Q. 1. I heard someone explaining something about the teaching of the Catholic Church. He referred to the "mind of the Church." What does that mean?

A. 1. The expression "The mind of the Church" is the Church's attitude or policy in matters of faith or morals that are not explicitly taught in official pronouncements. Where specific doctrine or direction is absent, it is the Church's intention behind her teaching or regulation. To act "according to the mind of the Church" is a mark of Catholic loyalty and frequently urged on the faithful by the modern popes.

Something similar to the mind of the Church may be said of the ideas or opinions which live, as it were, and stir the social sentiment of a people, a family, or any other well-characterized group to form what is called the spirit of the day, the spirit of a family, or the spirit of a people.