Just because a man is a priest does not mean that everything he says or teaches is correct. Faithful Catholics need always to discern in a mature way whether what a priest says is right or wrong.
For example, some priests say that Jesus is not present in the Blessed Sacrament. These priests are wrong. Christ is present; body, blood, soul and divinity.
Some priests say Jesus did not really rise from the dead. They are wrong. He did indeed rise on the Third Day.
Some say He did not found a Church, but He did — the one and only true Church, the Catholic Church.
Some say that Jesus did not work any miracles and that the gospels were written by Christians in general. But Jesus did work miracles and the gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Some priests say that you don’t have to follow the Pope, but this notion is also wrong. We must follow the Holy Father in Faith, Morals and Church discipline.
Just as evil as the above false teachings is the tendency of some priests to excuse or even promote immoral lifestyles. Some say that there is no sin in pre-marital sex, no sin in contraception, no sin in homosexuality, no sin in divorce, no sin in masturbation, no sin in missing Mass on Sunday. But the priests who say these things are wrong. All these are mortal sins. (Although in the case of divorce there is such a case as an innocent divorcee who opposed a divorce which was forced upon him or her. Such a person is innocent of mortal sin because he or she did not willfully choose to commit the sin of divorce. Nevertheless, such innocent divorcees must still consider themselves married, as they truly still are, and may not marry again until either their spouse dies or they receive an annulment from the Catholic Church.)
We all must discern what priests say. Just because a man is ordained a Catholic priest doesn’t mean that what he teaches in faith and morals is the truth. I myself am a priest and I am certainly capable of teaching error.
So how do we know if what a priest teaches is true? We simply must look to a higher teaching authority. We must listen to what the Holy Father and Church Councils teach on Faith and Morals, and obey what the Church officially instructs in matters of Church discipline. A priest’s teachings are wrong if they do not convey what the official Catholic Church teaches. A priest’s teachings are true if they accurately convey the Church’s official teachings.
We should all be mature enough as Catholics not to let our Faith be harmed or disturbed by the incorrect teachings of some priests. We should be knowledgeable enough about our Faith to know if what a priest is teaching is true or false. How can we know this?
By reading the official Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Fr. Sullivan, M.J., is a priest with the Miles Jesu order. Miles Jesu is an Institute of Consecrated Life dedicated to promoting reverence to the Blessed Sacrament, devotion to Our Lady and faithfulness to the official teachings of the Church. For information on Miles Jesu and its Seminary Program, please call 1-800-654-7945 or visit their website.
