4. The Magisterium

"I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matthew 28:20). God has promised never to abandon his Church. While it is legitimate to say that there are many levels to the truth, and that our discernment of it is sometimes like pealing an onion; its discovery is not left open to chance or to a totally subjective evaluation. Christ offers "real" truth and gives us the mechanism to understand and to preserve it. God himself protects us from error by instructing us through those he has appointed. The Gospel truth is more than simply a human testimony, it is a revelation from God which develops in our understanding, not to be rejected or distorted. The Holy Spirit is showered upon the Apostles and upon Christ's Church, insuring our faithfulness to his message of salvation. This same Spirit empowers his servants to preach it to every age and to every part of the globe. Preserving us from error, God has appointed a teaching office or Magisterium to be the proper interpreter of Sacred Scripture and Tradition. This office consists of the Pope and all the world's bishops in union with him. As the successors of Christ, the Magisterium has been gifted with a unique charism of truth which never fails. This is not to glorify them but to give glory to God through a Church ever faithful. The bishops of the Church are singled out by God's grace to protect us from error and to stand as steadfast centers of unity and truth. Priests assist them by their preaching and pastoral ministry. Parents and trusted catechists also play a role, a singular one in fact, by instructing their children.

While they have a role to play, as essential helpers to the bishops, theologians and scholars are not authentic teachers of the faith on the same level with the bishops. Their task is to help root and intensify our understanding. Theirs must be a "faith seeking understanding" and not just an uninvolved study of religion.

The presence of a Magisterium insures that the faith of the Church is itself infallible. The belief and teachings of our saving Gospel are safeguarded from error. This does not mean that we are infallible in our human natures (Lumen Gentium, 12). When the Magisterium teaches decisively in Christ's name, matters of divine faith and morals, it teaches infallibly. The ordinary teaching of the Church in her preaching and catechesis is in this sense infallible. As long as the workers in God's vineyard do not dissent from the Magisterium, the reliability of the Church's prayer and worship structures, instructions, pastoral letters, her daily living, etc., can be trusted. The bishops infallibly teach the message of Christ "even when they are dispersed around the world, provided that while maintaining the bond of unity among themselves and with Peter's successor, and while teaching authentically on a matter of faith and morals, they concur in a single viewpoint as the one which must be held conclusively" (Lumen Gentium, 25).

The extraordinary Magisterium is that which is exercised rarely and then in the most unusual and solemn of occasions. It includes the meeting of bishops in ecumenical councils and the solemn "ex cathedra" (from the chair) pronouncements from the Pope.

Gatherings of large numbers of bishops under the Pope's headship in ecumenical councils are infallible when irreformable statements are made. It should be quickly added that these propositions may not always be rendered in the best manner. Some statements from councils are not meant to be infallible, such as in particular pastoral considerations or in religious disciplines.

As the successor of St. Peter, the Pope's teaching office is pre-eminent in the Church. His authority, as Christ's Vicar, comes directly from the Lord. Even the least of his faith deliberations requires our religious assent. He is not susceptible to popularity polls. He teaches the truth of Christ both in and out of season. Even when unworthy of his office, the Lord guards the Holy See from issuing false teachings to the Church. Of course, only certain papal pronouncements are intended to be infallible. The First and Second Vatican Councils affirmed that when the Holy Father utilizes his full universal authority as shepherd and teacher, defining certain doctrines of faith and morals, and holds them out as teachings which must be held true by the entire Church, then by the assistance of God pledged to Peter, he teaches with the infallibility entrusted to the Church by Christ.

There are also authentic teachings which are simply proposed by the Magisterium in Christ's name, but without any explicit infallible expressions. The Catholic is to give religious assent even when the Church opts not to use its complete infallible authority. With something of his own authority given to Peter and the other Apostles, the Lord continues to offer us sanctification through his Church. The teachings, rules, sacraments, etc. of the Church are directed to our final end, holiness and the acquisition of heaven where we can give glory to God forever. From beginning to end, the Holy Spirit is involved. "He who hears you, hears me" (Luke 10:16).