Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Sensus fidelium" in English language version.
The tradition of the Apostles, committed to the whole Church in its various constituents and functions per modum unius, manifests itself variously at various times: sometimes by the mouth of the episcopacy, sometimes by the doctors, sometimes by the people, sometimes by liturgies, rites, ceremonies, and customs, by events, disputes, movements, and all those other phenomena which are comprised under the name of history. It follows that none of these channels of tradition may be treated with disrespect; granting at the same time fully, that the gift of discerning, discriminating, defining, promulgating, and enforcing any portion of that tradition resides solely in the Ecclesia docens.See also: Coulson, John, ed. (1962). On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 63. ISBN 0934134510.
{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)Sensus fidelium does not mean that universal consent of the faithful is necessary for a doctrine to be true, or that doctrine becomes true by virtue of such consensus. It means that universal consent is possible because the doctrine is true in the first place. Truth emanates from God and comes to the faithful-not the other way around. When the entire body of the faithful recognizes the truth through "supernatural discernment" - not by human reason alone - sensus fidelium becomes the prophetic witness spoken of in Lumen gentium. This is what is meant by 'The holy people of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office'. When the entire body of the faithful agrees with the truth, it is a powerful and prophetic witness to the rest of the world. When 'the faithful' is divided, it is a sad and pathetic witness of an institution showing only its human limitations and rejecting its divine identity.
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