Saint Frances Cabrini Parish

Father Kleppner - September 10, 2006
As we begin a new school year, we are aware of the importance of learning through the efforts of dedicated teachers. Our Lord gave to his Church the role of teaching all that he commanded. The following reflection by Marcellino D’Ambrosio from the September 3, 2006 issue of Our Sunday Visitor gives a wonderful explanation of the teaching office of the church.
MOTHER & TEACHER
The role of the successors of the apostles is to safeguard the truth about God and his plan for our lives that came to full expression in the teaching and saving work of Jesus Christ.
All Christians can agree on this – that the Bible is God’s authoritative and inspired word and ought to govern the faith and life of the Christian community. What’s in accord with Scripture is good. What contradicts Scripture must be rejected.
The Protestant Reformers, inspired with zeal for God’s word, went one step further. Under the banner of sola Scriptura (scripture alone), they proclaimed the Bible as the only infallible authority for Christians. That meant that both Tradition and Church authority could be opposed in the name of fidelity to Scripture.
A funny thing happened, however. From the outset of the Reformation, the movement that agreed on the supreme authority of the Bible disagreed bitterly on what the Bible said. The Protestant Church was divided from the beginning. Nearly 500 years later, we see thousands of competing churches claiming the same Bible and sola Scriptura (scripture alone) heritage.
That’s because the Bible is a collection of written documents. And one of the truths about all written documents, even if they happen to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, is that different people can interpret them differently.
Living authority
America’s founding fathers knew this. That’s why in addition to providing a constitution for the United States, they set up a court system to serve as the ongoing, living authority to interpret and apply that written document. If the country were to maintain its unity, someone in every generation would have to be entrusted with the authority to determine what was in accord with the Constitution and what was not. In the United States, that’s the responsibility of the Supreme Court.
We can also see this operating in organized sports. Every sport has a rulebook. But in baseball, for example, bitter arguments arise over whether a ball is fair or foul, and whether a runner is safe or out. Umpires therefore are an absolute necessity in every game, so that someone has the final say on how the rules are interpreted and applied.
The Lord Jesus Christ is certainly no less wise than the founding fathers of the U.S. Government and the commissioner of baseball. In establishing his Church, he did not himself write anything, except in sand (see Jn 8:8). Instead, he established the college of the apostles, gathered around Peter, as a living teaching authority, entrusted with passing on and teaching all that they’d received from Jesus. They did this through oral instruction and eventually some writings.
Through the laying of hands that we know as the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the apostles in turn entrusted their teaching authority to their successors, called bishops, and imparted to them the same charism of truth that they’d received from the Holy Spirit (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, Nos. 861-862.). These successors discerned which of the many Christian books and letters bearing names of apostles were authentic and deserved to be regarded as sacred Scripture. Thanks to them, the phony gospels of Thomas and Mary Magdalene are not read every Sunday in our churches.
They also passed on and interpreted apostolic traditions that were not written down in the New Testament books, like the practice of meeting for weekly worship on Sunday, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, rather than Saturday, which was the Jewish Sabbath.
Finally, they were the ones responsible to authoritatively interpret and apply the sacred Scriptures amidst dispute and controversy, such as the fourth century controversy over the divinity of Christ.
Teaching office
This teaching role of the successors of the apostles, gathered around the successor of Peter, is called “the magisterium,” which comes from the Latin word for teaching office. The magisterium is not superior to the Word of God coming to us through Scripture and Tradition. Instead, the magisterium is clearly under its authority – it is the servant of the Word. Its role is to faithfully safeguard the truth about God and his plan for our lives that came to full expression in the teaching and saving work of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. It is not to add to God’s revelation or to subtract from it. As the Catechism teaches, it is only to faithfully interpret and apply it (see Nos. 85-86).
The magisterium is supposed to function much like the Supreme Court at its best or a good umpire. But there are a few very big differences. Neither the U.S. Constitution nor the official baseball rulebook are documents inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible, on the other hand, is. Neither the Supreme Court nor the World Series’ umpires have received a promise of special divine assistance. But the successors of the apostles have. Speaking to apostles, Jesus said “Whoever listens to you, listens to me” (Lk 10:16). The magisterium speaks with the authority of Christ, guided and empowered by the Spirit of Truth.
So ultimately, there is no opposition between the Bible and the magisterium of the Church. In fact they are so interdependent that the New Testament itself calls the Church “the pillar and foundation of truth” (1Tm 3:15).
Biblical authority and Church authority — you can’t have one without the other.

Levels of teaching and assent
Level I:
Dogma, divinely revealed truths, solemn definition: All Catholics must believe with the assent of theological faith or risk heresy. Examples: Christ’s institution of the sacraments, the Immaculate Conception
Level II:
Definitive teaching: All Catholics must believe or risk placing themselves outside the Church. Examples: male-only priesthood, canonization of saints
Level III:
Authoritative teachings. Catholics must give “religious respect of mind and will” — believe beyond a reasonable doubt. Examples: illicitness of euthanasia or fornication
Level IV:
Disciplinary teachings. Examples: Liturgical rubrics, priestly celibacy

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