Here we are, coming up on the third week of Lent. If we have been observing Lenten practices, have started to notice how much we used to enjoy meat on Fridays. Maybe in our weakened state, we're also trying to deal with the latest news quote from Pope Francis. How can Catholics know what they must believe, what are we free to reject and how do we tell the difference?

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After the latest reaction to what Pope Francis is "supposed to have said", it may be good to step back and clarify levels of Church teaching.

The Deposit of Faith. The teachings of the Catholic Church handed down since the time of the Apostles through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, the two sources for the Deposit of Faith. A succinct guide for this would be those teachings clearly defined by Jesus in the Gospels and other New Testament writings as well as the list of beliefs found in the Nicene Creed. Catholics are required without exception to believe in all of these teachings. With these truths, we cannot say, "I believe this, but I do not believe that." Examples of this are the Most Holy Trinity, the two Natures (human and divine) in the one Person of Jesus Christ (as is mentioned in the Creed) and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist (as it comes from the Gospel according to John, chapter 6).

Dogma. With some divine irony, the Greek word dogma means "opinion" or, more literally, "that which one thinks is true". Early documents, such as the writings of the Fathers and even later theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas tended to use the term in a sense of a theological opinion. However, in later centuries the word has come to mean something much more specific.  The late Avery Cardinal Dulles explained the present meaning of the term: "In current Catholic usage, the term 'dogma' means a divinely revealed truth, proclaimed as such by the infallible teaching authority of the Church, and hence binding on all the faithful without exception, now and forever." (The Survival of Dogma, 153)
The Catechism of the Catholic Church discusses the topic in paragraph 88: "The Church's Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these."
First, a dogma must be divinely revealed. That is to say, it must be found explicitly or implicitly in the Deposit of Faith that Christ gave the Church. This is found in sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition. If something is to be a dogma, it must be in one of those two places--or in both of them.
Second, a dogma must be infallibly taught by the Magisterium as divinely revealed. This is an important qualifier, because the Magisterium is capable of infallibly defining certain things that aren't divinely revealed. According to Church teaching, the Magisterium is able to infallibly teach both things that have been divinely revealed and truths that have a certain kind of connection with them, so that they may be properly explained and defended. In addition to the Scriptural and Traditional examples above, examples of dogma are the Immaculate Conception and perpetual virginity of Mary and the efficacy of the seven Sacraments of the Church (Baptism, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Anointing of the Sick).

Doctrine. The term "doctrine" comes from the Latin word doctrina, which means "teaching." But the word means a bit more than that. Ideas developed by a faithful Catholic theologian may represent Catholic theology but that do not make them Catholic doctrine. For that the intervention of the Magisterium, the teaching Office of the Church, is needed, so a basic definition is that a doctrine is "a proposition (or set of propositions) taught by the Magisterium of the Church."
In some cases the term "doctrine" may be used to refer to things that have been infallibly taught by the Magisterium. It may even be used as a synonym for "dogma," but it is easy to show that this is not always the case. For example, the Code of Canon Law provides that: "No doctrine is understood as defined infallibly unless this is manifestly demonstrated." (Can. 749 §3.) All dogmas are infallibly defined, so this says that there can be doctrines that are not infallible and thus that are not dogmas. Examples of doctrine are the Church's teachings on the existence of Original Sin, the immortality of the soul and immediate judgment after death, the Church's inability to ordain women, papal infallibility and the inerrancy (free from error) of Scripture.

Discipline. These are man-made specific applications and are often interpreted from and/or derived from dogmatic and doctrinal teachings. As such, they can be re-interpreted and changed by the Church as needed to remain applicable to the times. However, this is not to say that the authority to enact discipline is man-made. In fact, Scripture itself records the Church’s God-given authority to enact discipline: "[W]hatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven". (Mt. 18:18) This power to bind and to loose extends beyond discipline, but it certainly includes the authority to enact discipline as well. Also, while disciplines may change, the dogmas and doctrines on which they are founded and of which they interpret do not. Here can be found practices such as abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent and many of the so-called "controversies" from Pope Francis. Looking further into Pope Francis' comments regarding his thoughts on married priests will reveal that the Catholic Church already has already allowed a small number of married priests and that consideration including "tested men" (viri probati) would be confined to those relatively few areas of the world where there is no other way to address the lack of priests to celebrate the Eucharist. This is why it is so important to check several balanced news sources to best determine what was said and what was meant in its entirety!

Devotions. Devotions are practices of piety which are not part of the official liturgy of the Catholic Church but are part of the spiritual practices of Catholics. The Holy See's Congregation for Divine Worship publishes a Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy. Catholics are free to participate in these practices or not; they are not bound to following them. However, for those who can benefit from them, they help to focus their requests for intercession of the saints and their worship of God. Examples of these are the Rosary, Stations of the Cross and the various novenas.

For those who have been wondering about it: the bishops of New Jersey, included Bishop O'Connell of Trenton, have given the dispensation for St. Patrick's Day, so enjoy the corned beef!