 AM']Try this :smokey:

“Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it; and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it, is no less a sin than to encourage them.”

Pope St. Felix III[/quote]

Do you have a source for that quote? The only sources I've been able to find so far are crazy sedevacantist websites ( :P ) and Wikipedia.

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goldenchild17

Can't find the source yet, but I'll look. I only know about it because it was my email signature... Here's another one, but the scholarship credibility isn't much different:

"He that sees another in error and endeavors not to correct it, testifies himself to be in error" - Pope Leo I

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[quote name='goldenchild17' post='1883925' date='Jun 5 2009, 02:57 AM']Can't find the source[/quote]

That's the problem with all these alleged papal quotes floating around the internet. :P

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KnightofChrist

"Them that sin reprove before all: that the rest also may have fear. " 1 Timothy 5:20

Edited by KnightofChrist
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goldenchild17

That's probably my biggest problem with the Internet. Way too easy to say whatever you want without any requirement to establish any modicum of scholarship. Couple that with no need to even tell people who you really are and it becomes a monster... I've never felt any need to question the orthodoxy or intentions of these quotes in particular so I've never felt the need to look up its real source, but its probably a good idea.

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I always want to know the source of any quote alleged to be from a Pope or Council. I assume others also like to know the sources of quotes, so I try to do them the courtesy of providing sources for any quotes that I give. :)

Edited by Resurrexi
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goldenchild17

and you should. I just don't really debate things much anymore so I don't really bother much looking it all up too often.

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[quote name='goldenchild17' post='1883913' date='Jun 5 2009, 01:38 AM']Try this :smokey:

“Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it; and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it, is no less a sin than to encourage them.”

Pope St. Felix III[/quote]


What is meant by 'confound evil men'?
Does he mean we lile to evil doers?

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LouisvilleFan

"Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher, forbearing, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will." -2nd Timothy 2:23-26

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Nihil Obstat

Thanks everyone. I knew I could count on you for this. Hopefully I have a chance to fix this problem soon, before it gets any worse.

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