And Cardinal Mahony is the legitimate authority in his Archdiocese in all matters requiring his governance, as was Reggie Cawcutt the legitimate authority of the Diocese of Capetown.
Collegiality, ain't it great!
From this all Christians should learn to be obedient to the commandments of God and of the Church. God has united life or death, blessing or malediction with obedience or disobedience to His commandments, and the Bible (I Kings 15:22) shows that obedience pleases God more than sacrifices or the fat of rams, and that He despises disobedience as He does witchcraft and idolatry.
We must be obedient to the Church, because Christ Himself with His holy Spirit lives in her, and governs her, and has said: Who hears not the Church, let him be to thee a heathen and a publican, therefore, shut out from eternal life.
We must be obedient to our parents, because they are placed over us by God, and we are indebted to them, under Him, for life and many benefits. Those children who do not assist their parents when they are old, poor, and helpless, or are ashamed of them, have reason to be afraid, since even Christ Jesus, the God-Man, was obedient and subject in all things to His poor mother, and to a humble mechanic who was only His foster-father.
Cursed be he that honoreth not his father and mother (Deut. 27:16); how much more cursed those who despise, deride and abandon their parents? Their eyes will one day be picked out by ravens (Prov. 30:17). If God commanded obstinate and disobedient children to be stoned (Dent. 21:20), what do those not deserve who even strike or abuse their parents?
Source, The Church's Year by Fr. Leonard Goffine
What does collegiality have to do with obedience?
Further, the comments with respect to Mahony and Cawcutt are irrelevent in this discussion (I would, nonetheless, agree that their actions are despicable and they should be cut free from the Church, but God has not granted that power to me).
I wonder what you and others would think of the man who suggests this:
To keep ourselves right in all things, we ought to hold fast to this principle: What I see as white, I will believe to be black if the hierarchical Church thus determines it. For we believe that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, his Spouse, there is the one same Spirit who governs and guides us for the salvation of our souls. For it is by the same Spirit and Lord of ours who gave the ten commandments that our holy Mother Church is guided and governed.
http://www.saveststans.com/news_07_18_04.html
Polish church expects to continue traditions
By Aisha Sultan
Of the Post-Dispatch
Sunday, Jul. 18 2004
It sounded like a mix-up in the hymnals.
The band played the frolicking tune of "It's a Small World," while the choir
sang, "Alleluia, Praise the Lord."
This year's event, held Sunday, could have been bittersweet given the church's
feud with the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Archbishop Raymond Burke has threatened
to pull the church's priest if the church board doesn't comply with his demands
to change its independent structure.
But the Mass and the picnic afterward were festive and upbeat, largely because
no one seemed to believe that this could be the last polka.
"They can take the priest," said parishioner Marek Parafiniuk, 27, of
Brentwood. "We won't give up the parish. The people will still be here."
Debbie Turek Walde, 47, who drove from Washington, Mo., for the Mass, agreed.