By What Authority?: Foundations for Understanding Authority in the Church

Few topics are as important, or as controversial, as the proper role and exercise of authority in the Roman Catholic Church. Inspired by Pope Francis's bold rereading and determined implementation of the teaching of Vatican II, Richard Gaillardetz has completely revised and expanded his book By What Authority? It offers a helpful introduction to the nature and forms of church authority and their relationship to authentic Christian belief and discipleship. Gaillardetz offers theologically clear and pastorally insightful considerations of:

• the character of divine revelation, the authority of Scripture and tradition
• the role of the pope and bishops in preserving the Christian faith
• the levels of church teaching authority, the central faith witness of all the baptized
• the possibility of disagreements with church teaching, and the proper relationship between theologians, the magisterium, and the whole people of God
• the authority of the believing community and the controversial questions that arise when there are conflicting interpretations of church teaching.

Richard R. Gaillardetz holds the Joseph Chair of Catholic Systematic Theology at Boston College. He has published numerous articles and has authored or edited twelve books, including An Unfinished Council: Vatican II, Pope Francis, and the Renewal of Catholicism and Keys to the Council: Unlocking the Teaching of Vatican II (co-authored with Catherine Clifford), both published by Liturgical Press. He is also a contributor to Give Us This Day. Gaillardetz has been a delegate on the US Catholic-Methodist Ecumenical Dialogue and served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America between 2013 and 2014.