My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

A common misconception among many non-Catholics is that we Catholics are expected to believe that everything the pope says is infallible and therefore are obliged to obey blindly whatever he teaches. Actually, the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus Christ endowed the church's shepherds (that is, the pope and bishops) with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that the charism of infallibility takes several forms. Specifically, the pope enjoys this infallibility by virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful, "he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals... . The infallibility promised to the church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium, above all in an Ecumenical Council. When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine for belief as being divinely revealed, and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions must be adhered to with the obedience of faith." (§891).

The word "Magisterium" comes from the Latin word magister, which means "teacher." Thus, the "Supreme Magisterium" refers to when the pope and bishops in a collegial manner exercise the teaching office entrusted to them by Christ. Even when they do not propose a teaching in a definitive manner as infallible, Divine Assistance is also given to individual bishops as successors of the apostles teaching in communion with the successor of St. Peter, that is, the pope, when "they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful are to adhere with religious assent which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it" (§892).

Notice the distinction between the obedience of faith that is to be given to an infallible teaching, such as the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and the lesser expectation of religious assent that is to be given to a non-infallible teaching of the ordinary Magisterium.

All of this is important to keep in mind in light of various statements being made about the proper response that is owed to the encyclical on world ecology, Laudato Si', issued by Pope Francis this past May. Secular voices that have long dismissed papal teachings on faith and morals concerning intrinsic evils such as abortion are suddenly citing papal authority to bolster their own views on climate change. For example, the editorial board of The New York Times wrote on June 19 that the pope's encyclical "packed an unexpectedly authoritative and confident punch, especially on global warming … Echoing the virtually unanimous findings of mainstream scientists, Pope Francis fixes the blame squarely on humans and their burning of fossil fuels." The problem with this interpretation is that the pope was not writing as a scientist, but as a teacher on faith and morals. Notice also that The New York Times ignored a key portion of the encyclical that did deal with a question of faith and morals when Pope Francis wrote, "Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion" (§120).

In this regard, as I said when the encyclical was first issued, it is important when reading a papal encyclical to distinguish between "core Catholic moral teachings," which Catholics are called to respect, and "prudential judgments," which Catholics are asked to consider prayerfully, humbly, and with open hearts and minds. An example of a core Catholic moral teaching in the encyclical is the statement, "Human ecology also implies another profound reality: the relationship between human life and the moral law, which is inscribed in our nature and is necessary for the creation of a more dignified environment (§155). Also, 'Human ecology is inseparable from the notion of the common good, a central and unifying principle of social ethics' " (§156).

A prudential judgment is intelligence on particular issues applied to our actions in light of those core moral teachings. An example of a prudential judgment is the statement that "a number of scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases … released mainly as a result of human activity" (§23). Pope Francis himself says in the encyclical, "On many concrete questions, the Church has no reason to offer a definitive opinion; she knows that honest debate must be encouraged among experts, while respecting divergent views" (§61). Even for those who disagree on prudential judgments, such as the cause of climate change, the moral case for acting to protect the created world remains.

May God give us this grace. Amen.