The «Hierarchy of Truths» in Moral Theology

Abstract

Pope Francis, for the first time, extends the hierarchy of truths to the moral sphere of the Catholic Church. But, certainly also to such a statement can be introduced a nuance, because in fact already previously the Magisterium had indicated a gradation of truths, although it had done in relation to the authority of the Church and the infallibility of the Pope, both in formulations of faith and of customs. In this regard, both the «Professio fidei» and the «Oath of fidelity» published in 1989 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as well as the «Instruction Donum veritatis on the ecclesial vocation of the theologian», also of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1990, and finally the «Apostolic Letter in the form of Motu proprio “Ad tuendam fidem” signed by John Paul II in 1998, and which aims to adapt the Code of Canon Law and the Canons of the East Churches to the “Professio fidei” previously mentioned. We are not going to enter into a controversial dialogue about such texts or the problems arising from their interpretation, but simply to indicate what they suppose for the question of the hierarchy of truths in Catholic moral theology.