CHURCH TEACHINGS

A GUIDE TO MORAL LIVING

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Define natural law and its role in discernment.
• Understand the context and roles of the magisterium
and sensus fidelium in shaping and developing
Church teaching
• Develop the connection between Scripture and
Tradition in the students’ own discernment process
Church Teaching as Guide to Moral Living

• Catholic Church- reads and interprets the

Scripture.
• Catholic Moral Theology- interprets the
Natural Law.
• Magisterium and laity- interprets the
Natural law and the Scripture.
• Sensus fidei- a grace that helps the
faithful in making good moral decisions.
How does the Catholic Church respond
to current moral issues?
Natural Law
ü According to Catholic moral theology, there is a discernable
moral order.

ü There is an objective standard of moral rightness or

wrongness that human actions can be judged against.

ü These are not merely social constructions that change from

culture to culture, but rather transcend time, space, and
cultures.
Natural Law
ü For philosophers and theologians, “an ontological claim is
that certain things really are, and that they are in a certain
way; they are not merely myths, legends, metaphors or
figments of our imaginations, we might call this the how-
ness of moral life like how we are meant to live morally”.

ü Examaple: For Catholics, they say “killing is bad”

Natural Law
ü Moral order that in some sense knowable.

ü Epistemological claim

ü Even if the world is being fed by our sinfulness, Catholic moral

theology acknowledges that we can have the sense of moral order, by
reflecting on God’s revelation and using reason.

ü Moral order can be used to construct particular ethical

norms that have a claim on us and other human beings.
Level of Moral Norms
1. Universal Precept

2. General Principles

3. Concrete Material Norms

Living out the Natural Law
• While natural law may be universal and come from God, our
human understanding of this is limited and thus needs to
grow, adapt as we continue to learn more about who God
and He’s own will.

• -The interpretations and implementations of Natural law has

changed over time, and so it is important to understand
how these changes are made and decided.
Living out the Natural Law
• Slavery - the most common cited example of
changes in Church teaching. (Leviticus 25:44-
46)(Titus 2:9-10)
Magisterium
• Official teaching body of the Catholic Church.
• It is traditionally composed of popes and bishops from
all over the world teaching in communion with each
other and with God.
• Documents have been written and teachings have been
promulgated
• Pronouncements are often made to clarify certain
teachings or to object to any misunderstandings of
Church teaching which is done by either the pope or
bishops.
Infallibility
• A common misunderstanding in Catholic moral theology
• Infallible – always correct and incapable of being wrong
• Papal infallibility
– ex cathedra - "from the chair“
– becomes part of the creed of catholic church
Infallibility
• Papal Infallibility
– Lumen Gentium
• Although the individual bishops do not enjoy the prerogative of
infallibility, they can nevertheless proclaim Christ’s doctrine
infallibly. This is so, even when they are dispersed around the
world, provided that while maintaining the bond of unity among
themselves and with Peter’s successor, and while teaching
authentically on a matter of faith or morals, they concur in a single
viewpoint as the one which must be held conclusively…This is the
infallibility which the Roman Pontiff, the head of the college of
bishops, enjoys in virtue of his office, when, as the supreme
shepherd and teacher of all the faithful, who confirms his brethren
in their faith, by a definitive act he proclaims a doctrine of faith or
morals…For then the Roman Pontiff is not pronouncing judgment
as a private person, but as the supreme teacher of the universal
Church, in whom the charism of infallibility of the Church itself is
individually present, he is expounding or defending a doctrine of
Catholic faith…To these definitions the assent of the Church can
never be wanting, on account of the activity of that same Holy
Spirit, by which the whole flock of Christ is preserved and
progresses in unity of faith.
Sensus Fidei
• Or sense of faith
• “an instinct for the truth of the Gospel”
• when exercised by the faithful it is called the sensus fidelium
or the sense of the faithful
• Is an individual ability
• emphasized to do away with the image of an autocratic
hierarchy and a passive laity.
• emphasize that all the baptized participate in the life and
mission of the Church
Sensus Fidei

Cardinal John Henry Newman – “An Johann Adam Möhler

Essay on the Development of
Christian Doctrine “, “Securus judicat
orbis terrarum”
Sensus Fidelium
• Giovanni Perrone
– Most distinguished theologians attributed probative force to the sensus fidelium, and that the
strength of one ‘instrument of tradition’ can make up for the deficit of another”
– Influence of Perrone’s research on Pope Pius IX’s decision

• Pope Pius IX , Ineffabilis Deus (1854)

Dispositions to participate in Sensus Fidelium

1. participation in the life of Church

2. listening to the Word of God
3. openness to reason and dialogue
4. openness to the magisterium
5. Humility
6. And seeking the edification of the people of God
Sensus Fidei
• Sensus fidei is not meant to create a divide between the
magisterium and the laity
• The magisterium is to help people participate in the
sensus fidelium
Sensus Fidei
All of the gifts of the Spirit, and in a special way the gift of
primacy in the Church, are given so as to foster the unity of the Church in
faith and communion, and the reception of magisterial teaching by the
faithful is itself prompted by the Spirit, as the faithful, by means of the
sensus fidei that they possess, recognize the truth of what is taught and
cling to it…There are occasions, however, when the reception of magisterial
teaching by the faithful meets with difficulty and resistance, and appropriate
action on both sides is required in such situations. The faithful must reflect
on the teaching that has been given, making every effort to understand and
accept it…The magisterium must likewise reflect on the teaching that has
been given and consider whether it needs clarification or reformulation in
order to communicate more effectively the essential message. These mutual
efforts in times of difficulty themselves express the communion that is
essential to the life of the Church, and likewise a yearning for the grace of
the Spirit who guides the Church ‘into all the truth’ (Jn 16:13).
Conclusion