Magisterium of the Church and Sacred Theology

MAGISTERIUM OF THE CHURCH AND SACRED THEOLOGY* I. THE CHuRcH, MoTHER AND TEAcHER OF TRuTH 1. Maternal Magisterium T HE maternal character of the magisterium of the Church was recognized and praised by Augustine of Hippo, who, during the period of his youth, had been the victim of the deadly lies of the Manichees. Meditating on the Catholic Church, he expresses himself in this way: " If your true and truthful Spouse, from Whose side you have been formed, had not established in His real blood the remission of sins, the whirlpool of the lie would have absorbed me and, once I became earth, the seductive serpent would have irreparably devoured me." 1 Many men, less endowed than the great Augustine, have not recognized in the magisterium of the Church a source of light and true freedom for the spirit. However, the case is different for those who have inherited that illumination which the First Vatican Council has proclaimed to be the maternal and supremely salutary character of the magisterium of the Church. In fact, in the profession of faith given in the name of the whole Catholic episcopacy at the opening of the Council , the Supreme Pontiff Pius IX said: "I recognize the holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church to be the mother and teacher of all the churches." 2 Moreover, confirming the teaching of the Council of Trent, all the conciliar Fathers declared: In the questions of faith and morals, with which the edifice of the Christian faith is constructed, that must be held to be the true sense of Holy Scripture which Holy Mother Church has always held *Translated by C. F. Lehner, 0. P. 1 Oont1·a Faustum, Book XV, chap. S. • Cone. Oecum. Decreta, edited by the Centro di Documentazione lnstituto per le scienze religiose, Bologna: Herder, 196~, p. 779, SO. 1.96 MAGISTERIUM OF CHURCH AND SACRED THEOLOGY 197 and still holds. She alone has the right to judge the true meaning and the correct interpretation of Sacred Scripture.3 2. Authentic and Infallible Magisterium According to the teachings of the First Vatican Council, which will undoubtedly be the bond uniting the teaching of the Second Vatican Council with traditional doctrine, the magisterium of the Church can be defined as " the right and office which the Church has to teach revealed truth with that supreme authority which all men are obligated to respect with their mind, their heart, their words, and their actions." The magisterium of the Church is, above all, authentic, since it is vested with the same divine authority as that of Jesus Christ, Who instituted this magisterium when He said to His Apostles: "As the Father has sent me, I also send you" (John 20: 21). In virtue of this divine investiture, which transformed the fishermen of Galilee into ambassadors even of the heavenly Father, the first and eternal truth, Jesus could add: "He who hears you, hears me; and he who rejects you, rejects me; and he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me " (Luke 10:16). Likewise, the magisterium of the Church is infallible. In fact, entrusting to His Apostles and, through them, to their lawful successors, the right and duty of teaching all peoples the truths which are indispensable for eternal salvation, Jesus Christ could not refuse to safeguard the members of the teaching Church by His spiritual presence as supreme Master, and therefore, also, with the assistance or charism of the Spirit of truth, who would protect the faithful from all error, regarding both the truths to be believed and those concerning practice. This promise was explicit, as is evident in the Gospel texts cited previously, and was repeated in the discourse of the Last Supper, when the Lord comforted His disciples and said to them: " I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to dwell with you forever, the • Ibid., p. 782, 85-40. 198 LUIGI CIAPPI Spirit of truth [who] will dwell and will be in you; the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your mind whatever I have said to you" (John 14: 16, Q6) . On...