Friday, February 23, 2007

Dr. Edward Peters: Be careful with the notion of "Ecclesia supplet"

"Ecclesia supplet": the Church supplies...

Like every good canon lawyer, Fr. Francis Hoffman knows there is much more to the Catholic Church than canon law. Thus, in answering people's questions for Our Sunday Visitor's The Catholic Answer, Fr. Hoffman draws with equal facility on Sacred Scriptures, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Code of Canon Law, and a generally rich storehouse of ecclesiastical wisdom. I never fail to learn something by reading his column.
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A recent example (TCA, March/April 2007, p. 22) was Fr. Hoffman's correct response to a reader who wondered whether the absolution he received was valid, given that the confessor changed the words of absolution from "I absolve you from your sins" to "May God . . . absolve you from your sins."
Priests changing form and/or matter...ignorance of basic Sacramental Theology 101? What gives?

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