Lina Pilgrim

Magisterium

In Catholicism, the Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church.^[1] According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The task of interpreting the Word of Godauthentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him."^[2] Catholic theology divides the functions of the teaching office of the Church into two categories: the infallible sacred magisterium and the fallible ordinary magisterium. The infallible sacred magisterium includes the extraordinary declarations of the pope speaking ex cathedra and of ecumenical councils (traditionally expressed in conciliar creeds, canons, and decrees), as well as of the ordinary and universal magisterium. Despite its name, the "ordinary and universal magisterium" falls under the infallible sacred magisterium, and in fact is the usual manifestation of the infallibility of the Church, the decrees of popes and councils being "extraordinary".