What is Sensus Fidelium?

[iloveourlady77]

Hi,

I was just wondering if someone could help explain what ‘Sensus Fidelium’ means. I understand it literally means ‘sense of the faithful’ in English, but would someone be able to elaborate on it please?

God bless

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

Lumen Gentium:

1. The holy people of God shares also in Christ’s prophetic office; it spreads abroad a living witness to Him, especially by means of a life of faith and charity and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise, the tribute of lips which give praise to His name. The entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples’ supernatural discernment in matters of faith when “from the Bishops down to the last of the lay faithful” they show universal agreement in matters of faith and morals.

Pope Benedict had this to say in his Address to International Theological Commission:

Today, however, it is particularly important to clarify the criteria used to distinguish the authentic sensus fidelium from its counterfeits. In fact, it is not some kind of public opinion of the Church, and it is unthinkable to mention it in order to challenge the teachings of the Magisterium, this because the sensus fidei can not grow authentically in the believer except to the extent in which he or she fully participates in the life of the Church, and this requires a responsible adherence to her Magisterium.

The “sense of the faithful” works hand-in-hand with the Magisterium, it is not a mere opinion poll of the laity. It helps the Magisterium to discern how best to understand and explain the deposit of faith. The best examples of the sense of the faithful are the two Marian dogmas of the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception. These two dogmas declarations/definitions are primarily the result of the laity so fervently believing and passing on these two beliefs. Although theologians throughout history had debated the specifics of the Mary’s unique role and graces it was the faithful who universally and consistently gave devotion to the Immaculate Conception as it was eventually defined by the Church.