The Limits of Papal Authority

The encyclical Mater et Magistra, issued by Pope John XXIII in 1961, captivated world opinion by the breadth and generosity of its appeal. It also raised some questions, and initiated a controversy that, in the long run, may prove as significant as the substantive content of the message. The questions raised related to the nature and extent of the assent required of believing Catholics to a Papal encyclical and its various parts. The controversy over these questions flared up for a brief moment, and then appears to have subsided.

But the appearance is surely deceptive. For the time being, the élan of aggiornamento seems to have swept everything else out of the way; but even aggiornamento cannot simply conjure fundamental questions out of existence. And the questions raised by Mater et Magistra were fundamental, for they touched the question of the magisterium, i.e., the teaching authority of the Church. Such questions concern not only the Catholic people, naturally always alive to the proper authority of the Church and its magisterium; they concern the non-Catholic world as well, for reasons that every Catholic should try to understand and take seriously.

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Will Herberg

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The encyclical Mater et Magistra, issued by Pope John XXIII in 1961, captivated world opinion by the breadth and generosity of its appeal. It also raised some questions, and initiated a controversy that, in the long run, may prove as significant as the substantive content of the message. The questions raised related to the nature and extent of the assent required of believing Catholics to a Papal encyclical and its various parts. The controversy over these questions flared up for a brief moment, and then appears to have subsided.

But the appearance is surely deceptive. For the time being, the élan of aggiornamento seems to have swept everything else out of the way; but even aggiornamento cannot simply conjure fundamental questions out of existence. And the questions raised by Mater et Magistra were fundamental, for they touched the question of the magisterium, i.e., the teaching authority of the Church. Such questions concern not only the Catholic people, naturally always alive to the proper authority of the Church and its magisterium; they concern the non-Catholic world as well, for reasons that every Catholic should try to understand and take seriously.