Magisterial Authority

A striking series of events of the past two decades have tended to raise questions about the exercise of teaching authority in the Catholic Church. The Second Vatican Council, the Encyclical Humanae Vitae, the controversy over Hans Kung's book on infallibility and the subsequent declaration of Rome that he could no longer teach as a Catholic theologian, the colloquium to which Edward Schillebeeckx was summoned by the Vatican, the pastoral letter of the American bishops on the question of nuclear warfare--have all stimulated a lively discussion of the claims of the Catholic hierarchy to authoritative magisterium. With all the abundance of literature on the subject, a book was still needed that would offer an up-to-date, systematic presentation of Catholic thinking about the nature and function of this magisterium. This is what the present volume sets out to provide. It takes as its point of departure the belief which a great many Christians besides Catholics share, namely, that the Church of Christ is maintained in the truth of the Gospel by the Holy Spirit. It then examines the various ministries by which the Gospel has been handed on and interpreted for each generation of believers, looking especially to the role of the bishops, and among them, of the Bishop of Rome, in settling disputes about the faith. Questions concerning papal infallibility, the response called for by papal encyclicals, the critical role of Catholic theologians vis-a-vis the magisterium, are treated in the light of current theological literature, with the non-specialist reader in mind.

A striking series of events of the past two decades have tended to raise questions about the exercise of teaching authority in the Catholic Church. The Second Vatican Council, the Encyclical Humanae Vitae, the controversy over Hans Kÿng's book on infallibility and the subsequent declaration of Rome that he could no longer teach as a Catholic theologian, the colloquium to which Edward Schillebeeckx was summoned by the Vatican, the pastoral letter of the American bishops on the question of nuclear warfare--have all stimulated a lively discussion of the claims of the Catholic hierarchy to authoritative magisterium. With all the abundance of literature on the subject, a book was still needed that would offer an up-to-date, systematic presentation of Catholic thinking about the nature and function of this magisterium. This is what the present volume sets out to provide. It takes as its point of departure the belief which a great many Christians besides Catholics share, namely, that the Church of Christ is maintained in the truth of the Gospel by the Holy Spirit. It then examines the various ministries by which the Gospel has been handed on and interpreted for each generation of believers, looking especially to the role of the bishops, and among them, of the Bishop of Rome, in settling disputes about the faith. Questions concerning papal infallibility, the response called for by papal encyclicals, the critical role of Catholic theologians vis-a-vis the magisterium, are treated in the light of current theological literature, with the non-specialist reader in mind.

This book faithfully represents the teaching of Roman Catholicism on the Church's doctrinal authority while pointing to areas where there remains a gap between an ecclesiological vision of the Church informed by Vatican II and the popular understanding and concrete exercise of that authority in the life of the Church today.

A reprint of three articles from Christian Order addressing the nature and limits of Magisterial Authority. The Book also contains principles in relation to judging contradictory magisterial statements as well as how one should approach an erring magisterial member.

Catholicism has always recognized the need for a normative doctrinal teaching authority. Yet the character, scope, and exercise of that authority, what has come to be called the magisterium, has changed significantly over two millennia. This book gathers contributions from leading Catholic scholars in considering new factors that must be taken into account as we consider the church's official teaching authority in today's postmodern context. Noted experts in their fields cover many intriguing topics here, including the investigation of theologians that has occurred in recent years, canonical perspectives on such investigations, the role that women religious have played in these issues, the place of the media when problems arise, and possible future ways forward The book concludes with "The Elizabeth Johnson Dossier," a selection of documents essential to understanding the case of Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, whose work was recently the subject of severe criticism by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.Contributors include Bradford Hinze, James Coriden, Colleen Mallon, Ormond Rush, Gerard Mannion, Anthony Godzieba, Vincent Miller, Richard Gaillardetz, and Elizabeth Johnson.

Boyle presents here the first book-length study that traces the historical and theological developments that produced official statements by the church about its own teaching authority and the assent owed to it, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Robert C. Saler argues for a fresh ecclesiology of the church as a diffusively spatialized event. Within this framework, Saler provides an ecclesiology that retains normativity while defining authorship and the constructive task of theology. Establishing this claim through historical encounters between Thomas More and William Tyndale, and John Henry Newman and Friedrich Schleiermacher, Between Magisterium and Marketplace provides a theological genealogy of modern ecclesiology, offering a humble yet hopeful view of the theological task in light of contemporary ecclesial opportunities.