Folia Theologica 1. (1990)
Péter Erdő: The Theological foundations of Canon Law according to the works of John Henry Newman
THE THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CANON LAW 125 all that the Christian world judges with complete certainty, or rather that the judgment of the entire Church cannot be false.51 Even if he considers, more than once, the reception on the part of the Christian people as specific proof of the authenticity of a doctrinal definition, he does not retain it as a juridically necessary element for the bindig force of these definitions.52 It seems that the character of the communion of the Church is the framework in which even infallibility is found, in a way that makes clear the active and organic participation of the whole Church in the exercise of the office of teaching. Communion as an aspect of organic unity of the Church carries with it structural consequences for the exercise of the tria munera. 3. The participation in the exercise of the triple office of the Church As already mentioned, in Newman’s Preface to the third edition of the Via Media the idea of the triple office of Christ and the whole Church is clearly set out. It is conceived as an equilibrium of these three offices, in which all the people of God have a part.53 Here we deal with a view of the Church that was afterwards formulated authoritatively by the Second Vatican Council. Therefore some authors rightly maintain that the pertinent passages by Newman can be used as a commentary on chapters 2 and 3 of Lumen Gentium.54 These help today’s readers to better understand the consequences and the implications of the respective conciliar teachings. For Newman, as we have seen, there is no group of people that only has a passive part in the Church. Even the laity are called upon and capable of fulfilling their functions in view of the exercise of the tria munera of the Church.55 This is splendidly confirmed by Lumen Gentium (chapter 32), according to which there is "a true equality between all with regard to the dignity and to the activity which is common to all the faithful in the building up of the Body of Christ." On a similar note one finds in canon 208 of the new Code of Canon Law, 51. Cf. STERN, La communion 177. 52. Cf. ibid. 178. 53. VM I, xxxix-xli; etc. cf. COULSON J., Conscience and authority: Newman and the two Vatican Councils, in Newman-Studien IX, Nürnberg 1974, 169. 54. COULSON 169. 55. Cf. e. g. CONGAR 97-98.
