The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s new document, Mater Populi Fidelis, has stirred debate among Catholics, especially over whether it carries magisterial authority.
Some claim it’s just a personal statement from Cardinal Víctor Fernández, not something binding on the faithful. But is that true? In this video, Pedro Gabriel looks closely at what the Church actually says about the authority of DDF documents approved by the pope, and why Mater Populi Fidelis must be considered part of the Pope’s ordinary magisterium.
Pedro also explores how similar controversies have unfolded in Church history, since the time of Pope St. Pius X to today — and what this means for how Catholics should approach the teachings of the Magisterium.
Pedro Gabriel, MD, is a Catholic layman and physician, born and residing in Portugal. He is a medical oncologist, currently employed in a Portuguese public hospital. A published writer of Catholic novels with a Tolkienite flavor, he is also a parish reader and a former catechist. He seeks to better understand the relationship of God and Man by putting the lens on the frailty of the human condition, be it physical and spiritual. He also wishes to provide a fresh perspective of current Church and World affairs from the point of view of a small western European country, highly secularized but also highly Catholic by tradition.
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