I thought I would branch this out since so many threads start to stray into other tangent discussions.
I made the claim that what the Church is aware of in Her realm of responsibility, she cannot fail to condemn what is bad, and Her silence indicates official permission. This is just like a mother who is outside watching her children. If her boys are climbing a tree, and she says nothing, this positively indicates that she is giving tacit permission for them to do so. If the boys see their mother look at them as them climb higher, they can be fully confident that they are permitted to do so, even though she never speak a word.
If her boys were kicking a neighbourhood girl in the head, and the mother did nothing after seeing it, she would sin.
Holy Mother Church cannot sin, even by Her silence.
There are 9 ways that we can be guily of another's sin:
1. By counsel (to give advice, one's opinion or instructions.)
2. By command (to demand, to order, such as in the military.)
3. By consent (to give permission, to approve, to agree to.)
4. By provocation (to dare.)
5. By praise or flattery (to cheer, to applaud, to commend.)
6. By concealment (to hide the action, to cover-up.)
7. By partaking (to take part, to participate.)
8. By silence (by playing dumb, by remaining quiet.)
9. By defense of the ill done (to justify, to argue in favour.)
Holy Mother Church cannot possibly sin in any of these, ways, and my particular focus here is to show She cannot sin by Her silence.
Take at look at the next quote from a pope from the 1874 encyclical, Omnem Sollicitudinem:
"the liturgy of the Ruthenians can be no other than that which was either instituted by the holy fathers of the Church or ratified by the canons of synods or introduced by legitimate use, always with the express or tacit approval of the Apostolic See."
This speaks merely of a particular Mass rite of the Ruthenians which is rather localized in the Eastern part of the Church, and the Church is so Holy that here the pope says that even the "tacit" approval of the Holy See makes it good. That means the silent allowance, like when a mother sees her son climb a small tree and says nothing...it signifies approval by the silence. And the Church can NOT go wrong in such a tacit approval.
A couple of other quick excerpts showing the same impeccability in regard to the Church:
"it was accordingly quite impossible that the Apostolic See should tacitly allow or tolerate such a custom." (Pope Leo XIII, Apostolicae Curae)
"It has also been confirmed either expressly or tacitly by the Apostolic See." (Benedict XIV, Allatae Sunt)
Topic: "Holy" Mother Church cannot sin.... (Read 2458 times)