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II. Beyond Dissent: Reflections on the Possibilities of a Pastoral Magisterium in Today's Church

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2018

Richard Gaillardetz
Richard Gaillardetz*
Affiliation:
Boston College
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Extract

Our roundtable wishes to explore the need for the church today to move beyond what we might call the orthodoxy/dissent binary, that is, the assumption of one narrowly construed orthodox position, over against which all other construals of the Christian faith are presented as heretical or at least dissenting positions. This binary presents, for many scholars today, insuperable difficulties. To begin with, it emphasizes doctrinal unity over theological diversity. It privileges office over charism, magisterium over the sense of the faithful, authoritative pronouncement over communal discovery. The dominance of the orthodoxy/dissent binary depends in turn on an account of doctrinal teaching authority still indebted to Pope Pius XII and his claim that when the ordinary papal magisterium has pronounced on a matter, it is no longer subject to open debate. The solution, in the minds of some, lies in dispelling dangerous notions of orthodoxy, heresy, and dissent as intrinsically hegemonic terms that mask politically oriented power regimes. I am not inclined to dismiss entirely, however, claims to doctrinal normativity, even as I acknowledge the real danger of abuse.

Type
Theological Roundtable
Information
Horizons , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , June 2018 , pp. 132 - 136
Copyright
Copyright © College Theology Society 2018 

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References

11 A revised and expanded version of this roundtable contribution was published in Commonweal magazine: Richard R. Gaillardetz, “Doctrinal Authority in the Francis Era: Toward a Pastoral Magisterium in Today's Church,” Commonweal, December 19, 2016, https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/doctrinal-authority-francis-era.

12 Pope Pius XII, Encyclical, Humani Generis (Concerning Some False Opinions Threatening to Undermine the Foundations of Catholic Doctrine), August 12, 1950, §20, http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis.html.

13 John, Pope XXIII, Gaudet Mater Ecclesia, English trans. from Abbott, Walter M., SJ, ed., The Documents of Vatican II (New York: Crossroad, 1989), 1:715Google Scholar.

14 Pope Francis, Address at Commemorative Ceremony for the 50th Anniversary of the Synod of Bishops, October 17, 2015, http://saltandlighttv.org/blogfeed/getpost.php?id=66497&language=en.

15 Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, November 24, 2013, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html.

16 Pope Francis, Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, March 19, 2016, https://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf.

17 Pope Francis, Encyclical, Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home), May 24, 2015, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html.

18 Robert Mickens, “Francis Is Reforming Roman Curia by Circumvention,” Roman Observer (blog), NCR Online, June 6, 2016, http://ncronline.org/blogs/roman-observer/francis-reforming-roman-curia-circumvention.

19 Cornille, Catherine, The Im-possibility of Interreligious Dialogue (New York: Crossroad, 2008), 27–28Google Scholar.