[6]It declared that Christ fulfils his prophetic office "not only through the hierarchy who teach in His name and with His authority, but also through the laity whom He made His witnesses and to whom He gave understanding of the faith [sensus fidei] and an attractiveness in speech so that the power of the Gospel might shine forth in their daily social and family life.
In a speech to the International Theological Commission on 7 December 2012, Pope Benedict XVI distinguished between the authentic meaning of sensus fidei and a counterfeit understanding: "It is certainly not a kind of public ecclesial opinion, and invoking it in order to contest the teachings of the Magisterium would be unthinkable, since the sensus fidei cannot be authentically developed in believers, except to the extent in which they fully participate in the life of the Church, and this demands responsible adherence to the Magisterium, to the deposit of faith.
[6] What may be a contrary view was expressed in an article by the editorial staff of the progressive United States periodical National Catholic Reporter: "Blessed John Henry Newman said that there are three magisteria in the church: the bishops, the theologians, and the people.
"[10] A branch of the Cardinal Newman Society countered this view by quoting what the Pope coincidentally said only four days later, and by commenting: "One need not look very far in Catholic circles nowadays to find some mention of sensus fidelium which literally means 'sense of faith'.
"[15] Theologian Cardinal Georges Cottier wrote: "Obviously, the sensus fidei is not to be identified with the consensus of the majority, it is not defined on the basis of the statistics of polls.
In the history of the Church it has happened that in certain contexts the sensus fidei has been manifested by isolated individuals, single saints, while general opinion hung on to doctrines not conforming to the apostolic faith.
"[13] Donal Dorr instead has commented critically on what he sees as the Church's failure to effectively listen to what he views as the sensus fidei, which he perhaps looks for in Third World countries, since he also speaks of actual Catholic social teaching as showing a western and ethnocentric leaning.
[16] Addressing a group of theologians in December 2013, Pope Francis said: "By the gift of the Holy Spirit, the members of the Church possess a 'sense of faith'.
This is a kind of 'spiritual instinct' that makes us sentire cum Ecclesia [think with the mind of the Church] and to discern that which is in conformity with the apostolic faith and is in the spirit of the Gospel.
The People of God therefore precede theologians and this is all thanks to that supernatural sensus fidei, namely, that capacity infused by the Holy Spirit that qualifies us to embrace the reality of the faith with humility of heart and mind.