¹ In this essay, the term “the magisterium” with the definite article refers to both hierarchical of ficeholders and their teaching function in the Catholic Church.

² Bernardin, Joseph, “Magisterium and Theologians: Steps towards Dialogue,” Chicago Studies 17/2 (1978): 151–58, at 158.Google Scholar

³ Paul, Pope John II, Encyclical Ut Unum Sint (April 25, 1995), http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0221/_INDEX.HTMGoogle Scholar (accessed March 7, 2009), arts. 17, 51, and 60.

⁴ Paul, Pope VI, Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam (August 6, 1964), http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_06081964_ecclesiam_en.htmlGoogle Scholar (accessed March 7, 2009), esp. art. 3.

⁵ Rahner, Karl, “The Teaching Office of the Church in the Present-Day Crisis of Authority,” in Theological Investigations, vol. 12: Confrontations 2, trans. Bourke, David (New York: Crossroad, 1974), 3–30, at 3.Google Scholar

⁶ Laurentin, René, “Charisms: Terminological Precision,” in Duquoc, Christian and Floristan, Casiano, eds., Charisms in the Church, Concilium, vol. 109 (New York: Crossroad, 1978), 3–12, at 8.Google Scholar

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¹¹ Denzinger, Heinrich and Schönmetzer, Adolf, eds., Enchiridion symbolorum definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, 33rd ed. (Freiburg: Herder, 1965), DS 3886.Google Scholar

¹² Rahner, , “Observations,” 85.Google Scholar

¹³ Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium), The documents of Vatican II, ed. Abbott, Walter M. (New York: America Press, 1966).Google Scholar

¹⁴ Ibid., 12. (emphasis added).

¹⁵ Sullivan, Francis A., Charisms and Charismatic Renewal: A Biblical and Theological Study (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Books, 1982), 13.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Dulles, Avery, “The Two Magisteria: An Interim Reflection,” in Salm, Luke, ed., Catholic Theological Society of America [CTSA]: Proceedings of the Thirty-Fifth Annual Convention (Washington, DC: Catholic Theological Society of America, 1981), 155–69, at 155.Google Scholar

¹⁷ Ibid., 165.

¹⁸ Rahner, , “Observations,” 85.Google Scholar

¹⁹ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1990)Google Scholar. Hereafter Instruction.

²⁰ Instruction, art. 1.

²¹ See Boyle, John P., Church Teaching Authority: Historical and Theological Studies (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995), 142–160Google Scholar; Sullivan, Francis A., Creative Fidelity: Weighing and Interpreting Documents of the Magisterium (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1996), 15–27.Google Scholar

²² Instruction, art. 40.

²³ Ibid., art. 6.

²⁴ Ibid., art. 7.

²⁵ Ibid., art. 9.

²⁶ Ibid., art. 11.

²⁷ Ibid., art. 13.

²⁸ Lumen Gentium, art. 12.

²⁹ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaratio circa catholicam doctrinam de Ecclesia contra nonnullos errores hodiernos tuendam (Mysterium ecclesiae) (June 24, 1973), art. 2.Google Scholar

³⁰ Instruction, arts. 15, 16, 17, 23, and 33.

³¹ Ibid., art. 16.

³² Ibid., art. 17.

³³ Ibid., art. 20.

³⁴ Ibid., art. 21.

³⁵ Ibid., art. 26.

³⁶ Ibid., art. 32. See Second Vatican Council, Declaration on Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae), art. 10.Google Scholar

³⁷ Instruction, art. 37.

³⁸ Ibid., art. 40.

³⁹ Ibid., art. 37.

⁴⁰ Denzinger-Schönmetzer 3073–74.

⁴¹ Instruction, art. 40

⁴² Christifideles Laici, art. 33. (emphasis added).

⁴³ Instruction, art. 7.

⁴⁴ Congar, Yves, “A Brief History of the Forms of the Magisterium and Its Relations with Scholars,” in Curran, Charles E. and McCormick, Richard A., eds., The Magisterium and Morality: Readings in Moral Theology No. 3 (New York: Paulist, 1982), 314–31, at 314–15.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana; Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1994), art. 5; see also United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord (Washington, DC: Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2005), art. 43.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Sullivan, Francis A., Magisterium (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1983), 193.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Instruction, art. 22.

⁴⁸ Catholic Theological Society of America, “Church Procedures and Authority,” Origins 20/29 (December 27, 1990): 461, 463–67, at 464, art. 21.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ McCormick, Richard. A., “Some Early Reactions to Veritatis Splendor,” in Curran, Charles and McCormick, Richard A., eds., John Paul II and Moral Theology: Readings in Moral Theology No. 10 (New York: Paulist, 1998), 5–34, at 9–10.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ Ibid., 10. See also, Salzman, Todd, Deontology and Teleology: An Investigation of the Normative Debate in Roman Catholic Moral Theology (Leuven: Peeters, 1995), 307.Google Scholar

⁵¹ Paul, Pope John II, Encyclical Veritatis Splendor (August 6, 1993)Google Scholar, Origins 23/18 (October 14, 1993): 297–334, art. 4.

⁵² Others have made this same point. See Sullivan, Francis A., “The Sense of Faith: The Sense/Consensus of the Faithful,” in Hoose, Bernard, ed., Authority in the Roman Catholic Church: Theory and Practice (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2002), 85–93, at 90Google Scholar; Lakeland, Paul, The Liberation of the Laity: In Search of an Accountable Church (New York: Continuum, 2003), 67, 205–07Google Scholar; Hinze, Bradford, Practices of Dialogue in the Roman Catholic Church: Aims and Obstacles, Lessons and Laments (New York: Continuum, 2006), 247.Google Scholar

⁵³ See, for instance, Lumen Gentium, art. 37; and Gaudium et Spes, arts. 13, 21, 33, 37, 44, 46, and 52.

⁵⁴ See Veritatis Splendor, arts. 53, 86, and 98; Encyclical Redemptor Hominis (March 4, 1979), http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0218/_INDEX.HTM (accessed March 7, 2009), art 17; Exhortation, ApostolicFamiliaris Consortio (November 22, 1981), http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_19811122_familiaris-consortio_en.htmlGoogle Scholar (accessed March 7, 2009), arts. 32 and 73.

⁵⁵ This term is borrowed from Rieger, Jorg, Remember the Poor: The Challenge to Theology in the Twenty-First Century (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1998), 1–5.Google Scholar Rieger uses it to dramatize the situation of the poor and oppressed. The term is given greater import in Gustavo Guttierez' description of Jesus as “God become poor” (The Power of the Poor in History [Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1983], 13).

⁵⁶ Rigali, Norbert S.J., “The Ecclesial Responsibilities of Theologians, Forty Years after Vatican II,” Horizons 33 (2006), 298–302, at 299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁵⁷ Ibid.

⁵⁸ Haight, Roger, Jesus, Symbol of God (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999).Google Scholar

⁵⁹ “Statement of the Board of Directors, The Catholic Theological Society of America, With Respect to the Notification Issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Concerning the book, Jesus: Symbol of God, by Rev. Haight, Roger S.J., and Haight, Prohibiting Fr. from Teaching Catholic Theology.” http://www.ctsa-online.org/haight.html (accessed February 7, 2009).Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Rigali, , “Ecclesial Responsibilities,” 301.Google Scholar

⁶¹ Ibid., 302.

⁶² Lumen Gentium, arts. 10–13.

⁶³ This is an apt point to recall Cardinal Newman's judgment about the laity during the Arian controversy, published in his famous essay “On Consulting the Faithful.” He judged that it was not the bishops who saved the church from Arianism, for “the body of bishops failed in their confession of faith,” but the laity who were “preeminent in faith, zeal, courage, and constancy.” It was “mainly by the faithful people,” judged Newman, “that paganism was overthrown.” See Newman, John Henry, On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine, Coulson, John, ed. (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1961), 10.Google Scholar

⁶⁴ Lakeland, Paul, Catholicism at the Crossroads: How the Laity Can Save the Church (New York: Continuum, 2007), 99.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Lumen Gentium, art. 12.

⁶⁶ Instruction, art. 26.

⁶⁷ Ibid., art. 15.

⁶⁸ Ibid.

⁶⁹ Sullivan, , Magisterium, 192Google Scholar; “The Sense of the Faith,” 90.

⁷⁰ Bernardin, , “Magisterium and Theologians,” 153.Google Scholar

⁷¹ See CTSA, , “Church Procedures,” arts. 14–18.Google Scholar

⁷² Lash, Nicholas, “Authors, Authority and Authorization,” in Authority in the Roman Catholic Church, 59–72Google Scholar, at 59 (emphasis added).

⁷³ Congar, Yves, “Reception as an Ecclesiological Reality,” in Alberigo, Giuseppe and Weiler, A., eds., Election and Consensus in the Church, Concilium, vol. 77 (Freiburg: Herder and Herder, 1972), 43–68, at 62.Google Scholar

⁷⁴ Burghardt, Walter, Long Have I Loved You: A Theologian Reflects on his Church (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2000), 332.Google Scholar

⁷⁵ At this point, we are tempted to pause to consider the contribution of the entire body of the faithful to doctrinal formulations in the contemporary recovery of the theological notions of reception and sensus fidei, but space does not permit such a pause. Readers who wish information on that matter may consult Sullivan, , “The Sense of Faith,” 85–93Google Scholar; Gaillardetz, Richard R., “The Reception of Doctrine: New Perspectives,” in Authority in the Roman Catholic Church, 95–114Google Scholar; Lawler, Michael G., What Is and What Ought to Be: The Dialectic of Experience, Theology, and Church (New York: Continuum, 2005), 119–142.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ CTSA, , “Church Procedures,” art. 16.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ Ibid., art. 13.

⁷⁸ Ibid., art. 22.

⁷⁹ Instruction, art. 37.

⁸⁰ Ibid.

⁸¹ See Ut Unum Sint, arts. 17, 51, and 60.

⁸² Ibid., art. 31.

⁸³ Ibid., art. 28.

⁸⁴ Ibid., art. 29 (emphasis in original).

⁸⁵ Gaudium et Spes, art. 92.

⁸⁶ Ibid., art. 36.

⁸⁷ Pope Benedict XVI's lifting of the excommunications of the Lefebvrite bishops is a recent example of this. See, for example, Allen, John L., “Vatican Lifts Excommunication,” in National Catholic Reporter, February 6, 2009, 1.Google Scholar

⁸⁸ See extensive examples and modes of dialogue exercised in and by the Catholic Church in Hinze, Practices of Dialogue in the Roman Catholic Church, passim.

⁸⁹ Instruction, art. 37.

⁹⁰ Bernardin, , “Magisterium and Theologians,” 158.Google Scholar

⁹¹ Instruction, art. 21.

⁹² Paul, Pope John II, “How Authority is Conceived,” Origins 25/34 (February 15, 1996): 572–74, art. 3.Google Scholar

⁹³ See Noonan, John T., A Church that Can and Cannot Change: The Development of Catholic Moral Teaching (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005).Google Scholar

⁹⁴ See Örsy, Ladislas, The Church Learning and Teaching: Magisterium, Assent, Dissent, Academic Freedom (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991).Google Scholar

⁹⁵ Cantor, Peter, Verbum abbreviatum, 1 ( Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina [= PL], ed. Migne, J.-P. [Paris: 1844–1891], 205:25Google Scholar; emphasis added).

⁹⁶ Secretariat, Vatican Synod, “The Bishop: Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of the World,” Origins 31/5 (June 14, 2001): 65, 67–104, art. 105.Google Scholar

⁹⁷ Newman, John Henry, The Via Media of the Anglican Church, 2 vols. (London: Longmans, 1906), 1:xlvii.Google Scholar

⁹⁸ Sullivan, , “The Sense of the Faith,” 90.Google Scholar

⁹⁹ Lawler, Michael G. and Shanahan, Thomas J., Church: A Spirited Communion (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1995), 67.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁰ See Robinson, Geoffrey, Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2008).Google Scholar

¹⁰¹ The election of bishops in the early church by local clerics and laity is beyond doubt. See, for example, Lawrence, Hugh, “Spiritual Authority and Governance: A Historical Perspective,” in Authority in the Roman Catholic Church, 37–57, at 38–39Google Scholar; Pope Celestine decreed that “no bishop is to be imposed on people who do not want him” (Epist. 45, PL 50:434); Pope Leo the Great is equally emphatic: “He who is to preside over all must be chosen by all. There is required the vote of the clergy, the testimony of honored witnesses, the consent of order and of the people” (Ad Anas., PL 54:634); Cyprian declared, contrary to Pope Stephen, that this is of divine origin (Epist. LXVII, 4, Saint Cyprien: Correspondence, ed. Bayard, Louis (Paris: Belles Lettres, 1925), 229–30.Google Scholar See Granfield, Patrick, “Episcopal Election in Cyprian: Clerical and Lay Participation,” in Theological Studies 37 (1976): 41–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁰² Himes, Michael, “Introduction,” in Drey, J. S., Brief Introduction to the Study of Theology: With Reference to the Scientific Standpoint and the Catholic System (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994), ix–xxx, at xxvi.Google Scholar We are indebted to our colleague, Richard Miller, for bringing this text to our attention.

¹⁰³ Ibid., xxv.

¹⁰⁴ See Rahner, Karl, Foundations of Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Idea of Christianity, trans. Dych, William V. (New York: Seabury, 1978), 65–71.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁵ Bonavoglia, Angela, Good Catholic Girls (New York: Reganbooks, 2005), 7.Google Scholar We are indebted to our colleague, Susan Calef, for bringing this concept to our attention.

¹⁰⁶ Ut Unum Sint, art. 18, citing Dignitatis Humanae, art. 3.

¹⁰⁷ International Theological Commission, Theses on the Relationship Between the Ecclesiastical Magisterium and Theology (Washington: United States Catholic Conference, 1977), 7.Google Scholar