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About this quote

What does it mean?
The Catholic Church is structured around shared doctrine, not open-ended individual skepticism.
In plain terms
The Church is built on shared beliefs, not just free thinking.
What can you take from it?
Communities need shared core beliefs to function.

Where it applies

  • religious affiliation
  • group formation
  • institutional loyalty

Putting it to work

  • leadership
  • policy formation
  • group cohesion

Questions to consider

  • What binds a community together?
  • Can faith survive constant questioning?

Another view

Free inquiry can strengthen belief when guided responsibly.

More from John Paul II (Pope)

  1. 'The truth is not always the same as the majority decision.

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  2. We do not live, love, or die for practice.

    Permalink to quote #76
  3. The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications m…

    Permalink to quote #73

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