The following is part of a special from Catholic World News concerning church teaching vs. matters of opinion:

On Easter Sunday, Bishop Robert Hennessey, a Boston auxiliary, celebrated Mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish. That was significant-- indeed the bishop's presence prompted a prominent headline story in the Boston Globe-- because officially that parish has been closed since 2004.

Some parishioners at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel have actively resisted the decision of the Boston archdiocese to shut down their church. Every Sunday they gather there for a prayer service. But no priest is assigned to the parish; that weekly service is not a Mass. Unless they are attending Sunday Mass elsewhere, then, the defiant parishioners holding these prayer vigils are violating a solemn precept of the Church.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2181) confirms the traditional teaching-- not changed by Vatican II, as many Catholics mistakenly believe-- that attendance at Sunday Mass is a serious obligation, and those "who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin."

During his visit to the East Boston parish, Bishop Hennessey explained that his presence was an indication of pastoral concern. He made that concern evident when he admonished them:

It is my firm belief that what happens here on most Sundays is not a good thing, that it could even put your souls in peril. I'm here as your bishop to remind you of that………..

"What he said was just his personal opinion," said Rita Grillo, 42, who lives across the street and has attended the church for 38 years.

I wonder, In those 38 years, how often had Rita Grillo heard a priest defend the authority of Church teaching, and explain that some questions of faith and morals are not merely matters of personal opinion? For that matter, how many American Catholics recognize that the authority of Catholic doctrine is based on the teaching of Jesus Christ, and its accuracy is guaranteed by the guidance of the Holy Spirit?

"What he said was just his personal opinion," said Rita Grillo, 42, who lives across the street and has attended the church for 38 years.

Now I wonder: In those 38 years, how often had Rita Grillo heard a priest defend the authority of Church teaching, and explain that some questions of faith and morals are not merely matters of personal opinion? For that matter, how many American Catholics recognize that the authority of Catholic doctrine is based on the teaching of Jesus Christ, and its accuracy is guaranteed by the guidance of the Holy Spirit?

"What he said was just his personal opinion," said Rita Grillo, 42, who lives across the street and has attended the church for 38 years…….

Bishop Hennessey visited Our Lady of Mt. Carmel as a successor to the apostles. His message, in essence, was that the Lord Jesus expects them to attend Sunday Mass. The parishioners were delighted by his presence, the Globe relates; they recognized the bishop as a legitimate representative of the Boston archdiocese. But they did not recognize him as a teacher of divine truth.

There are, of course, many Christians who do not recognize the authority of Catholic bishops to convey Christ's teaching authoritatively. Ordinarily these people are called Protestants. Over the course of the past generation, unfortunately, Americans have come to accept, almost reflexively, the stand taken by "cafeteria Catholics," who honor only those Church teachings with which they happen to agree.