The Magisterium or Teaching Authority
of the Church
by Fr. William G. Most
By the Magisterium we mean the teaching office of the Church.
It consists of the Pope and Bishops. Christ promised to protect the
teaching of the Church : "He who hears you, hears me; he who rejects
your rejects me, he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me" (Luke
10. 16). Now of course the promise of Christ cannot fail: hence when
the Church presents some doctrine as definitive or final, it comes
under this protection, it cannot be in error; in other words, it is
infallible. This is true even if the Church does not use the solemn
ceremony of definition. The day to day teaching of the Church
throughout the world, when the Bishops are in union with each other
and with the Pope, and present something as definitive, this is
infallible. (Vatican II, Lumen gentium # 25). It was precisely by
the use of that authority that Vatican I was able to define that the
Pope alone, when speaking as such and making things definitive, is
also infallible. Of course this infallibility covers also teaching
on what morality requires, for that is needed for salvation.
A "theologian" who would
claim he needs to be able to ignore the Magisterium in order to find
the truth is strangely perverse: the teaching of the Magisterium is
the prime, God-given means of finding the truth. Nor could he claim
academic freedom lets him contradict the Church. In any field of
knowledge, academic freedom belongs only to a properly qualified
professor teaching in his own field. But one is not properly
qualified if he does not use the correct method of working in his
field, e.g., a science professor who would want to go back to
medieval methods would be laughed off campus, not protected. Now in
Catholic theology , the correct method is to study the sources of
revelation, but then give the final word to the Church. He who does
not follow that method is not a qualified Catholic theologian.
Vatican II taught (Dei Verbum # 10): "The task of authoritatively
interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on
[Scripture or Tradition], has been entrusted exclusively to the
living Magisterium of the Church, whose authority is exercised in
the name of Jesus Christ."
Taken from The Basic Catholic Catechism
PART FIVE: The Apostles' Creed IX - XII
Ninth Article: "The Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints"
By William G. Most. (c) Copyright 1990 by William G. Most.
