Abstract
This essay develops a way of understanding the nature and the various subjects of the teaching office of the church, known in the Catholic Church as the magisterium. Starting from the notion that the principal subject of the teaching function is the whole church, it expands the magisterium beyond the teaching function of the hierarchy (the hierarchical magisterium of the pope and bishops) to include the teaching role of theologians, the laity, the poor, and the believers of other religions. It also emphasizes that this new understanding of the magisterium entails the priority of learning over teaching. Without learning from the other four magisteria the hierarchical magisterium cannot exercise its teaching function in a credible way in our increasingly multicultural and multireligious world. The essay ends by showing how Pope Francis has embodied this new model of teaching, especially in his encyclical on ecology.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
For my past reflections on the magisterium, see Peter C. Phan, “From Magisterium to Magisteria: Recent Theologies of the Learning and Teaching Functions of the Church,” Theological Studies, 80, no. 2 (2019): 393–413; The Joy of Religious Pluralism: A Personal Journey (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2017), 21–49; “Teaching as Learning: An Asian View,” Concilium, no. 2 (2012): 75–87; “The Church in Asian Perspective,” in The Routledge Companion to the Christian Church, edited by Gerard Mannion and Lewis S. Mudge (New York and London: Routledge, 2008), 275–290; “A New Way of Being Church in Asia: Lessons for the American Catholic Church,” in Inculturation and the Church in North America, edited by Frank Kennedy (New York: Crossroad, 2006), 145–62; “A New Way of Being Church: Perspectives from Asia,” in Governance, Accountability, and the Future of the Catholic Church, edited by Francis Oakley and Bruce Russett (New York: Continuum, 2004), 178–90.
- 2.
For a comprehensive exposition on the magisterium, see Francis Sullivan, Magisterium: Teaching Authority in the Catholic Church (New York: Paulist Press, 1983), Michael A. Fahey, “Magisterium,” in The Routledge Companion to the Christian Church, edited by Gerard Mannion and Lewis S. Mudge (New York and London: Routledge, 2008), 524–535; and the many works by Richard Gaillardetz, especially Teaching with Authority: A Theology of the Magisterium in the Church (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997).
- 3.
For example, no. 7: “Christ the Lord […] commanded the apostles to preach it [the Gospel] to everyone as the source of all saving truth and moral law […]. In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them ‘their own position of teaching authority.’” Again, no. 10: “The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the church alone.” It may be argued that Dei Verbum specifies “interpretation of the word of God” with “authentic”—the Latin authenticum is better translated as “authoritative”—and reserves it to the episcopal magisterium and as such does not deny other types of interpretation. Even granted this qualification, there is no doubt that “teaching office of the church” refers to that of the bishops. The English translation of Vatican II’s documents is taken from Vatican II: The Basic Sixteen Documents, ed. Austin Flannery (Northport, NY: Costello Publishing Co., 2007).
- 4.
Thomas Aquinas’s distinction of the two kinds of the magisterium is predicated upon his distinction between two functions: praelatio (governance by bishops) and magisterium (teaching by theologians). For Thomas, praelatio does not exclude teaching; hence, magisterium cathedrae pastoralis.
- 5.
See, for instance, Paul Knitter, Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian (London: Oneworld Publications, 2013); Paul Knitter and Roger Haight, Jesus & Buddha: Friends in Conversation (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2015); Peter C. Phan, Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2014); idem, “Sensus Fidelium, Dissensius Infidelium, Consensus Omnium,” in “Learning from All the Faithful,” edited by Bradford Hinze and Peter C. Phan, 213–25; Aloysius Pieris, Love Meets Wisdom: A Christian Experience of Buddhism (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1989); and Ruben Habito, Zen and the Spiritual Exercises (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2013).
- 6.
Perhaps the most celebrated interview was that conducted by Antonio Spadaro, SJ, editor-in-chief of La Civiltá Cattolica, on August 19, 2013. The English text is available in America, September 30, 2013 at https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2013/09/30/big-heart-open-god-interview-pope-francis (accessed February 17, 2020) Another important interview is Francis’s conversation with reporters aboard the papal plane on his flight back from Brazil to Rome on July 29, 2013 reported at: https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/pope-homosexuals-who-am-i-judge (accessed February 17, 2020)
- 7.
For an English translation of Laudato Si’ (May 24, 2015), see the Vatican translation at the Libreria Editrice Vaticana at: http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html (accessed February 17, 2020).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Phan, P.C. (2021). How Should the Church Teach? A Mode of Learning and Teaching for Our Times. In: Chapman, M.D., Latinovic, V. (eds) Changing the Church. Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53425-7_32
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53425-7_32
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-53424-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-53425-7
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)