By DON FIER
The college of bishops, as we saw last week, consists of the entire body of bishops of the Roman Catholic Church united under the Pope as an episcopal community. “This community of pope and bishops, and the bishops among themselves,” explains Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, “was created by Christ and therefore belongs, by divine right, to the nature of the Church He founded” (The Faith, p. 92).
As successors to the apostles, “individual bishops . . . are the visible principle and foundation of unity in their particular churches” (Lumen Gentium [LG], n. 23 § 1). As the Successor to St. Peter, who was entrusted with the keys of the Church (cf. Matt. 16:19), the Pope is the head of the college of bishops and “enjoys supreme, full, immediate, and universal authority over the care of souls by divine institution” (Christus Dominus [CD], n. 2 § 1).
We also saw last week that the most visible expression of collegiality among the episcopate occurs when groups of bishops assemble for synods and councils. It is in these forums that our shepherds gather together, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to pray, confer, and deliberate so as to discern God’s will for the direction of the Church.
Taking into account the “signs of the times,” the college of bishops considers issues that challenge society and life in the Church. This was exemplified most recently when the Extraordinary Synod on the Family convened to discuss the many challenges faced by families in faithfully living out the Gospel message.
Likewise, we saw that the authority of bishops, both individually and collegially, depends upon their union with the Vicar of Christ. Indeed, “the college or body of bishops has no authority unless it is understood together with the Roman Pontiff” (LG, n. 22 § 2). However, we have the assurance that when the bishops teach in union with each other and the Pope, the faithful can be secure in their trust of the authenticity of magisterial teaching on matters regarding their eternal salvation, for as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states, “Christ endowed the Church’s shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals” (n. 890).
The Catechism next examines the threefold office that is received in it fullness by episcopal Ordination, namely, to teach, sanctify, and govern. “As successors of the apostles,” teaches Pope St. John Paul II, “bishops are called to share in the mission which Jesus Christ himself entrusted to the Twelve and the Church” (general audience, October 28, 1992). And it is precisely an unbroken ministry of teaching, sacramental life, and governance that God has provided to the Catholic Church for nearly two thousand years through the apostolic succession of bishops.
The first element of this threefold mission, as stated by the fathers of the Second Vatican Council, is to authoritatively preach the word of God: “Among the principal duties of bishops the preaching of the Gospel occupies an eminent place” (LG, n. 25, § 1). This is in keeping with a solemn proclamation by our Lord to His apostles shortly before He ascended into Heaven:
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16).
Bishops are thus called to be “heralds of the Gospel” (LG, n. 17) and “to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles” (CCC, n. 889).
In his 1965 Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishop in the Church, recently beatified Pope Paul VI wrote extensively on the principal teaching duties of bishops: “They should announce the Gospel of Christ to men, calling them to a faith in the power of the Spirit or confirming them in a living faith. They should expound the whole mystery of Christ to them, namely, those truths the ignorance of which is ignorance of Christ. At the same time they should point out the divinely revealed way to give glory to God and thereby to attain to eternal happiness” (CD, n. 12 § 1).
Blessed Paul VI went on to emphasize that bishops should teach “in a manner adapted to the needs of the times, . . . in a manner that will respond to the difficulties and questions by which people are especially burdened and troubled” (CD, n. 13 § 1), but taking care to safeguard the unchangeable doctrinal teaching of the Church. How vital this is today when Christ’s teaching on marriage and the family is under attack on so many fronts!
It is the pastoral duty and solemn obligation of the Magisterium, vested as it is as the official teaching authority of the Church, “to preserve God’s people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error” (CCC, n. 890). What is the duty of the members of the Church regarding their belief and obedience to Church teaching?
As indicated earlier, the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the Successor of Peter, enjoy the charism of infallibility when teaching on matters of faith and morals, the exercise of which can take several forms. The first and highest grade of teaching is truths which have been revealed directly by God through Sacred Scripture and/or Apostolic Tradition, and require from the faithful an assent of divine and Catholic faith.
As expressed by the 1983 Code of Canon Law (CIC): “A person must believe with divine and Catholic faith all those things contained in the word of God, written or handed on, that is, in the one deposit of faith entrusted to the Church, and at the same time proposed as divinely revealed either by the solemn magisterium of the Church or by its ordinary and universal magisterium which is manifested by the common adherence of the Christian faithful under the leadership of the sacred magisterium; therefore all are bound to avoid any doctrines whatsoever contrary to them” (canon 750 § 1).
The Church can also teach truths which are implicitly revealed, truths which are logically or historically connected to what has been explicitly revealed and which are necessary to protect and conserve the deposit of divine Revelation.
A good example is the solemn proclamation by the Council of Trent regarding the 73 books that comprise the Canon of Scripture. The books to be included in the Bible were not directly revealed by God, but the importance for the faithful to know which books were inspired and contain revealed truth cannot be overstated. The Magisterium of the Church, assisted by the Holy Spirit, not only reaffirmed its centuries-long teaching but proclaimed it dogmatically in the wake of the Protestant Reformation.
No less irrevocable and certain, teachings such as this must also be “firmly embraced and retained” (CIC, canon 750 § 2) by the faithful with a definitive internal assent of mind and will.
A Spirit Of Humility
The Catechism speaks of another form of assent that comes into play when the Magisterium teaches without the intention to determine doctrinal teaching in a definitive way. Included among the many reasons for such teachings are to explain doctrinal teachings more clearly, to exhort the faithful in the daily practice of their faith, or to warn against dangerous doctrines without condemning them directly.
Are the faithful free to take or leave such teaching? Absolutely not — the assistance of the Holy Spirit given to the college of bishops and the Pope is not limited to infallible statements. Utmost respect should be given to ordinary teachings given on a day to day basis by the Pope and bishops in the form of general audiences, pastoral letters, and numerous other teachings and documents that are made available for the welfare of the faithful.
“To this ordinary teaching,” states the Catechism, “the faithful ‘are to adhere . . . with religious assent’ (LG, n. 25 § 1) which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it” (CCC, n. 892).
Practically speaking, this means we should be attentive to such pronouncements in a spirit of humility, genuinely seek to understand their meaning, and allow them to shape our opinions and actions as we go about our daily lives. Disagreement with such teachings, even by theologians, should be dealt with in a private and respectful manner through proper ecclesiastical channels, for public and obstinate dissent to non-definitive teachings of the ordinary Magisterium can be very harmful to the Church.
Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter in 1998 entitled Ad Tuendam Fidem on grades of internal assent that are due to magisterial teachings of the Church, which had the purpose of inserting certain norms into the Code of Canon Law. It was accompanied by a doctrinal commentary signed by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, then-prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, that discusses the Professio Fidei (Profession of Faith) that is pronounced by Catholic priests, theologians, and others.
Readers interested in learning more about the grades of internal assent for Church teaching can find these documents on the Vatican website.
(Author’s Note: There have only been 21 ecumenical councils in the Church’s history, not 23 as I have in my column in the November 13, 2014 issue, p. 6B.)
+ + +
(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is doing research for writing a definitive biography of Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress