Position · 1546

Magisterium

The Catholic teaching that the authentic interpretation of Scripture and tradition belongs to the church’s living teaching office, the pope and the bishops in communion with him.

In 1546 the Council of Trent taught that Scripture and unwritten traditions are received with equal reverence, and that it belongs to the church to judge the true sense of Scripture. The First Vatican Council defined in 1870 that the pope is infallible when he defines a doctrine of faith or morals ex cathedra. The view stands opposed to Sola Scriptura, and differs from Holy Tradition mainly over the role of the papacy.