Word: magisterium
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...church is always young. If it had changed all the time, it would have grown old." Meanwhile, a Page One commentary on the Synod in the Vatican paper L'Osservatore Romano was taking a swipe at "theological speculation," insisting that the "decisive word" comes "uniquely from the magisterium of the church...
Almost every other day, it seems, Pope Paul issues a new admonition against Roman Catholic priests, bishops and laymen whom he considers to be flirting with heresy for their challenge to the magisterium of Rome. Last week, 38 leading theologians answered the Pope by releasing a statement that demanded, in effect, a Magna Carta of intellectual freedom in the church...
Simons concedes that Christianity needs a teaching body, and he believes that the Pope is and should be the principal spokesman for this magisterium. But he also argues that those who claim to speak and define God's word should base their right not on an abstract and untenable theological doctrine but on fidelity to Scripture. "For both preachers and audience," says Simons, "the final fount of the Gospel message is in the New Testament books, the only extant documents connecting us with verifiable certainty with Jesus and his message." He concludes that by keeping faithful to the record...
...Ordinary Magisterium. Humanae Vitae is addressed primarily to Catholics, but the Pope also appeals to secular governments to seek means other than birth control in solving their population problems. Husbands and wives are asked to live up to the Pope's difficult decision. The clergy are advised to "give the example of loyal internal and external obedience to the teaching authority of the church...
...encyclical is not an infallible pronouncement,* but as an exercise of what theologians call the "ordinary magisterium" of the church, it does require obedience to its norms. Had the Pope issued it at the beginning of his pontificate, it might well have been received with acquiescence. But too much has happened since then. Decrees of the Second Vatican Council, although not explicity endorsing contraception, strongly defended the principle of responsible parenthood and the right of couples to decide for themselves the size of their families. A clear majority of the church's most articulate moral theologians-sometimes with...