St. Peter's Basilica in Rome
THE HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE
OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
AND IN PARTICULAR ON THE
EPISCOPATE
taken from
CHAPTER
III
The
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18. For the nurturing and constant
growth of the People of God, Christ the Lord instituted in His Church a variety
of ministries, which work for the good of the whole body. For those ministers,
who are endowed with sacred power, serve their brethren, so that all who are of
the People of God, and therefore enjoy a true Christian dignity, working toward
a common goal freely and in an orderly way, may arrive at salvation.
This Sacred
Council, following closely in the footsteps of the First Vatican Council, with
that Council teaches and declares that Jesus Christ, the eternal Shepherd,
established His holy Church, having sent forth the apostles as He Himself had
been sent by the Father;(136) and He willed that their successors, namely the bishops,
should be
shepherds in His Church even to the consummation of the world. And in order
that the episcopate itself might be one and undivided, He placed Blessed Peter
over the other apostles, and instituted in him a permanent and visible source
and foundation of unity of faith and communion.(1*) And all this teaching about
the institution, the perpetuity, the meaning and reason for the sacred primacy
of the Roman Pontiff and of his infallible magisterium, this Sacred Council
again proposes to be firmly believed by all the faithful. Continuing in that
same undertaking, this Council is resolved to declare and proclaim before all
men the doctrine
concerning bishops, the successors of the apostles, who together with
the successor of Peter, the Vicar of Christ,(2*) the visible Head of the whole
Church, govern the house of the living God.
19. The Lord Jesus, after praying to
the Father, calling to Himself those whom He desired, appointed twelve to be
with Him, and whom He would send to preach the Kingdom of God;(137) and these
apostles(138) He formed after the manner of a college or a stable group, over
which He placed Peter chosen from among them.(139) He sent them first to the
children of Israel and then to all nations,(140) so that as sharers in His
power they might make all peoples His disciples, and sanctify and govern
them,(141) and thus spread His Church, and by ministering to it under the
guidance of the Lord, direct it all days even to the consummation of the
world.(142) And in this mission they were fully confirmed on the day of
Pentecost(143) in accordance with the Lord's promise: "You shall receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses for me in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and even to the very ends of the
earth".(144) And the apostles, by preaching the Gospel everywhere,(145)
and it being accepted by their hearers under the influence of the Holy Spirit,
gather together the universal Church, which the Lord established on the
apostles and built upon blessed Peter, their chief, Christ Jesus Himself being
the supreme cornerstone.(146)(3*)
20. That
divine mission, entrusted by Christ to the apostles, will last until the end of
the world,(147) since the Gospel they are to teach is for all time the source
of all life for the Church. And for this reason the apostles, appointed as
rulers in this society, took care to appoint successors.
For they not
only had helpers in their ministry,(4*) but also, in order that the mission
assigned to them might continue after their death, they passed on to their
immediate cooperators, as it were, in the form of a testament, the duty of
confirming and finishing the work begun by themselves,(5*) recommending to them
that they attend to the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit placed them to
shepherd the Church of God.(148) They therefore appointed such men, and gave
them the order that, when they should have died, other approved men would take
up their ministry.(6*) Among those various ministries which, according to
tradition, were exercised in the Church from the earliest times, the chief place belongs to the
office of those who, appointed to the episcopate, by a succession running from
the beginning,(7*) are passers-on of the apostolic seed.(8*) Thus, as
St. Irenaeus testifies, through those who were appointed bishops by the
apostles, and through their successors down in our own time, the apostolic
tradition is manifested (9*) and preserved.(10*)
Bishops,
therefore, with their helpers, the priests and deacons, have taken up the
service of the community, (11*) presiding in place of God over the flock,(12*)
whose shepherds they are, as teachers for doctrine, priests for sacred worship,
and ministers for governing.(13*) And just as the office granted individually
to Peter, the first among the apostles, is permanent and is to be transmitted
to his successors, so also the apostles' office of nurturing the Church is
permanent, and is to be exercised without interruption by the sacred order of
bishops. (14*) Therefore, the Sacred Council teaches that bishops by divine
institution have succeeded to the place of the apostles, (15*) as shepherds of
the Church, and he who hears them, hears Christ, and he who rejects them,
rejects Christ and Him who sent Christ.(149)(16*)
21. In the bishops, therefore, for
whom priests are assistants, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Supreme High Priest, is
present in the midst of those who believe. For sitting at the right hand of God
the Father, He is not absent from the gathering of His high priests,(17*) but
above all through their excellent service He is preaching the word of God to
all nations, and constantly administering the sacraments of faith to those who
believe, by their paternal functioning(150) He incorporates new members in His
Body by a heavenly regeneration, and finally by their wisdom and prudence He
directs and guides the People of the New Testament in their pilgrimage toward
eternal happiness. These pastors, chosen to shepherd the Lord's flock of the
elect, are servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God,(151) to
whom has been assigned the bearing of witness to the Gospel of the grace of
God,(152) and the ministration of the Spirit and of justice in glory.(153)
For the discharging of such great duties, the apostles were
enriched by Christ with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming upon
them,(154) and they passed on this spiritual gift to their helpers by the
imposition of hands,(155) and it has been transmitted down to us in episcopal
consecration.(18*) And the Sacred Council teaches that by episcopal
consecration the fullness of the sacrament of Orders is conferred, that
fullness of power, namely, which both in the Church's liturgical practice and
in the language of the Fathers of the Church is called the high priesthood, the
supreme power of the sacred ministry.(19*) But episcopal consecration, together
with the office of sanctifying, also confers the office of teaching and of
governing, which, however, of its very nature, can be exercised only in
hierarchical communion with the head and the members of the college. For from
the tradition, which is expressed especially in liturgical rites and in the
practice of both the Church of the East and of the West, it is clear that, by
means of the imposition of hands and the words of consecration, the grace of
the Holy Spirit is so conferred,(20*) and the sacred character so impressed,(21*)
that bishops in an eminent and visible way sustain the roles of Christ Himself
as Teacher, Shepherd and High Priest, and that they act in His person.(22*)
Therefore it pertains to the bishops to admit newly elected members into the
episcopal body by means of the sacrament of Orders.
22. Just as in the Gospel, the Lord so disposing, St. Peter
and the other apostles constitute one apostolic college, so in a similar way
the Roman Pontiff, the successor of Peter, and the bishops, the successors of
the apostles, are joined together. Indeed, the very ancient practice whereby
bishops duly established in all parts of the world were in communion with one
another and with the Bishop of Rome in a bond of unity, charity and peace,(23*)
and also the councils assembled together,(24*) in which more profound issues
were settled in common, (25*) the opinion of the many having been prudently
considered,(26*) both of these factors are already an indication of the
collegiate character and aspect of the episcopal order; and the ecumenical
councils held in the course of centuries are also manifest proof of that same
character. And it is intimated also in the practice, introduced in ancient
times, of summoning several bishops to take part in the elevation of the newly
elected to the ministry of the high priesthood. Hence, one is constituted a
member of the episcopal body in virtue of sacramental consecration and
hierarchical communion with the head and members of the body.
But the college or body of
bishops has no authority unless it is understood together with the Roman
Pontiff, the successor of Peter as its head. The pope's power of primacy over
all, both pastors and faithful, remains whole and intact. In virtue of his
office, that is as Vicar of Christ and pastor of the whole Church, the Roman
Pontiff has full, supreme and universal power over the Church. And he is always
free to exercise this power. The order of bishops, which succeeds to the
college of apostles and gives this apostolic body continued existence, is also
the subject of supreme and full power over the universal Church, provided we
understand this body together with its head the Roman Pontiff and never without
this head.(27*) This power can be exercised only with the consent of the Roman
Pontiff. For our Lord placed Simon alone as the rock and the bearer of the keys
of the Church,(156) and made him shepherd of the whole flock;(157) it is
evident, however, that the power of binding and loosing, which was given to
Peter,(158) was granted also to the college of apostles, joined with their
head.(159)(28*) This college, insofar as it is composed of many,
expresses the variety and universality of the People of God, but insofar as it
is assembled under one head, it expresses the unity of the flock of Christ. In
it, the bishops,
faithfully recognizing the primacy and pre-eminence of their head, exercise
their own authority for the good of their own faithful, and indeed of the whole
Church, the Holy Spirit supporting its organic structure and harmony with
moderation. The supreme power in the universal Church, which this college
enjoys, is exercised in a solemn way in an ecumenical council. A council is never ecumenical
unless it is confirmed or at least accepted as such by the successor of Peter;
and it is prerogative of the Roman Pontiff to convoke these councils, to
preside over them and to confirm them.(29*) This same collegiate power
can be exercised together with the pope by the bishops living in all parts of
the world, provided that the head of the college calls them to collegiate
action, or at least approves of or freely accepts the united action of the
scattered bishops, so that it is thereby made a collegiate act.
23. This collegial union is apparent
also m the mutual relations of the individual bishops with particular churches
and with the universal Church. The Roman Pontiff, as the successor of Peter, is
the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity of both the bishops
and of the faithful.(30*) The individual bishops, however, are the visible
principle and foundation of unity in their particular churches, (31*) fashioned
after the model of the universal Church, in and from which churches comes into
being the one and only Catholic Church.(32*) For this reason the individual bishops represent
each his own church, but all of them together and with the Pope represent the
entire Church in the bond of peace, love and unity.
The individual bishops, who
are placed in charge of particular churches, exercise their pastoral government
over the portion of the People of God committed to their care, and not over
other churches nor over the universal Church. But each of them, as a member of the episcopal college and
legitimate successor of the apostles, is obliged by Christ's institution and command
to be solicitous for the whole Church,(33*) and this solicitude, though
it is not exercised by an act of jurisdiction, contributes greatly to the
advantage of the universal Church. For it is the duty of all bishops to promote and to
safeguard the unity of faith and the discipline common to the whole Church, to
instruct the faithful to love for the whole mystical body of Christ,
especially for its poor and sorrowing members and for those who are suffering
persecution for justice's sake,(160) and finally to promote every activity that
is of interest to the whole Church, especially that the faith may take increase and the light of full
truth appear to all men. And this also is important, that by governing
well their own church as a portion of the universal Church, they themselves are
effectively contributing to the welfare of the whole Mystical Body, which is
also the body of the churches.(34*)
The task of
proclaiming the Gospel everywhere on earth pertains to the body of pastors, to
all of whom in common Christ gave His command, thereby imposing upon them a
common duty, as Pope Celestine in his time recommended to the Fathers of the
Council of Ephesus.(35*) From this it follows that the individual bishops, insofar as their own discharge
of their duty permits, are obliged to enter into a community of work among
themselves and with the successor of Peter, upon whom was imposed in a
special way the great duty of spreading the Christian name.(36*) With all their
energy, therefore, they must supply
to the missions both workers for the harvest and also spiritual and material
aid, both directly and on their own account. as well as by arousing the
ardent cooperation of the faithful. And finally, the bishops, in a universal
fellowship of charity, should gladly extend their fraternal aid to other
churches, especially to neighboring and more needy dioceses in accordance with
the venerable example of antiquity.
By divine
Providence it has come about that various churches, established in various
places by the apostles and their successors, have in the course of time
coalesced into several groups, organically united, which, preserving the unity
of faith and the unique divine constitution of the universal Church, enjoy
their own discipline, their own liturgical usage, and their own theological and
spiritual heritage. Some of these churches, notably the ancient patriarchal
churches, as parent-stocks of the Faith, so to speak, have begotten others as
daughter churches, with which they are connected down to our own time by a
close bond of charity in their sacramental life and in their mutual respect for
their rights and duties.(37*) This variety of local churches with one common
aspiration is splendid evidence of the catholicity of the undivided Church. In
like manner the episcopal bodies of today are in a position to render a
manifold and fruitful assistance, so that this collegiate feeling may be put
into practical application.
24. Bishops, as successors of the
apostles, receive from the Lord, to whom was given all power in heaven and on
earth, the mission to teach all nations and to preach the Gospel to every
creature, so that all men may attain to salvation by faith, baptism and the
fulfilment of the commandments.(161) To fulfill this mission, Christ the Lord
promised the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and on Pentecost day sent the Spirit
from heaven, by whose power they would be witnesses to Him before the nations
and peoples and kings even to the ends of the earth.(162) And that duty, which
the Lord committed to the shepherds of His people, is a true service, which in
sacred literature is significantly called "diakonia" or
ministry.(163)
The canonical mission of bishops
can come about by legitimate customs that have not been revoked by the supreme
and universal authority of the Church, or by laws made or recognized be that
the authority, or directly through the successor of Peter himself; and if the
latter refuses or denies apostolic communion, such bishops cannot assume any
office.(38*)
25.
Among the principal duties of bishops the preaching of the Gospel occupies an
eminent place.(39*) For bishops are preachers of the faith, who lead new
disciples to Christ, and they are authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed
with the authority of Christ, who preach to the people committed to them the
faith they must believe and put into practice, and by the light of the Holy
Spirit illustrate that faith. They bring forth from the treasury of Revelation
new things and old,(164) making it bear fruit and vigilantly warding off any errors
that threaten their flock.(165) Bishops, teaching in communion with the Roman Pontiff, are to be
respected by all as witnesses to divine and Catholic truth. In matters
of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful
are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent. This religious submission of
mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of
the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra; that is, it must
be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with
reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according
to his manifest mind and will. His mind and will in the matter may be known
either from the character of the documents, from his frequent repetition of the
same doctrine, or from his manner of speaking.
Although the individual bishops
do not enjoy the prerogative of infallibility, they nevertheless proclaim
Christ's doctrine infallibly whenever, even though dispersed through the world,
but still maintaining the bond of communion among themselves and with the
successor of Peter, and authentically teaching matters of faith and
morals, they are in agreement on one position as definitively to be held.(40*)
This is even more clearly verified when, gathered together in an ecumenical
council, they are teachers and judges of faith and morals for the universal
Church, whose definitions must be adhered to with the submission of faith.(41*)
And this
infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed His Church to be endowed in
defining doctrine of faith and morals, extends as far as the deposit of
Revelation extends, which must be religiously guarded and faithfully expounded.
And this is the
infallibility which the Roman Pontiff, the head of the college of bishops,
enjoys in virtue of his office, when, as the supreme shepherd and teacher of
all the faithful, who confirms his brethren in their faith,(166) by a
definitive act he proclaims a doctrine of faith or morals.(42*) And therefore
his definitions, of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church, are
justly styled irreformable, since they are pronounced with the
assistance of the Holy Spirit, promised to him in blessed Peter, and therefore
they need no approval of others, nor do they allow an appeal to any other
judgment. For then the
Roman Pontiff is not pronouncing judgment as a private person, but as the
supreme teacher of the universal Church, in whom the charism of infallibility
of the Church itself is individually present, he is expounding or
defending a doctrine of Catholic faith.(43*) The infallibility promised to the
Church resides also in the body of Bishops, when that body exercises the
supreme magisterium with the successor of Peter. To these definitions the assent of the Church can never
be wanting, on account of the activity of that same Holy Spirit, by
which the whole flock of Christ is preserved and progresses in unity of
faith.(44*)
But when either the Roman
Pontiff or the Body of Bishops together with him defines a judgment, they
pronounce it in accordance with Revelation itself, which all are obliged to
abide by and be in conformity with, that is, the Revelation which as
written or orally handed down is transmitted in its entirety through the
legitimate succession of bishops and especially in care of the Roman Pontiff
himself, and which under the guiding light of the Spirit of truth is
religiously preserved and faithfully expounded in the Church.(45*) The Roman
Pontiff and the bishops, in view of their office and the importance of the
matter, by fitting means diligently strive to inquire properly into that
revelation and to give apt expression to its contents;(46*) but a new public revelation they
do not accept as pertaining to the divine deposit of faith.(47*)
26. A bishop marked with the fullness of the sacrament of Orders, is
"the steward of the grace of the supreme priesthood," (48*)
especially in the Eucharist, which he offers or causes to be offered,(49*) and by
which the Church continually lives and grows. This Church of
Christ is truly present in all legitimate local congregations of the faithful
which, united with their pastors, are themselves called churches in the New
Testament.(50*) For in their locality these are the new People called by God,
in the Holy Spirit and in much fullness.(167) In them the faithful are gathered
together by the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and the mystery of the
Lord's Supper is celebrated, that by the food and blood of the Lord's body the
whole brotherhood may be joined together.(51*) In any community of the altar,
under the sacred ministry of the bishop,(52*) there is exhibited a symbol of
that charity and "unity of the mystical Body, without which there can be
no salvation."(53*) In these communities, though frequently small and
poor, or living in the Diaspora, Christ is present, and in virtue of His
presence there is brought together one, holy, catholic and apostolic
Church.(54*) For "the partaking of the body and blood of Christ does
nothing other than make us be transformed into that which we consume".
(55*)
Every legitimate celebration of
the Eucharist is regulated by the bishop, to whom is committed the office of
offering the worship of Christian religion to the Divine Majesty and of
administering it in accordance with the Lord's commandments and the Church's
laws, as further defined by his particular judgment for his diocese.
Bishops
thus, by praying and laboring for the people, make outpourings in many ways and
in great abundance from the fullness of Christ's holiness. By the ministry of
the word they communicate God's power to those who believe unto salvation(168)
and through the sacraments, the regular and fruitful distribution of which they
regulate by their authority,(56*) they sanctify the faithful. They direct the
conferring of baptism, by which a sharing in the kingly priesthood of Christ is
granted. They are the original ministers of confirmation, dispensers of sacred
Orders and the moderators of penitential discipline, and they earnestly exhort
and instruct their people to carry out with faith and reverence their part in
the liturgy and especially in the holy sacrifice of the
27. Bishops, as vicars and ambassadors
of Christ, govern the particular churches entrusted to them (58*) by their
counsel, exhortations, example, and even by their authority and sacred power,
which indeed they use only for the edification of their flock in truth and
holiness, remembering that he who is greater should become as the lesser and he
who is the chief become as the servant.(169) This power, which they personally
exercise in Christ's name, is proper, ordinary and immediate, although its
exercise is ultimately regulated by the supreme authority of the Church, and
can be circumscribed by certain limits, for the advantage of the Church or of
the faithful. In virtue of this power, bishops have the sacred right and the duty before the
Lord to make laws for their subjects, to pass judgment on them and to moderate
everything pertaining to the ordering of worship and the apostolate.
The pastoral
office or the habitual and daily care of their sheep is entrusted to them
completely; nor are they to be regarded as vicars of the Roman Pontiffs, for
they exercise an authority that is proper to them, and are quite correctly
called "prelates," heads of the people whom they govern.(59*) Their power, therefore, is not
destroyed by the supreme and universal power, but on the contrary it is affirmed,
strengthened and vindicated by it,(60*) since the Holy Spirit unfailingly
preserves the form of government established by Christ the Lord in His Church.
A bishop,
since he is sent by the Father to govern his family, must keep before his eyes
the example of the Good Shepherd, who came not to be ministered unto but to
minister,(170) and to lay down his life for his sheep.(171) Being taken from
among men, and himself beset with weakness, he is able to have compassion on
the ignorant and erring.(172) Let him not refuse to listen to his subjects,
whom he cherishes as his true sons and exhorts to cooperate readily with him.
As having one day to render an account for their souls,(173) he takes care of
them by his prayer, preaching, and all the works of charity, and not only of
them but also of those who are not yet of the one flock, who also are commended
to him in the Lord. Since, like Paul the Apostle, he is debtor to all men, let
him be ready to preach the Gospel to all,(174) and to urge his faithful to
apostolic and missionary activity. But the faithful must cling to their bishop,
as the Church does to Christ, and Jesus Christ to the Father, so that all may
be of one mind through unity,(61*) and abound to the glory of God.(175)
28.
(Unable to copy completely.-ed.) Christ, whom the Father has sanctified
and sent into the world, (176) has through His apostles, made their successors,
the bishops, partakers of His consecration and His mission.(62*) They have
legitimately handed on to different individuals in the Church various degrees
of participation in this ministry. Thus the divinely established ecclesiastical
ministry is exercised on different levels by those who from antiquity have been
called bishops, priests and deacons.(63*) Priests, although they do not possess the highest degree
of the priesthood, and although they are dependent on the bishops in the
exercise of their power, nevertheless they are united with the bishops in
sacerdotal dignity.(64*) By the power of the sacrament of Orders,(65*)
in the image of Christ the eternal high Priest,(177) they are consecrated to
preach the Gospel and shepherd be faithful and to celebrate divine worship, so
that they are true priests of the New Testament.(66*) Partakers of the function
of Christ the sole Mediator,(178) on their level of ministry, they announce the
divine word to all. They
exercise their sacred function especially in the eucharistic worship or the
celebration of the Mass by which acting in the person of Christ (67*) and
proclaiming His Mystery they unite the prayers of the faithful with the
sacrifice of their Head and renew and apply (68*) in the sacrifice of the Mass
until the coming of the Lord(179) the only sacrifice of the New Testament
namely that of Christ offering Himself once for all a spotless Victim to the
Father.(180) For the sick and the sinners among the faithful, they
exercise the ministry of alleviation and reconciliation and they present the
needs and the prayers of the faithful to God the Father.(181) Exercising within
the limits of their authority the function of Christ as Shepherd and Head,(69*)
they gather together God's family as a brotherhood all of one mind,(70*) and
lead them in the Spirit, through Christ, to God the Father. In the midst of the
flock they adore Him in spirit and in truth.(182) Finally, they labor in word
and doctrine,(183) believing what they have read and meditated upon in the law
of God, teaching what they have believed, and putting in practice in their own
lives what they have taught.(71*)
Priests, prudent cooperators
with the episcopal order,(72*) its aid and instrument, called to serve the
people of God, constitute one priesthood (73*) with their bishop although bound
by a diversity of duties. Associated with their bishop in a spirit of
trust and generosity, they make him present in a certain sense in the
individual local congregations, and take upon themselves, as far as they are
able, his duties and the burden of his care, and discharge them with a daily
interest. And as they sanctify and govern under the bishop's authority, that
part of the Lord's flock entrusted to them they make the universal Church
visible in their own locality and bring an efficacious assistance to the
building up of the whole body of Christ.(184) intent always upon the welfare of
God's children, they must strive to lend their effort to the pastoral work of
the whole diocese, and even of the entire Church. On account of this sharing in their priesthood and
mission, let priests sincerely look upon the bishop as their father and reverently
obey him. And let the bishop regard his priests as his co-workers and as
sons and friends, just as Christ called His disciples now not servants but
friends.(185) All priests, both diocesan and religious, by reason of Orders and
ministry, fit into this body of bishops and priests, and serve the good of the
whole Church according to their vocation and the grace given to them.
(Lumin Gentium.."Light of the
Nations"...Dogmatic Constituion on the Church, Chapter III, Article 18-28.
These qualifications submitted to Ecumenical Council Vatican II by the
Subcommission on Collegiality of the Theological Commission: Archbishops:
Parente of the Curia, and Florit of Florence. Bishops: Schoffer of Eichstat,
Hermann Volk of
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