Avant-propos - Studia Moralia

184 TODD A. SALZMAN
cannot err in matters of belief, 47 discerning the implications of
that belief for moral teaching is an ongoing process. The Church
has erred in moral matters in the past. However, the Church as
a pilgrim Church in the process of becoming provides hope that
error will not persist in the long term.
Fifth, revisionism would contrast the ecclesiology developed
by the BGT and their reliance upon Humani Generis and Lumen
Gentium 25, with that developed elsewhere in Lumen Gentium
and other Vatican II documents. For example, Gaudium et Spes
reflects a communion ecclesiology:
With the help of the Holy Spirit, it is the task of the entire People
of God, especially pastors and theologians, to hear, distinguish,
and interpret the many voices of our age, and to judge them in the
light of the divine Word. In this way, revealed truth can always be
more deeply penetrated, better understood, and set forth to greater
advantage. 48
One might ask how such ecclesiological models at variance
with one another could evolve from the same Council? Not only
does the hermeneutical lens determine one’s interpretation of these
documents, but also, as MCCORMICK notes, “it is a known and acknowledged
fact that the documents of Vatican II contain perspectives
and statements that are ill at ease with each other.” 49 In revisionism’s
ecclesiology, legitimate and respectful dissent is a part of
the dialogical model between theologians and the magisterium. It
is not a cancer to be eliminated but a service to the Church in her
ongoing journey to discern how we respond to complex moral
questions through an ongoing reflection on Revelation.
Finally, while the BGT would strictly limit those issues that
are open to discussion between theologians and the magisterium,
revisionism would maintain that all noninfallible magisterial
pronouncements are open to scholarly investigation.
The revisionist dialogical model is based on the two components
of dialogue itself, listening and speaking. For theologians,
47 Lumen Gentium par. 12.
48 Gaudium et Spes par. 44.
49 MCCORMICK, Critical Calling 103.