I always think of obedience to Church authorities as being along the same lines as the commandment to obey your father and mother. But St. Paul (and others) expands on this by saying "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Eph 6:4. While the laity have an obligati…
I always think of obedience to Church authorities as being along the same lines as the commandment to obey your father and mother. But St. Paul (and others) expands on this by saying "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Eph 6:4. While the laity have an obligation to obedience and we hear about that a lot, the clergy (especially the Pope) as spiritual Fathers have a duty to not make obedience more difficult than it ought to be. To expand on Peter's point, "a bad person who abuses authority" is provoking his "children" to anger.
I always think of obedience to Church authorities as being along the same lines as the commandment to obey your father and mother. But St. Paul (and others) expands on this by saying "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Eph 6:4. While the laity have an obligation to obedience and we hear about that a lot, the clergy (especially the Pope) as spiritual Fathers have a duty to not make obedience more difficult than it ought to be. To expand on Peter's point, "a bad person who abuses authority" is provoking his "children" to anger.