Do go read Karl Keating’s e-letter, with some historical background on the use of "father" and "mother" as titles for religious leaders. History is a very useful thing.

Over at Pontifications, Michael Liccione takes on a matter of interest to some of you, I’m sure:

This is the second of a series of articles I’ve planned on Catholic teachings that many say have changed to such an extent that the Church’s claim to teach infallibly is thereby decisively undermined. In my first article I set forth the purpose of the series along with the hermeneutical principles I believe are necessary for dealing fairly with the whole issue.

There can be no doubt that the Church’s ancient doctrine of “outside the Church there is no salvation” (EENS) has undergone development over the centuries. And since the doctrine has been solemnly defined (see below), then according to the Church, EENS has been infallibly taught. In that respect, it is like many other doctrines. But EENS is one of a handful of doctrines whose recent development and interpretation, according to many, so qualifies the sense earlier understood as actually to negate or contradict it. If that were true, then the Church’s claim to have infallibly taught the earlier sense would be discredited, and with it her Magisterium’s claim to a unique degree of authority. Has it been? Needless to say, the Church would answer “no,” and I would too. But why not?