What is the Magisterium?

The Magisterium is the living teaching office of the Catholic Church. It is exercised by the pope and the bishops in communion with him, especially when they teach about faith and morals.

Where its authority comes from. Jesus commissioned the apostles to teach all nations everything He had commanded them (Mt 28:19-20). He gave Peter a special responsibility to strengthen his brethren and tend His flock (Lk 22:32; Jn 21:15-17). The apostles handed their ministry on to successors, the bishops. Christ therefore continues to guide His Church through a visible teaching office rather than leaving every believer to settle the meaning of revelation privately (CCC 888-890).

What the Magisterium does. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition form one deposit of faith entrusted to the Church. The task of authentically interpreting that deposit belongs to the pope and the bishops in communion with him (CCC 84-85). The Magisterium does not stand above God's Word. It serves the Word by listening to it, guarding it, explaining it faithfully, and handing on what has been received (CCC 86). Its authority protects the Church from replacing apostolic faith with personal opinion or the spirit of the age.

When it teaches infallibly. The Church's infallibility can be exercised in several ways. The pope can teach infallibly when, acting as shepherd of all Christians, he definitively proclaims a doctrine of faith or morals. This is commonly called an ex cathedra definition. The bishops can also teach infallibly with the pope in an ecumenical council, or when, dispersed throughout the world but united in communion, they agree that a teaching must be definitively held (CCC 891). Infallibility is a protection from error in specific acts of teaching. It does not mean that popes are sinless, inspired, or correct about every political, scientific, or personal judgment.

Other teachings still carry authority. Many teachings are authentic without being proposed as infallible definitions. Catholics owe these teachings a religious submission of intellect and will, receiving them sincerely according to the authority and manner with which they are taught (CCC 892; Lumen Gentium 25). Prudential applications can involve changeable circumstances, but the faithful should not dismiss them casually. Statements by an individual priest, theologian, bishop, or Catholic public figure do not automatically constitute acts of the Magisterium.

In practice. When evaluating a disputed claim, check the Catechism, ecumenical councils, papal documents, and official teaching of the bishops. Ask what level of authority the teaching carries, and read it in continuity with the whole faith.