By Pope Paul VI: 30 June 1968
3. Likewise, we deem that we must fulfill the mandate entrusted by Christ to Peter, whose successor we are, the last in merit; namely, to confirm our brothers in the faith.(2) With the awareness, certainly, of our human weakness, yet with all the strength impressed on our spirit by such a command, we shall accordingly make a profession of faith, pronounce a creed which, without being strictly speaking a dogmatic definition, repeats in substance, with some developments called for by the spiritual condition of our time, the creed of Nicea, the creed of the immortal tradition of the holy Church of God.
4. In making this profession, we are aware of the disquiet which agitates certain modern quarters with regard to the faith. They do not escape the influence of a world being profoundly changed, in which so many certainties are being disputed or discussed. We see even Catholics allowing themselves to be seized by a kind of passion for change and novelty. The Church, most assuredly, has always the duty to carry on the effort to study more deeply and to present, in a manner ever better adapted to successive generations, the unfathomable mysteries of God, rich for all in fruits of salvation. But at the same time the greatest care must be taken, while fulfilling the indispensable duty of research, to do no injury to the teachings of Christian doctrine. For that would be to give rise, as is unfortunately seen in these days, to disturbance and perplexity in many faithful souls.
3 comments:
Nicely done. Just quoting this says so much more than any commentary could do.
By the way, since the creed starts "Credo", I've always wondered why the English text starts "We believe". Is that a mistake?
Jules – You'll be happy to know that the English text has been brought into better alignment with the Latin:
http://usccb.org/romanmissal/samples-people.shtml#nicene
Thanks for the info.
But I should add that I was not certain it was an error. I was just puzzled by it. For all I knew before reading this there might have been some good reason for saying "we believe".
And perhaps there is a good reason for "we" in that there ought to be an important difference between a group of people reciting a bunch of words and a corporate community saying the words that declare the beliefs that make us a corporate community.
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