One has to remember that, for Catholics, the sources of
beliefs
include (1) the Word of God as revealed in the Bible,
and (2) the Word of
God revealed as passed down through the ages--paradosis as
St. Paul
called it--in the constant faith of the Church known as
“tradition.”
It is equally important to refresh our Faith that
(1)
the Church is the Body of Christ;
(2)
the Bishop of Rome, Successor of St. Peter, is heir
to
the gift of the keys to which Jesus refers in Matthew
16:16;
and the bishops of the world are successors to
the
Apostles (Matthew 18);
(3)
faith is developmental--not all truths revealed during
Christ’s lifetime were written down;
(4)
among the “trustworthy men” of St. Paul’s letters are the great
Fathers
and Doctors of the history of the Church; and
(5)
truths of the Church are hierarchical.