when they propose a teaching of faith or morals as one to be held by all the faithful"
Cantarella,
Your definition above of the ordinary magisterium is EXACTLY what I’ve been saying and it lines up EXACTLY with the requirements of Vatican I, when it defined infallibility. It fulfills the 4 requirements of Vatican 1, therefore it is 1) Official Teaching and 2) is Infallible and protected from error.
V2 did not propose ANY teaching as being 1) a “divinely revealed” topic of 2) “faith and morals” that 3) “must be held” under pain of sin by 4) “all the faithful” of the Church, everywhere and for all time.
Here’s what you guys are missing...the important factor of being “divinely revealed”. What does this mean? It’s another term for Tradition. It means the Church is telling us that teaching x is “part of Tradition”, that it can be traced back to the Apostles because Christ HAS ALREADY revealed it to them.
Notice that Vatican I does not say that the pope “divinely REVEALS” (present tense). No! All truth has already been revealed to the Apostles by Christ.
The Pope’s job is to re-teach or clarify WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN REVEALED. Infallibility does not reveal something NEW (that’s not possible!) but only connect some point of the Faith back to Tradition which is 1) under attack or 2) which is currently misunderstood.
Go re-read the Papal Bull of the Assumption. The Pope makes it very clear that this is not new but is a part of the Faith going back to Apostolic times (because, of course, the Apostles were there when Our Lady Assumed into heaven).
Go re-read any council docuмent (apart from V2) and they explain or refer to Tradition and how their canons are Apostolic beliefs.
Go re-read Humanae Vitae (which theologians argue was an exercise of ORDINARY magisterium). The pope makes clear that the Church’s stance against birth control is 1) constant teaching 2) a matter of faith/morals, 3) part of the natural law (which is “divinely revealed” upon all men’s hearts). And 4) must be believed by all Catholics.
The point is, the TIME factor matters. Because the Church is TIMELESS. She teaches the same truths yesterday, today and tomorrow. What Christ taught the Apostles was the “full faith”. He gave them “all truth”. THERE IS NOTHING NEW FOR THE CHURCH TO TEACH.
So when the pope (either alone or in union with the bishops) exercises his teaching authority, on a matter of faith and morals, he is not REVEALING (present tense) a teaching but only confirming/reminding us of what HAS ALREADY BEEN revealed (past tense) by Christ to the Apostles. Therefore, the idea that the magisterium is the “rule of faith” is as erroneous as saying that a priest is the “author of the Holy Eucharist”. In both cases, the pope/priest is the intermediary between us and Christ. These intermediaries are ABSOLUTELY necessary to our faith and our religion, but the formal object of our faith is Christ and His teachings (ie articles of faith or dogma) not of the Apostles and their successors. For ALL DOGMA was revealed by Christ to the Apostles. There is nothing left for the Church to do but re-teach and clarify.