ABSTRACT
Obviously, the confidence of the report in this matter presupposes a certain indefectibility of the Church and of the nature of truth. The document follows the line adopted by the Second Vatican Council which, while wary of the doctrine of reception, did stress the infallible instinct of the faithful, inspired by the Holy Spirit, which leads them to embrace the truths enunciated by the magisterium. The Constitution on the Church declares: ‘The body of the faithful as a whole, anointed as they are by the Holy One … cannot err in matters of belief.’ Citing Augustine, the Constitution goes on to claim that, ‘thanks to a supernatural sense of the faith which characterizes the People as a whole, it manifests this unerring quality when, “from the bishops down to the last member of the laity”, it shows universal agreement in matters of faith and morals’ [no. 12]. When the magisterium – the bishops together with the Pope – formally utters its mind, the assent of the Church will surely be forthcoming through the work of the Holy Spirit, ‘whereby the whole flock of Christ is preserved and progresses in unity and faith’ [no. 25].
