[patent]

Its not often that you get an official document actually admitting that the Church has NO AUTHORITY to do things. There are limits even to absolute jurisdiction!

Those limits, however, are defined and explained by the Church, not by schismatics.

patent  +AMDG

[Tantumergo]

"Those limits, however, are defined and explained by the Church, not by schismatics."

I agree with you totally - they have indeed already been so defined in Pastor Aeternus, which teaching was repeated in Lumen Gentium.

Why I think JP II's statement in Ordinatio sacerdotalis is so important, is that rather than stamping his foot and saying "You shall believe this because I'm the Pope and I say so!", he has the genuine humility to profess that even the supreme jurisdiction inherent in the Papacy does not extend to the point where it can change the substance of the sacraments or divine revelation.

When looked at in this context, it should do something to allay the fears of many traditionalists about how far things can go.

I would add that in all that I have said in this post and those previously on infallibility, I am open to correction by the competent authorities if I have misrepresented the true teaching of the Church in any way.