Witnesses to the Faith: Community, Infallibility, and the Ordinary Magisterium of Bishops
Publisher: Paulist Press, 1992
ISBN: 0809133504
Paperback: 238 pages
In what way can it be said that bishops, while dispersed in their dioceses around the world, speak infallibly on matters of faith and Christian practice? Our century has seen considerable development in the understanding of papal teaching, but only now are theologians beginning to reassess the teaching authority of individual bishops. Richard Gaillardetz traces the development of the “ordinary magisterium” through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He maintains that since the Second Vatican Council there has been a new appreciation of the relationship between the teaching of bishops and the faith of people, making it possible to view bishops as authoritative teachers precisely because of their Eucharistic leadership in a community.
Richard Gaillardetz 