I am looking for some official Church teaching concerning this concept of “sensus fidelium”.
A good Catholic asked me to read this book Why Be Catholic? by Richard Rohr and Joseph Martos. I was suprised that she was excited about a Rohr book since I am familiar with his heterdox writing and speaking. Well the book did not change my opinion of Rohr. Here is his quote about the “sensus fidelium”. This term sounds very Fr. Richard McBrien-esq.
“Sexuality, however, is not the only area of disagreement. The ability of theologians to articulate the sensus fidelium in words that do not conform to the writings of the past is sometimes not recognized by conservative Church leaders who forget the development of doctrine. In a changing world the way we talk about the gospel has to change if our religious language is not to become archaic. For dectrine to develop there must always be some who are at the cutting edge of this process. The people in the Church either come to recognize their Catholic faith in the writings of these thinkers, or else they do not. If they do not, the writings gather dust and are forgotten. But if the faithful do recognize an authentic expression of the Catholic faith in them, the writings of these theologians become more authoritative in the Church. The final stage in the process arrives when the hierarchy recognizes the consent of the faithful and officially approves what the Church has accepted.”
I know that this is heterodox thinking. I am not interested in others just confirming that this is heterodox. I am interested in what if anything does the Catholic Church actually teach about this term “sensus fidelium”?