Reply #16: Official Teachings [View All]

[Dennis Quaranta]

There's a lot more room for individual conscience within the Catholic Church than people realize. The Church is not a monolith - individual bishops often represent only themselves. Some Church conservatives would like to give more authority to John Paul. You'll hear them talk about the magisterium - the teaching authority of the bishops - but in fact the Church is not bound by anything a single bishop, or group of bishops, has to say.

Depending on the issue, much of what is considered mandatory belief isn't mandatory at all. For example, many American bishops oppose the death penalty; but there is no official teaching on the death penalty. Last year an American bishop who opposed the Iraq war denounced Catholic participation in it as sinful. However, that's just his opinion.