Monday, September 21, 2020 –
Most of you have probably never asked how or where the Church gets her authority, but if you have, then this round of super basic primers is for you!
If you ask a 3rd grader, and I have, “where does the Church get her authority?” You will get the answer, “From God.” This is not wrong.
Indeed, her authority does come from God, but the Church takes what I like to call a three-pronged approach in asserting, conveying, and teaching that authority. We are talking about how the Church preserves and passes down (teaches) the Faith. Each of the prongs is like a leg of a stool. And, if you know anything about basic stool construction or gravity, you know you need three (equal) legs on your stool to keep gravity at bay and your butt in the chair. Otherwise, you end up splattered on the floor and people asking you thousands of questions of how and why you fell.
Anyhoo, the Church has a much more eloquent name for these three things: the THREE PILLARS OF THE CHURCH’S AUTHORITY. Of course, if you crack open your Catechism to the index, you will not find anything under “three” or “pillars,” and you will find several thousand entries under “Church” and “authority.”
So, what gives? I swear to you that I am not making this pillars phrase up. If you must know, the section on the three pillars of the Church’s authority can be found in the middle of Chapter 2 of the Catechism. However, the Catechism does not list them together under the heading “Three Pillars of the Church’s Authority.” Rather, it simply speaks about them together and each unable to stand without the other (hence, “pillars”).
What do I mean? Well, paragraph 95 of the Catechism quotes Pope Paul VI’s Dei Verbum:
It is clear, therefore, that sacred tradition, Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church, in accord with God’s most wise design, are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others, and that all together and each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls. (Pope Paul VI, Dei Verbum, 10 § 3)
From that we can get our basic list of the Three Pillars of the Church’s Authority:
- Sacred Scripture
- Sacred Tradition
- The Magisterium (AKA “teaching authority”)
The first two (Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition) make up what we call the “Deposit of Faith.” The third is how/how that deposit is preserved and taught.
Pope John Paul II uses these three terms together in the Apostolic Constitution: Fidei Depositum, printed at the very front of every Catechism:
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I approved 25 June last and the publication of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic Authority, is a statement of the Church’s faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church’s Magisterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion. May it serve the renewal to which the Holy Spirit ceaselessly calls the Church of God, the Body of Christ, on her pilgrimage to the undiminished light of the Kingdom! (Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Constitution: Fidei Depositum, §3)
Over the next few days we will briefly cover what each of these three pillars means.
Mother of our Creator, pray for us!
