Response to Rob Vischer ...

... and to other interested readers of this blog.  For Rob's query about a faithful Catholic's proper relationship to the teaching authority of the magisterium, click here.  Two excellent places to begin for those interested in pursuing this issue:

1.  Judge John T. Noonan Jr.'s new book, A Church That Can and Cannot Change:  The Development of Catholic Moral Teaching (2005).  Click here.

2.  Francis A. Sullivan, Creative Fidelity:  Weighing and Interpreting Documents of the Magisterium (2003).  Click here.

(Thanks to Cathy Kaveny for recommending these books.)

I touched upon the issue in chapter 5 of my book Under God?  Religious Faith and Liberal Democracy (2003).   Chapter 5 is titled Catholics, the Magisterium, and Same-Sex Unions:  An Argument for Independent Judgment.  Click here.