This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley discuss a, if not the, big question hanging over the synod: Can it change church teaching? They unpack the place of authority, doctrinal development and the synod with Richard Gaillardetz, the Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology at Boston College and the author of a foundational text on the levels of church teaching: By What Authority?: A Primer on Scripture, the Magisterium, and the Sense of the Faithful.

They ask Dr. Gaillardetz:

What’s the difference between a dogma, doctrine and teaching?
What do I need to believe to be Catholic? Is it O.K. to disagree with church teaching?
How has church teaching developed throughout history?

In Signs of the Times, the synod enters its final week with discussion on the synthesis report, and an Australian theologian addresses concerns some synod delegates have about tradition and the development of doctrine.

Links from the show:

Purchase By What Authority? Foundations for Understanding Authority in the Church, by Richard Gaillardetz
Synod: Fr Ormond Rush's theological reflection on Synthesis Report

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When Catholic doctrine can change–and when it can’t