The Magisterium is the authority of the Church, by Divine appointment, to teach the truths of the Catholic religion. The term "Magisterium" also refers to the teaching and interpreting of the doctrines of the Faith carried on by the Church through the Pope and bishops and those commissioned by them.  The Magisterium has two modes.  The Magisterium may be "solemn" or "Extraordinary" when it is derived from the formal definitions of a General Council which are ratified by a Pope, or from the Pope himself speaking ex cathedra ("from the chair").  Also included as solemn are "theological censures" or those statements that qualify and condemn propositions as heretical.  

      The Magisterium is called "Ordinary" when it manifests itself as those truths communicated through the daily continuous preaching of the Church in the person of the Pope.  Papal encyclicals are letters addressed by the Holy Father to all bishops in communion with the Holy See to inform them of certain measures or for the general instruction of the faithful under their care.  Papal encyclicals dealing with matters of faith or morals, as well as other similar documents such as apostolic constitutions and bulls, are part of the Ordinary Magisterium.  Each Pontiff’s statements form a single line of thought, in light of what the previous Pontiffs have taught. Never would there be a break in the doctrine. In fact, evidence of this continuity is that Popes very frequently refer to their “venerable predecessors,” and quote them in the footnotes of their encyclicals. Hence, a Pontiff in exercising the Magisterium doesn’t create any new teachings, but only transmits something that has already been taught in the Deposit of Faith, as passed down from Christ to His Holy Apostles, and then on through the Popes of history.  

      All expressions of the Magisterium, whether Extraordinary or Ordinary, are ALWAYS infallible.  The Pope, as head of the Church, is safeguarded by the charism of infallibiity. The term "Infallibility" means that the Holy Ghost protects from any error or even the possibility of error the Magisterial statements (whether Ordinary or Extraordinary) of the Roman Pontiff.  Infallibility is a prerogative of the Pope when he speaks as head of the Church on a matter of faith or morals.   The following infallible statements give evidence that the Ordinary Magisterium of the Catholic Church is ALWAYS infallible.                                          

“All those things are to be believed with divine and Catholic faith, which are contained in the  word of God, written or handed down, [i.e., Scripture or Tradition], and which the Church, either by a solemn judgment, or by her ordinary and universal magisterium, proposes for belief as having been divinely revealed.” Vatican I, Session III (ratified by Pope Pius IX in 1870). 

“Even if he makes this submission efficaciously which is in accord with an act of divine faith... he should extend it to those truths which are transmitted as divinely revealed by the ordinary magisterium of the entire Church dispersed throughout the world.”  Pius IX, Tuas libenter (1863). 

"The sense of the sacred dogmas is to be faithfully kept which Holy Mother Church has once declared, and is not to be departed from under the specious pretext of a more profound understanding." He adds: “Nor is the suppression to be considered altogether free from blame, which designedly omits certain principles of Catholic doctrine and buries them, as it were, in oblivion. For there is the one and the same Author and Master of all the truths that Christian teaching comprises: the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father. That they are adapted to all ages and nations is plainly deduced from the words which Christ addressed to His Apostles: Go therefore teach ye all nations: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world. Wherefore the same Vatican Council says: ‘By the divine and Catholic faith these are to be believed which are contained in the word of God either written or handed down, and are proposed by the Church whether in solemn decision or by the ordinary universal magisterium, to be believed as having been divinely revealed.’ Far be it then, for anyone to diminish or for any reason whatever to pass over anything of this divinely delivered doctrine; whosoever would do so, would rather wish to alienate Catholics from the Church than to bring over to the Church those who dissent from it. Let them return; indeed nothing is nearer to Our heart; let all those who are wandering far from the sheepfold of Christ return; but let it not be any other road than that which Christ has pointed out... The history of all past ages is witness that the Apostolic See, to which not only the office of teaching but also the supreme government of the whole Church was committed, has constantly adhered to the same doctrine in the same sense and in the same mind.... In this all must acquiesce who wish to avoid the censure of our predecessor Pius VI, who proclaimed the 18th proposition of the Synod of Pistoia ‘to be injurious to the Church and to the Spirit of God which governs her, in as much as it subjects to scrutiny the discipline established and approved by the Church, as if the Church could establish a useless discipline or one which would be too onerous for Christian liberty to bear.’”  Leo XIII - Testem Benevolentiae (1899)

 “This Magisterium [the ordinary and universal] of the Church in regard to faith and morals, must be for every theologian the proximate and universal rule of truth, for the Lord has entrusted the Church with the entire deposit of the faith - Holy Scripture and Tradition  to be kept, to be upheld and to be explained. In the same manner, we must not think that what is proposed in the encyclicals does not require in itself our assent because the Popes did not exercise their supreme magisterial powers in them. Our Lord’s words ‘he who listens to you listens to Me’ also applies to whatever is taught by the ordinary Magisterium of the Church.”        Pope Pius XII, Humani Generis (1950)

 Pope Martin V at the Council of Constance in his apostolic constitution, Inter Cuntas, 22 February 1418, Article 11: “All those truths must be believed fide divina et catholica, which are contained in the written word of God or in tradition and which the Church proposes for acceptance as revealed by God, either by a solemn definition or through her ordinary and universal teaching. To pronounce a solemn definition is the part of an Ecumenical Council or of the Roman Pontiff speaking ex cathedra. No religious teaching is to be understood as dogmatically declared unless such declaration or definition has clearly been made.”

      A person must believe everything that the Catholic Church teaches, including what is taught by the Ordinary Magisterium.  To depart in even one point would put one outside the Catholic Church, as the below quotes attest.  How could believing a flawed magisterial teaching (if such a thing were possible, which it is not) put one outside of the Church?  Hence, the Ordinary Magisterium must always be infallible.

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum (# 9), June 29, 1896:  
"The practice of the Church has always been the same, as is shown by the unanimous teaching of the Fathers, who were wont to hold as outside Catholic communion, and alien to the Church, whoever would recede in the least degree from any point of doctrine proposed by her authoritative Magisterium."

 Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum (# 9):  
"No one who merely disbelieves in all (these heresies) can for that reason regard himself as a Catholic or call himself one. For there may be or arise some other heresies, which are not set out in this work of ours, and, if any one holds to one single one of these he is not a Catholic."

 Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, "Cantate Domino," 1441:  
"Therefore the Holy Roman Church condemns, reproves, anathematizes and declares to be outside the Body of Christ, which is the Church, whoever holds opposing or contrary views."

 Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi (# 23), June 29, 1943:  
"For not every sin, however grave it may be, is such as of its own nature to sever a man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy."

.Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, "Cantate Domino," 1441, ex cathedra:  
"The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Church before the end of their lives." 

Pope Innocent III, Eius exemplo, Dec. 18, 1208:  
"By the heart we believe and by the mouth we confess the one Church, not of heretics, but the Holy Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Church outside of which we believe that no one is saved."

           The Catholic Church is perfect in its teachings and free of any doctrinal errors, as the following quotes demonstrate.  Since the Church is uncontaminated, the teachings must be true.  Since the teachings are promulgated through the Magisterium, it follows that the Magisterium (both Extraordinary and Ordinary) must ALWAYS be infallible.

Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas (# 22), Dec. 11, 1925: “Not least among the blessings which have resulted from the public and legitimate honor paid to the Blessed Virgin and the saints is the perfect and perpetual immunity of the Church from error and heresy.”

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos (# 10), Jan. 6, 1928: “During the lapse of centuries, the mystical Spouse of Christ has never been contaminated, nor can she ever in the future be contaminated, as Cyprian bears witness: ‘The Bride of Christ cannot be made false to her Spouse: she is incorrupt and modest.  She knows but one dwelling, she guards the sanctity of the nuptial chamber chastely and modestly.”

 Pope Hadrian I, Second Council of Nicaea, 787: “… Christ our God, when He took for His Bride His Holy Catholic Church, having no blemish or wrinkle, promised he would guard her and assured His holy disciples saying, I am with you every day until the consummation of the world.”

 Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, Session 9, March 23, 1440: “…the Spouse of Christ is uncontaminated and modest, knowing only one home, and she guards the sanctity of their marriage bed with chaste modesty.”

Pope St. Siricius, epistle (1) Directa ad decessorem, Feb. 10, 385: “And so He has wished the beauty of the Church, whose spouse He is, to radiate with the splendor of chastity, so that on the day of judgment, when He will have come again, He may be able to find her without spot or wrinkle [Eph. 5:27] as He instituted her through His apostle.”

       The Catholic Church never changes its teachings, and it provides the same doctrines at all times and in all places.  The teachings are through the person of the Roman Pontiff, who is a principle of unity for the Church, as the following Papal quotes demonstrate.  Since the teaching of the Pope is through the Magisterium and he is a principle of unity, it follows that the Magisterium (both Ordinary and Extraordinary) is ALWAYS infallible. 

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum (#15) June 29, 1896: “When the divine founder decreed that the Church should be one in faith, in government, and in communion, He chose Peter and his successors as the principle and center, as it were, of this unity.”  

Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam, Nov. 18, 1302:  “With Faith urging us we are forced to believe and hold the one, holy, Catholic Church, and that apostolic, and we firmly believe and simply confess this Church outside of which there is no salvation nor remission of sin, the Spouse in the Canticle proclaiming: ‘One is my dove, my perfect one. One she is of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her’ (Cant. 6:8); which represents one mystical body whose head is Christ, of Christ indeed, as God. And in this, ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (Eph. 4:5)… since the Lord says in John, ‘to be one flock and one Shepherd’ (John 10:16).”

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos (# 7), Jan. 6, 1928: “For the authors who favor this view are accustomed, times almost without number, to bring forward these words of Christ: ‘That they all may be one… And there shall be one fold and one shepherd,’ (Jn. 17:21; 10:16) with this signification however: that Christ Jesus merely expressed a desire and prayer, which still lacks its fulfillment. For they are of the opinion that the unity of faith and government, which is a note of the one true Church of Christ, has hardly up to the present time existed, and does not today exist.”

Pope Gregory XVI, Commissum Divinitus (#10), May 17, 1835: “… Christ established this ecclesiastical power for the benefit of unity. And what is this unity unless one person is placed in charge of the whole Church who protects it and joins all its members in the one profession of faith…”

Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos , on the unity of the Church: “… that unity can only arise from one teaching authority, one law of belief and one faith of Christians.”

 Pope Pius X, Editae Saepe, May 26, 1910: “… the Church remains immutable and constant, ‘as the pillar and foundation of truth,’ in professing one identical doctrine…”

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, June 29, 1896: “For this reason, as the unity of the faith is of necessity required for the unity of the Church, inasmuch as it is the body of the faithful, so also for this same unity, inasmuch as the Church is a divinely constituted society, unity of government, which effects and involves unity of communion, is necessary jure divino (by divine law).”

            Following are some of the misconceptions that exist concerning the Ordinary Magisterium.  A certain group holds that a papal encyclical concerned with faith or morals contains the Ordinary Magisterium, but that certain parts may contain error.  They say that one must go through encyclicals and sift out the true portions by comparing them with the Deposit of Faith.  This view is erroneous, since a papal encyclical dealing with faith or morals in its ENTIRETY is an expression of the Ordinary Magisterium.   

     Another group states that the Ordinary Magisterium itself is sometimes infallible and at other times non-infallible.  This position in incorrect since as has been shown throughout this article, the Ordinary Magisterium is ALWAYS infallible.  There is no such thing as a non-infallible Ordinary Magisterium.  

     Among some CNOCs (Conservative Novus Ordo "Catholics") and Indult-ers is the view that only ex-cathedra statements are infallible.  This view is wrong as the existence and infallibility of the Ordinary Magisterium has been shown in this article.  

     There is still another self-described "traditionalist" group that says that the Ordinary Magisterium consists not only of papal encyclicals and other documents dealing with faith or morals, but also of the writings of Church Fathers, Saints, and Doctors of the Church, catechisms, books with imprimateurs, and treatises by distinguished theologians.  This particular "traditionalist" group claims that all of the above documents are infallible.  In reality, on that list only Papal documents concerned with faith or morals are infallible, NOT the others listed above.  This group considers the Ordinary Magisterium to be much bigger than it really is.  The three aforementioned groups think of the Ordinary Magisterium as being smaller than it really is. 

     The four above mistaken views about the definition and constant infallibility of the Ordinary Magisterium have lead many people (even self-proclaimed "Traditional Roman Catholics") to embrace several incorrect or even heretical views on many very important topics.  The following statements are all true and are a result of various pronouncements of the Ordinary Magisterium.  Due to a misconception about the Ordinary Magisterium, most people reject at least one of these statements, if not most of them.   

1. Outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation.  

2.  Water baptism is absolutely necessary for both justification and salvation.

3.  No heretic can be elected pope. Hence, the Papal See has been completely vacant since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958.  It follows that the elections of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI were invalid, making them anti-popes.

4.  The new rites of ordination of a priest (1968) and consecration of a bishop (1967) are invalid.    

5.  The Novus Ordo “Mass” (promulgated in 1969) is invalid.

6.  The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was a false council, chock full of heresies.

7.  The Conciliar Church (Vatican II sect) is a non-Catholic institution.

      It is beyond the scope of this article to document the proof from the Ordinary Magisterium for each of the above statements.  However, much evidence is available on the internet.  One very fine source is               http://www.maryimmaculatechapel.com          .

      In summary, the term "Ordinary Magisterium" has been defined in this article.  Also, it has been shown though a series of infallible Papal quotes that the Ordinary Magisterium itself is ALWAYS infallible.  As mentioned, the Ordinary Magisterium doesn't create any new teachings, but just transmits teachings from the Deposit of Faith, and manifests one continuous line of doctrine from Pontiff to Pontiff.  Further, the common misconceptions by various "Traditional Catholic" groups about what the Ordinary Magisterium is and what its scope is (in terms of when it is infallible) were presented.  Additionally discussed were the consequences of misunderstanding the Ordinary Magisterium.  Seven important Catholic teachings and/or conclusions to understand where we are in our time were listed.  These teachings are often distorted and not accurately adhered to, causing disunity among those who claim to be "Traditional Roman Catholics."

      In these times of confusion and disunity, many people call for a “restoration of the Catholic Church.” In point of fact, there is no need for a restoration of the Catholic Church, as the Church has never gone away, from the time it was founded by Christ in 33 A.D.  For proof of this point, see the following papal quote.  

Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos , Aug. 15, 1832:  “Therefore, it is obviously absurd and injurious to propose a certain ‘restoration and regeneration’ for her (the Church) as though necessary for her safety and growth, as if she could be considered subject to defect or obscuration or other misfortune.”

     However, one may wonder where the Ordinary Magisterium of the Catholic Church is today, since there has not been a true Pope since the death of Pope Pius XII on October 9^th, 1958. The Ordinary Magisterium lies in the Papal writings (bulls, apostolic constitutions, and encyclicals dealing with faith or morals) from Pope St. Peter through Pope Pius XII. It is true that there have been no infallible encyclicals or other papal documents written since 1958, nor have there been any manifestations of the Extraordinary Magisterium in that timeframe. There has been a false or pseudo-magisterium emanating from the anti-popes from John XXIII through Benedict XVI, that has produced many heretical “encyclicals”, as well as approving the heretical documents of that robber council called Vatican II. 

      In conclusion, in order for unity to be achieved, the root cause of the division among those who call themselves "Traditional Roman Catholics" , i.e., a lack of understanding that the Ordinary Magisterium is ALWAYS infallible, must be healed at the root.  People must submit to the Magisterium (both Ordinary and Extraordinary) of the Roman Catholic Church, and then there can be unity.