ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to confront the problem of authority in the Roman Catholic Church today.1 The problem is that different models and interpretations of authority exist within the Church, and these differing conceptions frequently clash. After examining such difficulties, I shall seek to show, deploying a conceptual analysis of authority throughout, how an erroneous understanding of authority can be destructive for the Church. After defining authority, I shall examine what I see as such erroneous interpretations, which lead to the abuse of power and subsequent loss of legitimate authority. Next, I shall attempt to come to an understanding of what authority actually entails, and what this means in relation to the Church. Finally, I shall suggest how the Church hierarchy might reappraise its idea of authority, with the aid of the whole community of believers, for the benefit of the Church as a whole.
