Amato: Laymen Preferred

So, for obvious reasons, Archbishop Angelo Amato's talk at a communications conference organized by Opus Dei was overshadowed by his call for a boycott of the DaVinci Code movie.

Thankfully, Zenit offers a wider context of the address given by the CDF secretary -- best known to many as the author of Dominus Iesus:

The teaching of the Church is not "mere opinion," says the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Addressing the 5th Professional Seminar for Church Communications Offices, Archbishop Angelo Amato said that the magisterium of the Church should be considered as "communication of the truth of God on man and his salvation."

I.e. not a partisan political/ideological message.

Archbishop Amato, 67, acknowledged that there is a "weakening in the faithful of that ecclesial sense that the saints described as 'to love the Church and feel with the Church.'"

For this reason, he said, "the magisterium is not heard, or is rejected."

The prelate continued: Lacking is "the obedience of the faith and confidence in the efficacy of the Word of God to illuminate our personal and community history."

"Preferred to the truth of God is the opinion of the 'I,'" he said. This can be seen "clearly in television debates," he added.

And on blogs.

The archbishop said that, according to this logic, "many interlocutors intervene on an argument, among whom is, for example, a priest. The opinion of the Catholic priest -- from my point of view, I would prefer a well-prepared Catholic layman -- is put at the same level as that of all others, as the debate does not seek truth, but only the enunciation of opinions."

Preach, brother.

Oh, and speaking of magisterial compilations, the Compendium on the Social Doctrine of the Church is also available. For some mysterious reason, this one wasn't received with great anticipation.

Hmm.

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