General
The Teaching Ministry of the Diocesan Bishop: A Pastoral Reflection (1992)
The Teaching Ministry of the Diocesan Bishop: A Pastoral Reflection
In 1985, in response to requests received from bishops, the Committee on Doctrine began work on a document that would address a number of issues facing the bishops of the United States in the exercise of their teaching office. Among others, concerns included the understanding of the teaching office, some of its canonical dimensions, the difficulties confronting bishops as authoritative teachers in the United States today, and the response of bishops to difficulties posed by dissent to Church teaching. In 1988, during the NCCB discussion of our earlier document Doctrinal Responsibilities: Approaches to Promoting Cooperation and Resolving Misunderstandings between Bishops and Theologians, some bishops requested that additional reflections on the relationship between bishops and theologians become part of the Committee's work on the teaching office of the bishops.
While all these issues are related to the teaching office of the bishop, each of them presents a different kind of doctrinal or pastoral challenge to the bishop as teacher. To treat them together, in the judgment of the Committee, would require a document of some length. A subcommittee was formed to consider the issues and to draft the document. Its work was regularly reviewed by the Committee on Doctrine.
In May 199 I, a draft of the document was sent to all the bishops and to a selected group of theologians for comment. Comments were also sought from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In light of the many suggestions and comments submitted to the Committee on Doctrine, the text was revised into its present form.
The Teaching Ministry of the Diocesan Bishop: A Pastoral Reflection is the result of that process. It is presented as a self-reflection by bishops on their teaching office within the context of the Church in the United States today.
teaching-ministry-of-the-diocesan-bishop_0.pdf