A few years ago, Elder Robert Gay of the Seventy spoke at our stake conference and told about an invitation he received to accompany a BYU professor on a visit to the Vatican. While there they were allowed access to a room not open to the general public. It contains “special collections” of ancient documents. The highlight for him and his companion was when they were shown the oldest known copy of the New Testament. While looking at its pages, they asked their host, “What are all these handwritten markings?” The reply was very revealing: “Oh, that's where the scribes made their changes.”
Later they had lunch with the third-highest-ranking cardinal who asked them to tell him about our Church. Elder Gay said, “Can you imagine telling a Catholic cardinal about Joseph Smith’s First Vision and that the Church is led by prophets who receive revelations from God?” Well, that is what they did. And when they said, “We suppose your pope also receives guidance from God?” his response was surprising: “Oh, no! Not this pope! We are guided by tradition. That is what we follow.”
I thought of that incident today as I read an article in the New York Times that describes a recent meeting of American Catholic bishops and how they are struggling to understand the motives and intentions of their new pope. As I read the article it became crystal clear that their struggles are rooted in the fact that theirs is a church without any divine authority or revelation, where decisions are made by the most powerful factions, where tradition and power count more than asking, "What is the Lord's will in this matter?" The new pope, while apparently well-intentioned, is ruffling time-honored tradition as he seeks to bring about change, so the struggles of the American bishops are not surprising. What other reaction would you expect in an organization without a divine mandate, where policies and practices are the result of closed door elections, not revelation, and where powerful and persuasive men with no divine authority make “my will” decisions rather than seeking to know and humbly follow God’s will.
In the article I found these two quotes to be of particular interest:
1. “Among those applauding in the conference room was the man who will soon be installed in the powerful Chicago seat, Bishop Blase J. Cupich. Pope Francis has never met him, but plucked him from the obscure diocese of Spokane, Wash., passing over archbishops considered rising stars under the two previous popes. . . . [Bishop Cupich] said he had no idea how he was selected, saying, ‘Maybe someday over a nice glass of Chianti I’ll ask him.’” Imagine David A. Bednar saying THAT when asked why he was called to be an Apostle! In the Savior’s true Church everyone who has a calling knows the source of that call: “We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority” (Article of Faith 5).
2. “He says wonderful things,” Cardinal Francis George said about [Pope] Francis in an interview on Sunday, “but he doesn’t put them together all the time, so you’re left at times puzzling over what his intention is. What he says is clear enough, but what does he want us to do?” Cardinal George, who is 77 and being treated for cancer, remains a voting cardinal until age 80 and says he would like to travel to Rome to see Francis: “I’d like to sit down with him and say, ‘Holy Father, first of all, thank you for letting me retire. And could I ask you a few questions about your intentions?’” Can you imagine the following scenario: The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve have just concluded their regular Thursday morning meeting in an upper room of the Salt Lake Temple. The Twelve walk away scratching their heads and whispering to one another, “Nice meeting, but what does the Prophet want us to do?”
What a blessing to be a member of not just a church, but THE true Church of Jesus Christ, re-established by Him personally and not the product of tradition, power grabs, or closed door meetings.
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