Church authority is a vicarious, sacramental, grace-communicating operation implying both service of the people of God and mutual responsiveness in a creative and ceaseless dialogue.

Without questioning the objective priority of the magisterium in teaching and passing judgment, the author argues that its function is to elicit community consciousness rather than to enforce conformity.

Without questioning the objective priority of the magisterium in teaching and passing judgment, the author argues that its function is to elicit community consciousness rather than to enforce conformity.