The Consensus of the Church and Papal Infallibility: A Study in the Background of Vatican I by Richard F. Costigan, S.J. (review)

THE CONSENSUS OF THE CHURCH AND PAPAL INFALLIBILITY : A STUDY IN THE BACKGROUND OF VATICAN I by Richard F. Costigan, S.J. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2005. Pp. xi–218. $54.95 In this book, Richard F. Costigan examines the theology of nine influential Roman Catholic theologians of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries on the topic of consensus Ecclesiae and papal authority . Since Vatican I’s Pastor aeternus declared papal definitions irreformable “ex sese, non autem ex consensu Ecclesiae,” theological views about consensus ecclesiae and papal authority in the time preceding Vatican I are extremely important for understanding the perspectives of the bishops at Vatican I and the meaning of their declaration on papal infallibility. By examining several centuries of influential theological discussion on papal authority, Costigan situates both Pastor aeternus and contemporary discussions of the papacy, throwing light on each. Costigan divides his study between papalist and Gallican authors. He is probing, concise, and focused in his presentation of each thinker’s understanding of consensus ecclesiae. In addition, he argues a thesis with clarity: past and present discussion of Gallicanism and of Vatican I has misunderstood the views of Gallican thinkers. By the end of the book, the reader is completely convinced of this thesis by the careful, patient scholarship Costigan uses to present each thinker. The book is organized simply. Between an introduction and a conclusion are found eight chapters which study chronologically the work of the nine thinkers. Bossuet, Tournely, Orsi, Ballerini, La Luzerne, Muzzarelli , and Perrone are each given a chapter; Bailly and Bergier are considered consecutively in a single chapter. This organization facilitates a penetrating study of the position of each thinker on its own, but also allows the positions to interact with each other as the reader progresses. While studying both papalist and Gallican authors, Costigan’s special interest is the recovery of “the ecclesiological ideas of the Gallican theologians as expressed in their own writings” (204). But he is even-handed in his discussion of both Gallicans and papalists. His study will illuminate theologians,churchhistorians,andcanonistsconcernedwithteachingauthority . I find this book especially helpful for ecumenical dialogue, as it seeks to understand the papacy within an ecclesiology of communion. Margaret O’Gara Faculty of Theology University of St. Michael’s College Toronto, Ontario, Canada 598 the jurist ...