The Actors Involved in the Exercise of the Prophetic Office in the Church. The Common Message of Lumen Gentium 12, Lumen Gentium 25, and Dei Verbum 7-10

This article reconstructs the evolution of the teaching of Vatican II on the actors involved in the prophetic office in the Church in LG 12, LG 25 and DV 7-10. The Council did not want to convey a completely different message when speaking about the infallibility of Pope and bishops in the third chapter of Lumen Gentium compared to its earlier treatment of the infallibilitas in credendo in chapter two. In both LG 12 and LG 25, the people of God and the hierarchy are considered active subjects. Ormond Rush and the International Theological Commission have transformed the bi-polar circularity between bishops and pastors of DV 10 into a tri-polar circularity. For Rush, the faithful, the magisterium, and the theologians constitute one teaching office in the Church. The International Theological Commission pays attention to the interplay between the sensus fidelium, episcopal collegiality, and papal primacy within a theology of synodality. From Vatican II until today, the most important message remains that a strict separation between the teaching Church and the learning Church should be avoided.status: publishe