Church's Infallibility-- Distinctions

[Evangetholic]

1. Ex Cathedra statements by the Pontiff and the dogmatic statements of the Bishops in council are exercises of the Extraordinary Magisterium. Is this a correct statement?

 

2. The Ordinary and Universal Magisterium is Infallible. How can I distinguish between the Ordinary Magisterium and the Ordinary and Universal Magisterium (as exercised by the Holy Father and on matters of faith and morals)? Or is it the case that the Pope is not the organ of the Ordinary and Universal Magisterium, but only the Bishops in communion with him, but not in council?

 

3. I understand that Ordinatio Sacerdotalis teaches true and constant doctrine (and so is consequently infallible?), but which kind of teaching did Pope Bl John Paul the Great give us: an ex cathedra statement (it doesn't read like the other statements I understand to be ex cathedra), an exercise of the Ordinary and Universal Magisterium (I'm still not clear what this is), or the Ordinary Magisterium repeating Holy Church's "constant teaching"? (If this isn't clear, I believe OS teaches infallible and irreformable teaching I just do not understand how)

 

 

 

 

[cappie]

The best source I know (especially for laymen) is Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, by Ludwig Ott (4th edition published by TAN Books, Rockford, Illinois, 1974). There is available online, an extremely helpful summary of Catholic dogmas and their authoritative status, extracted from this book.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20080618064450/http://www.catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchdocuments/dogmas.cfm

 

He starts out by explaining the various levels of dogmatic certainty. Many folks are unaware that the Catholic Church distinguishes between various levels of infallibility itself, with the famous ex cathedra being the very highest and the infallibility of the ordinary magisterium being an example of a lower-level infallibility.

Catholics are bound to accept dogmas under any of these categories (a thing which has been cynically, ruthlessly or ignorantly exploited -- I should say, distorted -- by liberal or dissenting Catholics who wish to reject certain Catholic dogmas that they don't care for).

But anyway, after explaining the different levels of authority, Ott then presents a systematic theology of various doctrines, by giving simple one-line propositions or doctrines and then classifying them (de fide dogma being the highest in the book). That allows one to see how authoritative different Catholic doctrines are, according to the Catholic Church.

 The Catechism of the Catholic Church [I've linked to the online 2nd version] is also good to simply find out what Catholics believe and what they are bound to. But in answer to the specific question above, I don't know of any better source than Ott. He is very helpful.

 

For excellent treatments of the fine-tuned distinctions of the Church, even within the category of "infallibility," see:

"Four Levels of the Church's Teaching" (Fr. William G. Most)

"The Hierarchy of Truths and the Truth" (Fr. William G. Most)

"Concept and Classification of Dogma" (Ludwig Ott; scroll down to §4; from the book cited above)

"A Discussion of Infallibility" (Fr. John Trigilio)