James
Here’s a nice follow-up to the previous post that cited Pope Francis. What do we mean when we talk about “Tradition” in the Catholic Church? Pope Benedict gives an excellent answer.
The permanent actualization of the active presence of the Lord Jesus in his People, brought about by the Holy Spirit and expressed in the Church through the apostolic ministry and fraternal communion, is what, in a theological sense, is meant by the term “Tradition.” It is not merely the material transmission of what was given at the beginning to the Apostles, but the effective presence of the Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus, who accompanies and guides in the Spirit the community he has gathered together. ~Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church