Catechism of the Crisis in the Church, Pt. 3
Fr. Matthias Gaudron
The Angelus continues the installments of Fr. Gaudron's Catechism of the Crisis in the Church with Part 3 on the Magisterium of the Church. What is the Magisterium? When is it infallible? How important is this understanding to the crisis in the Church?
16) In the Church, who holds the power to teach with authority (the magisterial authority, or magisterium)?
The holders of the ecclesiastical magisterium are, by divine right, the pope for the universal Church, and the bishops for their dioceses.
l How do the pope and the bishops receive this authority? The pope is the successor of St. Peter, and the bishops are the successors of the Apostles, whom our Lord Jesus Christ Himself instituted as supreme doctors of the faith. They received from God the mandate to preach Christian doctrine to their subjects and to safeguard its purity. In this way they continue the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, since His Ascension, no longer remains visibly among us.
l Did our Lord clearly mention the teaching authority transmitted to the bishops? Jesus said to His Apostles: "He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me" (Lk. 10:16). The same pertains for the bishops, who are the successors of the Apostles.
17) Is the ecclesiastical magisterium infallible?
Yes, the ecclesiastical magisterium, or teaching authority of the Church, is infallible. But for this to be true, precise conditions must be met. If they are not fulfilled, the bishops and the pope can err. A declaration or a homily and even a papal encyclical or a conciliar document are not necessarily infallible. They are only infallible when infallibility is claimed.
18) When is the pope infallible?
The pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when as supreme teacher of the nations, he elevates a truth to the rank of dogma, which must be believed by the faithful. In this case, the assistance of the Holy Ghost is promised to the pope so that he cannot err. Theologians generally attribute the privilege of infallibility to the pope in a few other cases, for example, canonizations,1 the general laws of the Church, and when he echoes the teaching of his predecessors.
l Where are the conditions in which the pope is infallible clearly set forth? The conditions in which the pope speaks infallibly are very clearly set out by the First Vatican Council, which precisely defined papal infallibility. The Council teaches:
When the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals.2
l What can we learn from this text of Vatican Council I? By attentively reading this text of Vatican I, we learn that there are four conditions for papal infallibility: 1) the pope must speak "in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians," that is, not as a private theologian but as head of the Church explicitly engaging "his supreme apostolic authority" received directly from Christ; 2) the subject on which he pronounces must be "a doctrine concerning faith or morals"; 3) the doctrine must not only be taught, but the pope must declare it obligatory by an authoritative act ("a doctrine...to be held"); 4) this will to oblige the faithful to assent must be addressed to "the universal Church."
l Is the manifestation of the pope's will to oblige the universal Church essential for a papal act to be infallible? Yes, the pope's manifestation of his will to oblige the universal Church to hold a point of doctrine or morals is necessary for infallibility to be engaged: this act of authority is even the essential element of the ex cathedra definition.
l How does the pope manifest this will to oblige? The pope manifests his will to make a doctrine obligatory in the Church by clearly declaring that those who refuse it no longer have the Catholic faith and are henceforth outside the Church.
l Can the pope use his infallibility to impose novelties? Papal infallibility is entirely at the service of the conservation of the faith, which, as we have seen, is immutable and necessary for salvation.3 Vatican I teaches:
For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by His revelation, make known some new doctrine, but that, by His assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the Apostles.4
l Does the solemn (infallible) definition of a truth of faith occur frequently? The solemn definition of a truth of faith does not occur often; numerous popes have never used this power. There was only one instance of this in the 20th century: the definition of the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950.
l How did Pope Pius XII manifest his will to oblige the Church during the definition of the dogma of the Assumption? Pius XII proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption of our Lady by declaring, in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus:
...by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by Our own authority We pronounce, declare, and define that the dogma was revealed by God, that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, after completing her course of life upon earth, was assumed to the glory of heaven both in body and soul. Therefore, if anyone, which may God forbid, should dare either to deny this, or voluntarily call into doubt what has been defined by Us, he should realize that he has cut himself off entirely from the divine and Catholic faith.5
19) When are the bishops infallible?
The bishops are infallible in two cases: 1) When they solemnly proclaim a truth of faith in an ecumenical council in union with the pope, their supreme head. All the ancient ecumenical councils proclaimed the truths of faith in this manner. It is important, then, that the pope approve these decisions, even if it is not necessary that he be present at the council himself. A council the decrees of which were not ratified by the pope could not be considered infallible. 2) The bishops are equally infallible when, dispersed throughout the world, they unanimously teach a truth as belonging to the deposit of faith. This is the case for the articles of faith in general which have for a long time been taught everywhere in the Church without having been subject to doubt.
l How are these two modes of episcopal infallibility designated? 1) An infallible affirmation made by the pope or a council is called a solemn judgment; it is an act of the Church's extraordinary magisterium; 2) the infallible transmission of the faith by the bishops dispersed throughout the world is called, on the contrary, the ordinary and universal magisterium (sometimes abbreviated OUM.).
l Is not one mode of infallibility sufficient? Why are there two? Normally, the common teaching of the bishops (the OUM) is sufficient for knowing with certitude the truths of faith. But in times of crisis, when the bishops disagree among themselves or simply fail to use their authority to reiterate revealed truth, then it is no longer possible to have recourse to this criterion. To resolve the crisis, an extraordinary act of the magisterium is required, that is, a solemn judgment pronounced by a council or by the pope.
l Can you give us an example? All Christians firmly believed in the real presence of the Body and Blood of our Lord in the sacrament of the Eucharist long before it was solemnly defined. It was taught throughout the whole Church as a truth of faith. Nevertheless, the denial of this truth by the Protestants made its solemn definition by the Council of Trent necessary. In fact, the attacks of heretics are often the occasion for the Church to solemnly define a truth.
l What is the advantage of having a solemn judgment over and above the teaching of the ordinary and universal magisterium? A solemn judgment delivered by the pope or a council has the advantage of resolving a doctrinal difficulty with a single judgment of incontestable authority, whereas the ordinary and universal magisterium refers to a multitude of acts posed in divers terms and contexts by different bishops; thus it is more difficult to discern.
l What precisely is the ordinary and universal magisterium? Pius IX gave the following definition:
[It is] those matters which are handed down as divinely revealed by the ordinary teaching power of the whole Church spread throughout the world, and therefore, by universal and common consent are held by Catholic theologians to belong to the faith.6
l What does this definition show? This definition shows that, like the pope's teaching, the universal teaching of the bishops (the ordinary and universal magisterium) is only infallible under certain conditions.
l For a doctrine to be infallibly certain by virtue of the ordinary and universal magisterium of the Church, isn't it enough for all the bishops of the world to be unanimously in agreement at a given moment? No, it is not enough for all the bishops to adopt simultaneously some new theory for it to become infallible. The infallibility of the ordinary and universal magisterium can only apply to: 1) a truth touching faith or morals that 2) the bishops teach with authority 3) in a universally unanimous way 4) as divinely revealed to the Apostles or necessary to safeguard the deposit of faith, and thus as immutable and obligatory. If these four conditions are not met, there is no infallibility.
l Then only a doctrine the bishops teach as having been revealed to the Apostles and transmitted to us by Tradition can enjoy the infallibility of the ordinary and universal magisterium? Yes, only a truth the bishops are unanimous in teaching with authority as belonging to the deposit of faith (or necessarily linked to it) can be guaranteed by the infallibility of the ordinary and universal magisterium.
l What is the reason for this condition? The magisterium was not instituted to reveal new doctrines, but only to transmit the truths already revealed to the Apostles. It is this transmission, and not subsequent extraneous accretions, that infallibility protects.
20) What responsibility do the bishops have for the current crisis in the Church?
"The crisis in the Church is a crisis of bishops," Cardinal Seper said.7 Among the 4,000 bishops of the Catholic Church, there are certainly some who want to be Catholic and to serve the faith, but by most of them, the faith is maltreated. Instead of defending it, they allow free rein to the priests and professors who openly deny truths of faith; moreover, they encourage them. Many bishops even personally support positions incompatible with faith and morals.
l Can you give some examples? In France, Cardinal Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris, publicly teaches that the Jews need not convert to Christianity. Proselytism aimed at them would make no sense. Similarly, Archbishop Doré of Strasbourg (and former dean of the theology faculty of the Catholic Institute of Paris) denies that the Jews, having rejected Jesus Christ, can be considered as "perfidious" and "blind": it is not they who would be in need of conversion, but rather the Catholics, who usurped their place by claiming to be the "new Israel."8
l Are these theses directly contrary to the Church's teaching? The teaching of the Apostles is quite clear. St. Paul speaks explicitly of the incredulity of the Jews (Rm. 11:20) and of their blindness (Rm. 11:25; II Cor. 3:15; etc.). He affirms that in this state they "please not God," but rather are the object of "the wrath of God" (I Thess. 2:14-16). The mild-mannered St. John speaks of "them that say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan" (Apoc. 2:9). On the day of Pentecost, St. Peter tells them to their face:
Let all the house of Israel know most certainly, that God hath made both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus, whom you have crucified....Do penance, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins.9
l Can you give other examples of bishops betraying the Catholic faith? They are unfortunately superabundant. In 2001, the doctrinal commission of the French episcopate publicly encouraged the reading of the Bayard edition of the Bible, underscoring its "profound fidelity to divine revelation." Yet this version of the Bible denies the historicity of the facts reported in the Gospels.10 In 2003, Bishop Dufour of Limoges declared from the pulpit: "We do not know whether God exists. We do not know it with scientific certitude, but we know it by faith."11 But St. Paul and the Church teach that the existence of God can be known with certitude by reason, even without faith.12
On November 6, 1997, during a conference at Berlin, the president of the German Episcopal Conference, Bishop Karl Lehmann, called Luther "the common Doctor," a title habitually given by the Church to St. Thomas Aquinas! The list of abuses could easily be extended.
Translated exclusively for Angelus Press from Katholischer Katechismus zur kirchlichen Kriese by Fr. Matthias Gaudron, professor at the Herz Jesu Seminary of the Society of St. Pius X in Zaitzkofen, Germany. The original was published in 1997 by Rex Regum Press, with a preface by the District Superior of Germany, Fr. Franz Schmidberger. This translation is based on the second edition published in 1999 by Rex Regum Verlag, Schloss Jaidhof, Austria. Subdivisions and slight revisions made by the Dominican Fathers of Avrillé have been incorporated into the translation.
1 At least the canonizations prior to 1983. The simplification of the procedures implemented at that date as well as the veritable explosion in the number of canonizations allow the existence of a serious doubt as to whether the current pope [John Paul II] has the same intention as his predecessors when he carries out canonizations. (If he does not firmly intend to bind definitively the universal Church, then there is no infallibility.)
2 Vatican I, Dogmatic Constitution Pastor Aeternus, Dz. 1839.
3 Catechism on the Crisis in the Church, Chapter II, QQ. 12, 15 [The Angelus, June 2007].
4 Pastor Aeternus, Dz. 1836.
5 Dz. 2333.
6 Letter of Pius IX to the Archbishop of Munich dated December 21, 1863 (Dz. 1683).
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