DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH
LUMEN GENTIUM
SOLEMNLY PROMULGATED BY HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON NOVEMBER 21, 1964
CHAPTER
I
THE
MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH
1. Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this
Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by
proclaiming the Gospel to every creature,(1) to bring the light of Christ to
all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church. Since the
Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very
closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it
desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole
world its own inner nature and universal mission. This it intends to do
following faithfully the teaching of previous councils. The present- day
conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that
all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural
ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ.
2. The eternal Father, by a free and hidden plan of His own
wisdom and goodness, created the whole world. His plan was to raise men to a
participation of the divine life. Fallen in Adam, God the Father did not leave
men to themselves, but ceaselessly offered helps to salvation, in view of
Christ, the Redeemer "who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature".(2) All the elect, before time began, the Father
"foreknew and pre- destined to become conformed to the image of His Son,
that he should be the firstborn among many brethren".(3) He planned to
assemble in the holy Church all those who would believe in Christ. Already from
the beginning of the world the foreshadowing of the Church took place. It was
prepared in a remarkable way throughout the history of the people of Israel and
by means of the Old Covenant.(1*) In the present era of time the Church was
constituted and, by the outpouring of the Spirit, was made manifest. At the end
of time it will gloriously achieve completion, when, as is read in the Fathers,
all the just, from Adam and "from Abel, the just one, to the last of the
elect,"(2*) will be gathered together with the Father in the universal
Church.
3. The Son, therefore, came, sent by the Father. It was in
Him, before the foundation of the world, that the Father chose us and
predestined us to become adopted sons, for in Him it pleased the Father to
re-establish all things.(4) To carry out the will of the Father, Christ
inaugurated the Kingdom of heaven on earth and revealed to us the mystery of
that kingdom. By His obedience He brought about redemption. The Church, or, in
other words, the kingdom of Christ now present in mystery, grows visibly
through the power of God in the world. This inauguration and this growth are
both symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of a
crucified Jesus,(5) and are foretold in the words of the Lord referring to His
death on the Cross: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw
all things to myself".(6) As often as the sacrifice of the cross in which
Christ our Passover was sacrificed, is celebrated on the altar, the work of our
redemption is carried on, and, in the sacrament of the eucharistic bread, the
unity of all believers who form one body in Christ (8) is both expressed and
brought about. All men are called to this union with Christ, who is the light
of the world, from whom we go forth, through whom we live, and toward whom our
whole life strains.
4. When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth
(9) was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order
that He might continually sanctify the Church, and thus, all those who believe
would have access through Christ in one Spirit to the Father.(10) He is the
Spirit of Life, a fountain of water springing up to life eternal.(11) To men,
dead in sin, the Father gives life through Him, until, in Christ, He brings to
life their mortal bodies.(12) The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts
of the faithful, as in a temple.(13) In them He prays on their behalf and bears
witness to the fact that they are adopted sons.(14) The Church, which the
Spirit guides in way of all truth(15) and which He unified in communion and in
works of ministry, He both equips and directs with hierarchical and charismatic
gifts and adorns with His fruits.(16) By the power of the Gospel He makes the
Church keep the freshness of youth. Uninterruptedly He renews it and leads it
to perfect union with its Spouse. (3*) The Spirit and the Bride both say to Jesus,
the Lord, "Come!"(17)
Thus, the Church has been seen as "a people made one
with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."(4*)
5. The mystery of the holy Church is manifest in its very
foundation. The Lord Jesus set it on its course by preaching the Good News,
that is, the coming of the Kingdom of God, which, for centuries, had been
promised in the Scriptures: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
is at hand"(18). In the word, in the works, and in the presence of Christ,
this kingdom was clearly open to the view of men. The Word of the Lord is
compared to a seed which is sown in a field;(19) those who hear the Word with
faith and become part of the little flock of Christ,(20) have received the
Kingdom itself. Then, by its own power the seed sprouts and grows until harvest
time.(21) The Miracles of Jesus also confirm that the Kingdom has already
arrived on earth: "If I cast out devils by the finger of God, then the
kingdom of God has come upon you".(22) Before all things, however, the Kingdom
is clearly visible in the very Person of Christ, the Son of God and the Son of
Man, who came "to serve and to give His life as a ransom for
many:"(23)
When Jesus, who had suffered the death of the cross for
mankind, had risen, He appeared as the one constituted as Lord, Christ and
eternal Priest,(24) and He poured out on His disciples the Spirit promised by
the Father.(25) From this source the Church, equipped with the gifts of its
Founder and faithfully guarding His precepts of charity, humility and
self-sacrifice, receives the mission to proclaim and to spread among all
peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God and to be, on earth, the initial
budding forth of that kingdom. While it slowly grows, the Church strains toward
the completed Kingdom and, with all its strength, hopes and desires to be
united in glory with its King.
6. In the old Testament the revelation of the Kingdom is
often conveyed by means of metaphors. In the same way the inner nature of the
Church is now made known to us in different images taken either from tending
sheep or cultivating the land, from building or even from family life and
betrothals, the images receive preparatory shaping in the books of the
Prophets.
The Church is a sheepfold whose one and indispensable door
is Christ.(26) It is a flock of which God Himself foretold He would be the
shepherd,(27) and whose sheep, although ruled by human shepherds; are
nevertheless continuously led and nourished by Christ Himself, the Good
Shepherd and the Prince of the shepherds,(28) who gave His life for the
sheep.(29)
The Church is a piece of land to be cultivated, the village
of God.(30) On that land the ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were the
Prophets and in which the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles has been brought
about and will be brought about.(31) That land, like a choice vineyard, has
been planted by the heavenly Husbandman.(32) The true vine is Christ who gives
life and the power to bear abundant fruit to the branches, that is, to us, who
through the Church remain in Christ without whom we can do nothing.(33)
Often the Church has also been called the building of
God.(34) The Lord Himself compared Himself to the stone which the builders
rejected, but which was made into the cornerstone.(35) On this foundation the Church
is built by the apostles,(36) and from it the Church receives durability and
consolidation. This edifice has many names to describe it: the house of God
(37) in which dwells His family; the household of God in the Spirit;(38) the
dwelling place of God among men;(39) and, especially, the holy temple. This
Temple, symbolized in places of worship built out of stone, is praised by the
Holy Fathers and, not without reason, is compared in the liturgy to the Holy
City, the New Jerusalem (5*). As living stones we here on earth are built into
it.(40) John contemplates this holy city coming down from heaven at the renewal
of the world as a bride made ready and adorned for her husband.(41)
The Church, further, "that Jerusalem which is
above" is also called "our mother".(42) It is described as the
spotless spouse of the spotless Lamb,(43) whom Christ "loved and for whom
He delivered Himself up that He might sanctify her",(44) whom He unites to
Himself by an unbreakable covenant, and whom He unceasingly "nourishes and
cherishes",(45) and whom, once purified, He willed to be cleansed and
joined to Himself, subject to Him in love and fidelity,(46) and whom, finally,
He filled with heavenly gifts for all eternity, in order that we may know the
love of God and of Christ for us, a love which surpasses all knowledge.(47) The
Church, while on earth it journeys in a foreign land away from the Lord,(48) is
life an exile. It seeks and experiences those things which are above, where
Christ is seated at the right-hand of God, where the life of the Church is
hidden with Christ in God until it appears in glory with its Spouse.(49)
7. In the human nature united to Himself the Son of God, by
overcoming death through His own death and resurrection, redeemed man and
re-molded him into a new creation.(50) By communicating His Spirit, Christ made
His brothers, called together from all nations, mystically the components of
His own Body.
In that Body the life of Christ is poured into the believers
who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ who
suffered and was glorified.(6*) Through Baptism we are formed in the likeness
of Christ: "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one
body"(51). In this sacred rite a oneness with Christ's death and resurrection
is both symbolized and brought about: "For we were buried with Him by
means of Baptism into death"; and if "we have been united with Him in
the likeness of His death, we shall be so in the likeness of His resurrection
also"(52) Really partaking of the body of the Lord in the breaking of the
eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one
another. "Because the bread is one, we though many, are one body, all of
us who partake of the one bread".(53) In this way all of us are made
members of His Body,(54) "but severally members one of another".(55)
As all the members of the human body, though they are many,
form one body, so also are the faithful in Christ.(56) Also, in the building up
of Christ's Body various members and functions have their part to play. There
is only one Spirit who, according to His own richness and the needs of the
ministries, gives His different gifts for the welfare of the Church.(57) What
has a special place among these gifts is the grace of the apostles to whose
authority the Spirit Himself subjected even those who were endowed with
charisms.(58) Giving the body unity through Himself and through His power and
inner joining of the members, this same Spirit produces and urges love among
the believers. From all this it follows that if one member endures anything,
all the members co-endure it, and if one member is honored, all the members
together rejoice.(59)
The Head of this Body is Christ. He is the image of the
invisible God and in Him all things came into being. He is before all creatures
and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the Body which is the
Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He
might have the first place.(60) By the greatness of His power He rules the things
in heaven and the things on earth, and with His all-surpassing perfection and
way of acting He fills the whole body with the riches of His glory
All the members ought to be molded in the likeness of Him,
until Christ be formed in them.(62) For this reason we, who have been made to
conform with Him, who have died with Him and risen with Him, are taken up into
the mysteries of His life, until we will reign together with Him.(63) On earth,
still as pilgrims in a strange land, tracing in trial and in oppression the
paths He trod, we are made one with His sufferings like the body is one with
the Head, suffering with Him, that with Him we may be glorified.(64)
From Him "the whole body, supplied and built up by
joints and ligaments, attains a growth that is of God".(65) He continually
distributes in His body, that is, in the Church, gifts of ministries in which,
by His own power, we serve each other unto salvation so that, carrying out the
truth in love, we might through all things grow unto Him who is our Head.(66)
In order that we might be unceasingly renewed in Him,(67) He
has shared with us His Spirit who, existing as one and the same being in the
Head and in the members, gives life to, unifies and moves through the whole
body. This He does in such a way that His work could be compared by the holy
Fathers with the function which the principle of life, that is, the soul,
fulfills in the human body.(8*)
Christ loves the Church as His bride, having become the
model of a man loving his wife as his body;(68) the Church, indeed, is subject
to its Head.(69) "Because in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily",(70) He fills the Church, which is His body and His fullness, with
His divine gifts (71) so that it may expand and reach all the fullness of
God.(72)
8. Christ, the one Mediator, established and continually
sustains here on earth His holy Church, the community of faith, hope and
charity, as an entity with visible delineation (9*) through which He
communicated truth and grace to all. But, the society structured with
hierarchical organs and the Mystical Body of Christ, are not to be considered
as two realities, nor are the visible assembly and the spiritual community, nor
the earthly Church and the Church enriched with heavenly things; rather they
form one complex reality which coalesces from a divine and a human
element.(10*) For this reason, by no weak analogy, it is compared to the
mystery of the incarnate Word. As the assumed nature inseparably united to Him,
serves the divine Word as a living organ of salvation, so, in a similar way,
does the visible social structure of the Church serve the Spirit of Christ, who
vivifies it, in the building up of the body.(73) (11*)
This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is
professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic, (12*) which our Saviour, after
His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd,(74) and him and the other
apostles to extend and direct with authority,(75) which He erected for all ages
as "the pillar and mainstay of the truth".(76) This Church
constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic
Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in
communion with him,(13*) although many elements of sanctification and of truth
are found outside of its visible structure. These elements, as gifts belonging
to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward catholic unity.
Just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty
and persecution, so the Church is called to follow the same route that it might
communicate the fruits of salvation to men. Christ Jesus, "though He was
by nature God . . . emptied Himself, taking the nature of a slave",(77)
and "being rich, became poor"(78) for our sakes. Thus, the Church,
although it needs human resources to carry out its mission, is not set up to
seek earthly glory, but to proclaim, even by its own example, humility and
selfsacrifice. Christ was sent by the Father "to bring good news to the
poor, to heal the contrite of heart",(79) "to seek and to save what
was lost".(80) Similarly, the Church encompasses with love all who are
afflicted with human suffering and in the poor and afflicted sees the image of
its poor and suffering Founder. It does all it can to relieve their need and in
them it strives to serve Christ. While Christ, holy, innocent and undefiled(81)
knew nothing of sin,(82) but came to expiate only the sins of the people,(83)
the Church, embracing in its bosom sinners, at the same time holy and always in
need of being purified, always follows the way of penance and renewal. The
Church, "like a stranger in a foreign land, presses forward amid the
persecutions of the world and the consolations of God"(14*), announcing
the cross and death of the Lord until He comes."(84) By the power of the
risen Lord it is given strength that it might, in patience and in love,
overcome its sorrows and its challenges, both within itself and from without,
and that it might reveal to the world, faithfully though darkly, the mystery of
its Lord until, in the end, it will be manifested in full light.
CHAPTER
II
ON
THE PEOPLE OF GOD
9. At all times and in every race God has given welcome to
whosoever fears Him and does what is right.(85) God, however, does not make men
holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link between one
another. Rather has it pleased Him to bring men together as one people, a
people which acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness. He therefore
chose the race of Israel as a people unto Himself. With it He set up a covenant.
Step by step He taught and prepared this people, making known in its history
both Himself and the decree of His will and making it holy unto Himself. All
these things, however, were done by way of preparation and as a figure of that
new and perfect covenant, which was to be ratified in Christ, and of that
fuller revelation which was to be given through the Word of God Himself made
flesh. "Behold the days shall come saith the Lord, and I will make a new
covenant with the House of Israel, and with the house of Judah . . . I will
give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart, and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people . . . For all of them shall know Me,
from the least of them even to the greatest, saith the Lord.(86) Christ instituted
this new covenant, the new testament, that is to say, in His Blood,(87) calling
together a people made up of Jew and gentile, making them one, not according to
the flesh but in the Spirit. This was to be the new People of God. For those
who believe in Christ, who are reborn not from a perishable but from an
imperishable seed through the word of the living God,(88) not from the flesh
but from water and the Holy Spirit,(89) are finally established as "a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people . . . who in
times past were not a people, but are now the people of God".(90)
That messianic people has Christ for its head, "Who was
delivered up for our sins, and rose again for our justification",(91) and
now, having won a name which is above all names, reigns in glory in heaven. The
state of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the sons of God, in
whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in His temple. Its law is the new
commandment to love as Christ loved us.(92) Its end is the kingdom of God,
which has been begun by God Himself on earth, and which is to be further
extended until it is brought to perfection by Him at the end of time, when
Christ, our life,(93) shall appear, and "creation itself will be delivered
from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of
God".(94) So it is that that messianic people, although it does not
actually include all men, and at times may look like a small flock, is
nonetheless a lasting and sure seed of unity, hope and salvation for the whole
human race. Established by Christ as a communion of life, charity and truth, it
is also used by Him as an instrument for the redemption of all, and is sent
forth into the whole world as the light of the world and the salt of the earth.(95)
Israel according to the flesh, which wandered as an exile in
the desert, was already called the Church of God.(96) So likewise the new
Israel which while living in this present age goes in search of a future and
abiding city (97) is called the Church of Christ.(98) For He has bought it for
Himself with His blood,(99) has filled it with His Spirit and provided it with
those means which befit it as a visible and social union. God gathered together
as one all those who in faith look upon Jesus as the author of salvation and
the source of unity and peace, and established them as the Church that for each
and all it may be the visible sacrament of this saving unity. (1*) While it
transcends all limits of time and confines of race, the Church is destined to
extend to all regions of the earth and so enters into the history of mankind.
Moving forward through trial and tribulation, the Church is strengthened by the
power of God's grace, which was promised to her by the Lord, so that in the
weakness of the flesh she may not waver from perfect fidelity, but remain a
bride worthy of her Lord, and moved by the Holy Spirit may never cease to renew
herself, until through the Cross she arrives at the light which knows no
setting.
10. Christ the Lord, High Priest taken from among men,(100)
made the new people "a kingdom and priests to God the Father".(101)
The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are
consecrated as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, in order that through
all those works which are those of the Christian man they may offer spiritual
sacrifices and proclaim the power of Him who has called them out of darkness
into His marvelous light.(102) Therefore all the disciples of Christ,
persevering in prayer and praising God,(103) should present themselves as a
living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.(104) Everywhere on earth they must
bear witness to Christ and give an answer to those who seek an account of that
hope of eternal life which is in them.(105)
Though they differ from one another in essence and not only
in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or
hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own
special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ.(2*) The
ministerial priest, by the sacred power he enjoys, teaches and rules the
priestly people; acting in the person of Christ, he makes present the
eucharistic sacrifice, and offers it to God in the name of all the people. But
the faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the
Eucharist.(3*) They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the
sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and by
self-denial and active charity.
11. It is through the sacraments and the exercise of the
virtues that the sacred nature and organic structure of the priestly community
is brought into operation. Incorporated in the Church through baptism, the
faithful are destined by the baptismal character for the worship of the Christian
religion; reborn as sons of God they must confess before men the faith which
they have received from God through the Church (4*). They are more perfectly
bound to the Church by the sacrament of Confirmation, and the Holy Spirit
endows them with special strength so that they are more strictly obliged to
spread and defend the faith, both by word and by deed, as true witnesses of
Christ (5*). Taking part in the eucharistic sacrifice, which is the fount and
apex of the whole Christian life, they offer the Divine Victim to God, and
offer themselves along with It.(6*) Thus both by reason of the offering and
through Holy Communion all take part in this liturgical service, not indeed,
all in the same way but each in that way which is proper to himself. Strengthened
in Holy Communion by the Body of Christ, they then manifest in a concrete way
that unity of the people of God which is suitably signified and wondrously
brought about by this most august sacrament.
Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon
from the mercy of God for the offence committed against Him and are at the same
time reconciled with the Church, which they have wounded by their sins, and
which by charity, example, and prayer seeks their conversion. By the sacred
anointing of the sick and the prayer of her priests the whole Church commends
the sick to the suffering and glorified Lord, asking that He may lighten their
suffering and save them;(106) she exhorts them, moreover, to contribute to the
welfare of the whole people of God by associating themselves freely with the
passion and death of Christ.(107) Those of the faithful who are consecrated by
Holy Orders are appointed to feed the Church in Christ's name with the word and
the grace of God. Finally, Christian spouses, in virtue of the sacrament of
Matrimony, whereby they signify and partake of the mystery of that unity and
fruitful love which exists between Christ and His Church,(108) help each other
to attain to holiness in their married life and in the rearing and education of
their children. By reason of their state and rank in life they have their own
special gift among the people of God.(109) (7*) From the wedlock of Christians
there comes the family, in which new citizens of human society are born, who by
the grace of the Holy Spirit received in baptism are made children of God, thus
perpetuating the people of God through the centuries. The family is, so to
speak, the domestic church. In it parents should, by their word and example, be
the first preachers of the faith to their children; they should encourage them
in the vocation which is proper to each of them, fostering with special care
vocation to a sacred state.
Fortified by so many and such powerful means of salvation,
all the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord,
each in his own way, to that perfect holiness whereby the Father Himself is
perfect.
12. The holy people of God shares also in Christ's prophetic
office; it spreads abroad a living witness to Him, especially by means of a
life of faith and charity and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise, the
tribute of lips which give praise to His name.(110) The entire body of the
faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One,(111) cannot err in matters of
belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples'
supernatural discernment in matters of faith when "from the Bishops down
to the last of the lay faithful" (8*) they show universal agreement in
matters of faith and morals. That discernment in matters of faith is aroused
and sustained by the Spirit of truth. It is exercised under the guidance of the
sacred teaching authority, in faithful and respectful obedience to which the
people of God accepts that which is not just the word of men but truly the word
of God.(112) Through it, the people of God adheres unwaveringly to the faith
given once and for all to the saints,(113) penetrates it more deeply with right
thinking, and applies it more fully in its life.
It is not only through the sacraments and the ministries of
the Church that the Holy Spirit sanctifies and leads the people of God and
enriches it with virtues, but, "allotting his gifts to everyone according
as He wills,(114) He distributes special graces among the faithful of every
rank. By these gifts He makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks
and offices which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church,
according to the words of the Apostle: "The manifestation of the Spirit is
given to everyone for profit".(115) These charisms, whether they be the
more outstanding or the more simple and widely diffused, are to be received
with thanksgiving and consolation for they are perfectly suited to and useful
for the needs of the Church. Extraordinary gifts are not to be sought after,
nor are the fruits of apostolic labor to be presumptuously expected from their
use; but judgment as to their genuinity and proper use belongs to those who are
appointed leaders in the Church, to whose special competence it belongs, not
indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to that
which is good.(116)
13. All men are called to belong to the new people of God.
Wherefore this people, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread
throughout the whole world and must exist in all ages, so that the decree of
God's will may be fulfilled. In the beginning God made human nature one and
decreed that all His children, scattered as they were, would finally be
gathered together as one. (117) It was for this purpose that God sent His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things,(118) that be might be teacher, king and
priest of all, the head of the new and universal people of the sons of God. For
this too God sent the Spirit of His Son as Lord and Life- giver. He it is who
brings together the whole Church and each and every one of those who believe,
and who is the well-spring of their unity in the teaching of the apostles and
in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers.(119)
It follows that though there are many nations there is but
one people of God, which takes its citizens from every race, making them
citizens of a kingdom which is of a heavenly rather than of an earthly nature.
All the faithful, scattered though they be throughout the world, are in
communion with each other in the Holy Spirit, and so, he who dwells in Rome
knows that the people of India arc his members"(9*). Since the kingdom of
Christ is not of this world(120) the Church or people of God in establishing
that kingdom takes nothing away from the temporal welfare of any people. On the
contrary it fosters and takes to itself, insofar as they are good, the ability,
riches and customs in which the genius of each people expresses itself. Taking
them to itself it purifies, strengthens, elevates and ennobles them. The Church
in this is mindful that she must bring together the nations for that king to
whom they were given as an inheritance,(121) and to whose city they bring gifts
and offerings.(122) This characteristic of universality which adorns the people
of God is a gift from the Lord Himself. By reason of it, the Catholic Church
strives constantly and with due effect to bring all humanity and all its
possessions back to its source In Christ, with Him as its head and united in
His Spirit. (10*)
In virtue of this catholicity each individual part
contributes through its special gifts to the good of the other parts and of the
whole Church. Through the common sharing of gifts and through the common effort
to attain fullness in unity, the whole and each of the parts receive increase.
Not only, then, is the people of God made up of different peoples but in its
inner structure also it is composed of various ranks. This diversity among its
members arises either by reason of their duties, as is the case with those who
exercise the sacred ministry for the good of their brethren, or by reason of
their condition and state of life, as is the case with those many who enter the
religious state and, tending toward holiness by a narrower path, stimulate
their brethren by their example. Moreover, within the Church particular
Churches hold a rightful place; these Churches retain their own traditions,
without in any way opposing the primacy of the Chair of Peter, which presides
over the whole assembly of charity (11*) and protects legitimate differences, while
at the same time assuring that such differences do not hinder unity but rather
contribute toward it. Between all the parts of the Church there remains a bond
of close communion whereby they share spiritual riches, apostolic workers and
temporal resources. For the members of the people of God are called to share
these goods in common, and of each of the Churches the words of the Apostle
hold good: "According to the gift that each has received, administer it to
one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God".(123)
All men are called to be part of this catholic unity of the
people of God which in promoting universal peace presages it. And there belong
to or are related to it in various ways, the Catholic faithful, all who believe
in Christ, and indeed the whole of mankind, for all men are called by the grace
of God to salvation.
14. This Sacred Council wishes to turn its attention firstly
to the Catholic faithful. Basing itself upon Sacred Scripture and Tradition, it
teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for
salvation. Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church, is the one
Mediator and the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed
the necessity of faith and baptism(124) and thereby affirmed also the necessity
of the Church, for through baptism as through a door men enter the Church.
Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by
Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved.
They are fully incorporated in the society of the Church
who, possessing the Spirit of Christ accept her entire system and all the means
of salvation given to her, and are united with her as part of her visible
bodily structure and through her with Christ, who rules her through the Supreme
Pontiff and the bishops. The bonds which bind men to the Church in a visible
way are profession of faith, the sacraments, and ecclesiastical government and
communion. He is not saved, however, who, though part of the body of the
Church, does not persevere in charity. He remains indeed in the bosom of the
Church, but, as it were, only in a "bodily" manner and not "in
his heart."(12*) All the Church's children should remember that their
exalted status is to be attributed not to their own merits but to the special
grace of Christ. If they fail moreover to respond to that grace in thought,
word and deed, not only shall they not be saved but they will be the more
severely judged.(13*)
Catechumens who, moved by the Holy Spirit, seek with
explicit intention to be incorporated into the Church are by that very
intention joined with her. With love and solicitude Mother Church already
embraces them as her own.
15. The Church recognizes that in many ways she is linked
with those who, being baptized, are honored with the name of Christian, though
they do not profess the faith in its entirety or do not preserve unity of
communion with the successor of Peter. (14*) For there are many who honor
Sacred Scripture, taking it as a norm of belief and a pattern of life, and who
show a sincere zeal. They lovingly believe in God the Father Almighty and in
Christ, the Son of God and Saviour. (15*) They are consecrated by baptism, in
which they are united with Christ. They also recognize and accept other
sacraments within their own Churches or ecclesiastical communities. Many of
them rejoice in the episcopate, celebrate the Holy Eucharist and cultivate
devotion toward the Virgin Mother of God.(16*) They also share with us in
prayer and other spiritual benefits. Likewise we can say that in some real way
they are joined with us in the Holy Spirit, for to them too He gives His gifts
and graces whereby He is operative among them with His sanctifying power. Some
indeed He has strengthened to the extent of the shedding of their blood. In all
of Christ's disciples the Spirit arouses the desire to be peacefully united, in
the manner determined by Christ, as one flock under one shepherd, and He
prompts them to pursue this end. (17*) Mother Church never ceases to pray, hope
and work that this may come about. She exhorts her children to purification and
renewal so that the sign of Christ may shine more brightly over the face of the
earth.
16. Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are
related in various ways to the people of God.(18*) In the first place we must
recall the people to whom the testament and the promises were given and from
whom Christ was born according to the flesh.(125) On account of their fathers
this people remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He
makes nor of the calls He issues.(126); But the plan of salvation also includes
those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are
the Mohamedans, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us
adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is
God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for
it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things,(127) and as
Saviour wills that all men be saved.(128) Those also can attain to salvation
who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His
Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do
His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.(19*) Nor
does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who,
without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of
God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is
found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the
Gospel.(20*) She knows that it is given by Him who enlightens all men so that
they may finally have life. But often men, deceived by the Evil One, have
become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie,
serving the creature rather than the Creator.(129) Or some there are who,
living and dying in this world without God, are exposed to final despair.
Wherefore to promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all of
these, and mindful of the command of the Lord, "Preach the Gospel to every
creature",(130) the Church fosters the missions with care and attention.
17. As the Son was sent by the Father,(131) so He too sent
the Apostles, saying: "Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
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".(132) The
Church has received this solemn mandate of Christ to proclaim the saving truth
from the apostles and must carry it out to the very ends of the earth.(133)
Wherefore she makes the words of the Apostle her own: "Woe to me, if I do
not preach the Gospel",(134) and continues unceasingly to send heralds of
the Gospel until such time as the infant churches are fully established and can
themselves continue the work of evangelizing. For the Church is compelled by
the Holy Spirit to do her part that God's plan may be fully realized, whereby
He has constituted Christ as the source of salvation for the whole world. By
the proclamation of the Gospel she prepares her hearers to receive and profess
the faith. She gives them the dispositions necessary for baptism, snatches them
from the slavery of error and of idols and incorporates them in Christ so that
through charity they may grow up into full maturity in Christ. Through her
work, whatever good is in the minds and hearts of men, whatever good lies
latent in the religious practices and cultures of diverse peoples, is not only
saved from destruction but is also cleansed, raised up and perfected unto the
glory of God, the confusion of the devil and the happiness of man. The
obligation of spreading the faith is imposed on every disciple of Christ,
according to his state.(21*) Although, however, all the faithful can baptize,
the priest alone can complete the building up of the Body in the eucharistic
sacrifice. Thus are fulfilled the words of God, spoken through His prophet:
"From the rising of the sun until the going down thereof my name is great
among the gentiles, and in every place a clean oblation is sacrificed and
offered up in my name".(135)(22*) In this way the Church both prays and labors
in order that the entire world may become the People of God, the Body of the
Lord and the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and that in Christ, the Head of all,
all honor and glory may be rendered to the Creator and Father of the Universe.
CHAPTER
III
ON
THE HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE OF THE CHURCH AND IN PARTICULAR ON THE EPISCOPATE
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 ln 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 Mass. And lastly, by the example of their way of life
they must be an influence for good to those over whom they preside, refraining
from all evil and, as far as they are able with God's help, exchanging evil for
good, so that together with the flock committed to their care they may arrive at
eternal life.(57*)
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. 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.
In virtue of their common sacred ordination and mission, all
priests are bound together in intimate brotherhood, which naturally and freely
manifests itself in mutual aid, spiritual as well as material, pastoral as well
as personal, in their meetings and in communion of life, of labor and charity.
Let them, as fathers in Christ, take care of the faithful
whom they have begotten by baptism and their teaching.(186) Becoming from the
heart a pattern to the flock,(187) let them so lead and serve their local
community that it may worthily be called by that name, by which the one and
entire people of God is signed, namely, the Church of God.(188) Let them
remember that by their daily life and interests they are showing the face of a
truly sacerdotal and pastoral ministry to the faithful and the infidel, to
Catholics and non-Catholics, and that to all they bear witness to the truth and
life, and as good shepherds go after those also,(189) who though baptized in
the Catholic Church have fallen away from the use of the sacraments, or even
from the faith.
Because the human race today is joining more and more into a
civic, economic and social unity, it is that much the more necessary that
priests, by combined effort and aid, under the leadership of the bishops and
the Supreme Pontiff, wipe out every kind of separateness, so that the whole
human race may be brought into the unity of the family of God.
29. At a lower level of the hierarchy are deacons, upon whom
hands are imposed "not unto the priesthood, but unto a ministry of
service."(74*) For strengthened by sacramental grace, in communion with
the bishop and his group of priests they serve in the diaconate of the liturgy,
of the word, and of charity to the people of God. It is the duty of the deacon,
according as it shall have been assigned to him by competent authority, to
administer baptism solemnly, to be custodian and dispenser of the Eucharist, to
assist at and bless marriages in the name of the Church, to bring Viaticum to
the dying, to read the Sacred Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort
the people, to preside over the worship and prayer of the faithful, to
administer sacramentals, to officiate at funeral and burial services. Dedicated
to duties of charity and of administration, let deacons be mindful of the
admonition of Blessed Polycarp: "Be merciful, diligent, walking according
to the truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all."(75*)
Since these duties, so very necessary to the life of the
Church, can be fulfilled only with difficulty in many regions in accordance
with the discipline of the Latin Church as it exists today, the diaconate can
in the future be restored as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy. It
pertains to the competent territorial bodies of bishops, of one kind or
another, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, to decide whether and where
it is opportune for such deacons to be established for the care of souls. With
the consent of the Roman Pontiff, this diaconate can, in the future, be
conferred upon men of more mature age, even upon those living in the married
state. It may also be conferred upon suitable young men, for whom the law of
celibacy must remain intact.
CHAPTER
IV
THE
LAITY
30. Having set forth the functions of the hierarchy, the
Sacred Council gladly turns its attention. to the state of those faithful
called the laity. Everything that has been said above concerning the People of
God is intended for the laity, religious and clergy alike. But there are
certain things which pertain in a special way to the laity, both men and women,
by reason of their condition and mission. Due to the special circumstances of
our time the foundations of this doctrine must be more thoroughly examined. For
their pastors know how much the laity contribute to the welfare of the entire
Church. They also know that they were not ordained by Christ to take upon
themselves alone the entire salvific mission of the Church toward the world. On
the contrary they understand that it is their noble duty to shepherd the
faithful and to recognize their miniseries and charisms, so that all according
to their proper roles may cooperate in this common undertaking with one mind.
For we must all "practice the truth in love, and so grow up in all things
in Him who is head, Christ. For from Him the whole body, being closely joined
and knit together through every joint of the system, according to the
functioning in due measure of each single part, derives its increase to the
building up of itself in love".(190)
31. The term laity is here understood to mean all the
faithful except those in holy orders and those in the state of religious life
specially approved by the Church. These faithful are by baptism made one body
with Christ and are constituted among the People of God; they are in their own
way made sharers in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly functions of Christ;
and they carry out for their own part the mission of the whole Christian people
in the Church and in the world.
What specifically characterizes the laity is their secular
nature. It is true that those in holy orders can at times be engaged in secular
activities, and even have a secular profession. But they are by reason of their
particular vocation especially and professedly ordained to the sacred ministry.
Similarly, by their state in life, religious give splendid and striking
testimony that the world cannot be transformed and offered to God without the
spirit of the beatitudes. But the laity, by their very vocation, seek the
kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according
to the plan of God. They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the
secular professions and occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of
family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven.
They are called there by God that by exercising their proper function and led
by the spirit of the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the world
from within as a leaven. In this way they may make Christ known to others,
especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope and charity.
Therefore, since they are tightly bound up in all types of temporal affairs it
is their special task to order and to throw light upon these affairs in such a
way that they may come into being and then continually increase according to
Christ to the praise of the Creator and the Redeemer.
32. By divine institution Holy Church is ordered and
governed with a wonderful diversity. "For just as in one body we have many
members, yet all the members have not the same function, so we, the many, are
one body in Christ, but severally members one of another".(191) Therefore,
the chosen People of God is one: "one Lord, one faith, one
baptism"(192); sharing a common dignity as members from their regeneration
in Christ, having the same filial grace and the same vocation to perfection;
possessing in common one salvation, one hope and one undivided charity. There
is, therefore, in Christ and in the Church no inequality on,the basis of race
or nationality, social condition or sex, because "there is neither Jew nor
Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For
you are all 'one' in Christ Jesus".(193)
If therefore in the Church everyone does not proceed by the
same path, nevertheless all are called to sanctity and have received an equal
privilege of faith through the justice of God.(194) And if by the will of
Christ some are made teachers, pastors and dispensers of mysteries on behalf of
others, yet all share a true equality with regard to the dignity and to the
activity common to all the faithful for the building up of the Body of Christ.
For the distinction which the Lord made between sacred ministers and the rest
of the People of God bears within it a certain union, since pastors and the
other faithful are bound to each other by a mutual need. Pastors of the Church,
following the example of the Lord, should minister to one another and to the
other faithful. These in their turn should enthusiastically lend their joint
assistance to their pastors and teachers. Thus in their diversity all bear
witness to the wonderful unity in the Body of Christ. This very diversity of
graces, ministries and works gathers the children of God into one, because
"all these things are the work of one and the same Spirit".(195)
Therefore, from divine choice the laity have Christ for
their brothers who though He is the Lord of all, came not to be served but to
serve.(196) They also have for their brothers those in the sacred ministry who
by teaching, by sanctifying and by ruling with the authority of Christ feed the
family of God so that the new commandment of charity may be fulfilled by all.
St. Augustine puts this very beautifully when he says: "What I am for you
terrifies me; what I am with you consoles me. For you I am a bishop; but with
you I am a Christian. The former is a duty; the latter a grace. The former is a
danger; the latter, salvation" (1*).
33. The laity are gathered together in the People of God and
make up the Body of Christ under one head. Whoever they are they are called
upon, as living members, to expend all their energy for the growth of the
Church and its continuous sanctification, since this very energy is a gift of
the Creator and a blessing of the Redeemer.
The lay apostolate, however, is a participation in the
salvific mission of the Church itself. Through their baptism and confirmation
all are commissioned to that apostolate by the Lord Himself. Moreover, by the
sacraments, especially holy Eucharist, that charity toward God and man which is
the soul of the apostolate is communicated and nourished. Now the laity are
called in a special way to make the Church present and operative in those
places and circumstances where only through them can it become the salt of the
earth (2*). Thus every layman, in virtue of the very gifts bestowed upon him,
is at the same time a witness and a living instrument of the mission of the
Church itself "according to the measure of Christ's bestowal".(197)
Besides this apostolate which certainly pertains to all
Christians, the laity can also be called in various ways to a more direct form
of cooperation in the apostolate of the Hierarchy (3*). This was the way
certain men and women assisted Paul the Apostle in the Gospel, laboring much in
the Lord.(198) Further, they have the capacity to assume from the Hierarchy
certain ecclesiastical functions, which are to be performed for a spiritual
purpose.
Upon all the laity, therefore, rests the noble duty of
working to extend the divine plan of salvation to all men of each epoch and in
every land. Consequently, may every opportunity be given them so that,
according to their abilities and the needs of the times, they may zealously
participate in the saving work of the Church.
34. The supreme and eternal Priest, Christ Jesus, since he
wills to continue his witness and service also through the laity, vivifies them
in this Spirit and increasingly urges them on to every good and perfect work.
For besides intimately linking them to His life and His
mission, He also gives them a sharing in His priestly function of offering
spiritual worship for the glory of God and the salvation of men. For this
reason the laity, dedicated to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are
marvelously called and wonderfully prepared so that ever more abundant fruits
of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, prayers and
apostolic endeavors, their ordinary married and family life, their daily
occupations, their physical and mental relaxation, if carried out in the
Spirit, and even the hardships of life, if patiently borne-all these become
"spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ".(199)
Together with the offering of the Lord's body, they are most fittingly offered
in the celebration of the Eucharist. Thus, as those everywhere who adore in
holy activity, the laity consecrate the world itself to God.
35. Christ, the great Prophet, who proclaimed the Kingdom of
His Father both by the testimony of His life and the power of His words,
continually fulfills His prophetic office until the complete manifestation of
glory. He does this 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 (sensu fidei) and an attractiveness
in speech(200) so that the power of the Gospel might shine forth in their daily
social and family life. They conduct themselves as children of the promise, and
thus strong in faith and in hope they make the most of the present,(201) and
with patience await the glory that is to come.(202) Let them not, then, hide
this hope in the depths of their hearts, but even in the program of their secular
life let them express it by a continual conversion and by wrestling
"against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces
of wickedness.(203)
Just as the sacraments of the New Law, by which the life and
the apostolate of the faithful are nourished, prefigure a new heaven and a new
earth,(204) so too the laity go forth as powerful proclaimers of a faith in
things to be hoped for,(205) when they courageously join to their profession of
faith a life springing from faith. This evangelization, that is, this
announcing of Christ by a living testimony as well as by the spoken word, takes
on a specific quality and a special force in that it is carried out in the
ordinary surroundings of the world.
In connection with the prophetic function, that state of
life which is sanctified by a special sacrament obviously of great importance,
namely, married and family life. For where Christianity pervades the entire
mode of family life, ala gradually transforms it, one will find there both the
practice and an excellent school of the lay apostolate. In such a home husbands
and wives find their proper vocation in being witnesses of the faith and love
of Christ to one another and to their children. The Christian family loudly
proclaims both the present virtues of the Kingdom of God and the hope of a
blessed life to come. Thus by its example and its witness it accuses the world
of sin and enlightens those who seek the truth.
Consequently, even when preoccupied with temporal cares, the
laity can and must perform a work of great value for the evangelization of the
world. For even if some of them have to fulfill their religious duties on their
own, when there are no sacred ministers or in times of persecution; and even if
many of them devote all their energies to apostolic work; still it remains for
each one of them to cooperate in the external spread and the dynamic growth of
the Kingdom of Christ in the world. Therefore, let the laity devotedly strive
to acquire a more profound grasp of revealed truth, and let them insistently
beg of God the gift of wisdom.
36. Christ, becoming obedient even unto death and because of
this exalted by the Father,(206) entered into the glory of His kingdom. To Him
all things are made subject until He subjects Himself and all created things to
the Father that God may be all in all.(207) Now Christ has communicated this
royal power to His disciples that they might be constituted in royal freedom
and that by true penance and a holy life they might conquer the reign of sin in
themselves.(208) Further, He has shared this power so that serving Christ in
their fellow men they might by humility and patience lead their brethren to
that King for whom to serve is to reign. But the Lord wishes to spread His
kingdom also by means of the laity, namely, a kingdom of truth and life, a
kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace (4*). In
this kingdom creation itself will be delivered from its slavery to corruption
into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God.(209) Clearly then a great
promise and a great trust is committed to the disciples: "All things are
yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's"(210)
The faithful, therefore, must learn the deepest meaning and
the value of all creation, as well as its role in the harmonious praise of God.
They must assist each other to live holier lives even in their daily
occupations. In this way the world may be permeated by the spirit of Christ and
it may more effectively fulfill its purpose in justice, charity and peace. The
laity have the principal role in the overall fulfillment of this duty.
Therefore, by their competence in secular training and by their activity,
elevated from within by the grace of Christ, let them vigorously contribute
their effort, so that created goods may be perfected by human labor, technical
skill and civic culture for the benefit of all men according to the design of
the Creator and the light of His Word. May the goods of this world be more
equitably distributed among all men, and may they in their own way be conducive
to universal progress in human and Christian freedom. In this manner, through
the members of the Church, will Christ progressively illumine the whole of
human society with His saving light.
Moreover, let the laity also by their combined efforts
remedy the customs and conditions of the world, if they are an inducement to
sin, so that they all may be conformed to the norms of justice and may favor
the practice of virtue rather than hinder it. By so doing they will imbue
culture and human activity with genuine moral values; they will better prepare
the field of the world for the seed of the Word of God; and at the same time
they will open wider the doors of the Church by which the message of peace may
enter the world.
Because of the very economy of salvation the faithful should
learn how to distinguish carefully between those rights and duties which are
theirs as members of the Church, and those which they have as members of human
society. Let them strive to reconcile the two, remembering that in every
temporal affair they must be guided by a Christian conscience, since even in
secular business there is no human activity which can be withdrawn from God's
dominion. In our own time, however, it is most urgent that this distinction and
also this harmony should shine forth more clearly than ever in the lives of the
faithful, so that the mission of the Church may correspond more fully to the
special conditions of the world today. For it must be admitted that the
temporal sphere is governed by its own principles, since it is rightly
concerned with the interests of this world. But that ominous doctrine which
attempts to build a society with no regard whatever for religion, and which
attacks and destroys the religious liberty of its citizens, is rightly to be
rejected (5*).
37. The laity have the right, as do all Christians, to
receive in abundance from their spiritual shepherds the spiritual goods of the
Church, especially the assistance of the word of God and of the sacraments
(6*). They should openly reveal to them their needs and desires with that
freedom and confidence which is fitting for children of God and brothers in
Christ. They are, by un of tho knowledge, competence or outstanding ability
which they may enjoy, permitted and sometimes even obliged to express their
opinion on those things which concern the good of the Church (7*). When
occasions arise, let this be done through the organs erected by the Church for
this purpose. Let it always be done in truth, in courage and in prudence, with
reverence and charity toward those who by reason of their sacred office
represent the person of Christ.
The laity should, as all Christians, promptly accept in
Christian obedience decisions of their spiritual shepherds, since they are
representatives of Christ as well as teachers and rulers in the Church. Let
them follow the example of Christ, who by His obedience even unto death, opened
to all men the blessed way of the liberty of the children of God. Nor should
they omit to pray for those placed over them, for they keep watch as having to
render an account of their souls, so that they may do this with joy and not
with grief.(211)
Let the spiritual shepherds recognize and promote the
dignity as well as the responsibility of the laity in the Church. Let them
willingly employ their prudent advice. Let them confidently assign duties to
them in the service of the Church, allowing them freedom and room for action.
Further, let them encourage lay people so that they may undertake tasks on
their own initiative. Attentively in Christ, let them consider with fatherly
love the projects, suggestions and desires proposed by the laity.(8*) However,
let the shepherds respectfully acknowledge that just freedom which belongs to
everyone in this earthly city
A great many wonderful things are to be hoped for from this
familiar dialogue between the laity and their spiritual leaders: in the laity a
strengthened sense of personal responsibility; a renewed enthusiasm; a more
ready application of their talents to the projects of their spiritual leaders.
The latter, on the other hand, aided by the experience of the laity, can more
clearly and more incisively come to decisions regarding both spiritual and
temporal matters. In this way, the whole Church, strengthened by each one of
its members, may more effectively fulfill is mission for the life of the world.
38. Each individual layman must stand before the world as a
witness to the resurrection and life of the Lord Jesus and a symbol of the
living God. All the laity as a community and each one according to his ability
must nourish the world with spiritual fruits.(212) They must diffuse in the
world that spirit which animates the poor, the meek, the peace makers-whom the
Lord in the Gospel proclaimed as blessed.(213) In a word, "Christians must
be to the world what the soul is to the body."(9*)
CHAPTER
V
THE
UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS IN THE CHURCH
39. The Church, whose mystery is being set forth by this
Sacred Synod, is believed to be indefectibly holy. Indeed Christ, the Son of
God, who with the Father and the Spirit is praised as "uniquely
holy," (1*) loved the Church as His bride, delivering Himself up for her.
He did this that He might sanctify her.(214) He united her to Himself as His
own body and brought it to perfection by the gift of the Holy Spirit for God's
glory. Therefore in the Church, everyone whether belonging to the hierarchy, or
being cared for by it, is called to holiness, according to the saying of the
Apostle: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification".(215)
However, this holiness of the Church is unceasingly manifested, and must be
manifested, in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in the faithful;
it is expressed in many ways in individuals, who in their walk of life, tend
toward the perfection of charity, thus causing the edification of others; in a
very special way this (holiness) appears in the practice of the counsels,
customarily called "evangelical." This practice of the counsels,
under the impulsion of the Holy Spirit, undertaken by many Christians, either
privately or in a Church-approved condition or state of life, gives and must
give in the world an outstanding witness and example of this same holiness.
40. The Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all
perfection, preached holiness of life to each and everyone of His disciples of
every condition. He Himself stands as the author and consumator of this
holiness of life: "Be you therefore perfect, even as your heavenly Father
is perfect".(216)(2*) Indeed He sent the Holy Spirit upon all men that He
might move them inwardly to love God with their whole heart and their whole
soul, with all their mind and all their strength(217) and that they might love
each other as Christ loves them.(218) The followers of Christ are called by
God, not because of their works, but according to His own purpose and grace.
They are justified in the Lord Jesus, because in the baptism of faith they
truly become sons of God and sharers in the divine nature. In this way they are
really made holy. Then too, by God's gift, they must hold on to and complete in
their lives this holiness they have received. They are warned by the Apostle to
live "as becomes saints",(219) and to put on "as God's chosen
ones, holy and beloved a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness,
patience",(220) and to possess the fruit of the Spirit in holiness.(221)
Since truly we all offend in many things (222) we all need God's mercies
continually and we all must daily pray: "Forgive us our
debts"(223)(3*)
Thus it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of
Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian
life and to the perfection of charity;(4*) by this holiness as such a more
human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In order that the
faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as
they have received it, as a gift from Christ. They must follow in His footsteps
and conform themselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all
things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God
and the service of their neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the People of
God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the
life of so many saints in Church history.
41. The classes and duties of life are many, but holiness is
one-that sanctity which is cultivated by all who are moved by the Spirit of
God, and who obey the voice of the Father and worship God the Father in spirit
and in truth. These people follow the poor Christ, the humble and cross-bearing
Christ in order to be worthy of being sharers in His glory. Every person must
walk unhesitatingly according to his own personal gifts and duties in the path
of living faith, which arouses hope and works through charity.
In the first place, the shepherds of Christ's flock must
holily and eagerly, humbly and courageously carry out their ministry, in
imitation of the eternal high Priest, the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls.
They ought to fulfill this duty in such a way that it will be the principal
means also of their own sanctification. Those chosen for the fullness of the
priesthood are granted the ability of exercising the perfect duty of pastoral
charity by the grace of the sacrament of Orders. This perfect duty of pastoral
charity (5*) is exercised in every form of episcopal care and service, prayer,
sacrifice and preaching. By this same sacramental grace, they are given the
courage necessary to lay down their lives for their sheep, and the ability of
promoting greater holiness in the Church by their daily example, having become
a pattern for their flock.(224)
Priests, who resemble bishops to a certain degree in their
participation of the sacrament of Orders, form the spiritual crown of the
bishops.(6*) They participate in the grace of their office and they should grow
daily in their love of God and their neighbor by the exercise of their office
through Christ, the eternal and unique Mediator. They should preserve the bond
of priestly communion, and they should abound in every spiritual good and thus
present to all men a living witness to God.(7*) All this they should do in
emulation of those priests who often, down through the course of the centuries,
left an outstanding example of the holiness of humble and hidden service. Their
praise lives on in the Church of God. By their very office of praying and
offering sacrifice for their own people and the entire people of God, they
should rise to greater holiness. Keeping in mind what they are doing and
imitating what they are handling,(8*) these priests, in their apostolic labors,
rather than being ensnared by perils and hardships, should rather rise to
greater holiness through these perils and hardships. They should ever nourish
and strengthen their action from an abundance of contemplation, doing all this
for the comfort of the entire Church of God. All priests, and especially those
who are called "diocesan priests," due to the special title of their
ordination, should keep continually before their minds the fact that their faithful
loyalty toward and their generous cooperation with their bishop is of the
greatest value in their growth in holiness.
Ministers of lesser rank are also sharers in the mission and
grace of the Supreme Priest. In the first place among these ministers are
deacons, who, in as much as they are dispensers of Christ's mysteries and
servants of the Church,(9*) should keep themselves free from every vice and
stand before men as personifications of goodness and friends of God.(225)
Clerics, who are called by the Lord and are set aside as His portion in order
to prepare themselves for the various ministerial offices under the watchful
eye of spiritual shepherds, are bound to bring their hearts and minds into
accord with this special election (which is theirs). They will accomplish this
by their constancy in prayer, by their burning love, and by their unremitting
recollection of whatever is true, just and of good repute. They will accomplish
all this for the glory and honor of God. Besides these already named, there are
also laymen, chosen of God and called by the bishop. These laymen spend
themselves completely in apostolic labors, working the Lord's field with much
success.(10*).
Furthermore, married couples and Christian parents should
follow their own proper path (to holiness) by faithful love. They should
sustain one another in grace throughout the entire length of their lives. They
should embue their offspring, lovingly welcomed as God's gift, with Christian
doctrine and the evangelical virtues. In this manner, they offer all men the
example of unwearying and generous love; in this way they build up the
brotherhood of charity; in so doing, they stand as the witnesses and
cooperators in the fruitfulness of Holy Mother Church; by such lives, they are
a sign and a participation in that very love, with which Christ loved His Bride
and for which He delivered Himself up for her.(11*) A like example, but one
given in a different way, is that offered by widows and single people, who are
able to make great contributions toward holiness and apostolic endeavor in the
Church. Finally, those who engage in labor-and frequently it is of a heavy
nature- should better themselves by their human labors. They should be of aid
to their fellow citizens. They should raise all of society, and even creation
itself, to a better mode of existence. Indeed, they should imitate by their
lively charity, in their joyous hope and by their voluntary sharing of each
others' burdens, the very Christ who plied His hands with carpenter's tools and
Who in union with His Father, is continually working for the salvation of all
men. In this, then, their daily work they should climb to the heights of
holiness and apostolic activity.
May all those who are weighed down with poverty, infirmity
and sickness, as well as those who must bear various hardships or who suffer
persecution for justice sake-may they all know they are united with the
suffering Christ in a special way for the salvation of the world. The Lord
called them blessed in His Gospel and they are those whom "the God of all
graces, who has called us unto His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself,
after we have suffered a little while, perfect, strengthen and
establish".(226)
Finally all Christ's faithful, whatever be the conditions,
duties and circumstances of their lives-and indeed through all these, will
daily increase in holiness, if they receive all things with faith from the hand
of their heavenly Father and if they cooperate with the divine will. In this
temporal service, they will manifest to all men the love with which God loved
the world.
42. "God is love, and he who abides in love, abides in
God and God in Him".(227) But, God pours out his love into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us;(228) thus the first and most
necessary gift is love, by which we love God above all things and our neighbor
because of God. Indeed, in order that love, as good seed may grow and bring
forth fruit in the soul, each one of the faithful must willingly hear the Word
of God and accept His Will, and must complete what God has begun by their own
actions with the help of God's grace. These actions consist in the use of the
sacraments and in a special way the Eucharist, frequent participation in the
sacred action of the Liturgy, application of oneself to prayer,
self-abnegation, lively fraternal service and the constant exercise of all the
virtues. For charity, as the bond of perfection and the fullness of the
law,(229) rules over all the means of attaining holiness and gives life to
these same means.(12*) It is charity which guides us to our final end. It is
the love of God and the love of one's neighbor which points out the true
disciple of Christ.
Since Jesus, the Son of God, manifested His charity by
laying down His life for us, so too no one has greater love than he who lays
down his life for Christ and His brothers.(230) From the earliest times, then,
some Christians have been called upon-and some will always be called upon-to
give the supreme testimony of this love to all men, but especially to persecutors.
The Church, then, considers martyrdom as an exceptional gift and as the fullest
proof of love. By martyrdom a disciple is transformed into an image of his
Master by freely accepting death for the salvation of the world -as well as his
conformity to Christ in the shedding of his blood. Though few are presented
such an opportunity, nevertheless all must be prepared to confess Christ before
men. They must be prepared to make this profession of faith even in the midst
of persecutions, which will never be lacking to the Church, in following the
way of the cross.
Likewise, the holiness of the Church is fostered in a
special way by the observance of the counsels proposed in the Gospel by Our
Lord to His disciples.(13*) An eminent position among these is held by
virginity or the celibate state.(231) This is a precious gift of divine grace
given by the Father to certain souls,(232) whereby they may devote themselves
to God alone the more easily, due to an undivided heart. (14*) This perfect
continency, out of desire for the kingdom of heaven, has always been held in
particular honor in the Church. The reason for this was and is that perfect
continency for the love of God is an incentive to charity, and is certainly a
particular source of spiritual fecundity in the world.
The Church continually keeps before it the warning of the
Apostle which moved the faithful to charity, exhorting them to experience
personally what Christ Jesus had known within Himself. This was the same Christ
Jesus, who "emptied Himself, taking the nature of a slave . . . becoming
obedient to death",(233) and because of us "being rich, he became
poor".(234) Because the disciples must always offer an imitation of and a
testimony to the charity and humility of Christ, Mother Church rejoices at finding
within her bosom men and women who very closely follow their Saviour who
debased Himself to our comprehension. There are some who, in their freedom as
sons of God, renounce their own wills and take upon themselves the state of
poverty. Still further, some become subject of their own accord to another man,
in the matter of perfection for love of God. This is beyond the measure of the
commandments, but is done in order to become more fully like the obedient
Christ.(15*)
Therefore, all the faithful of Christ are invited to strive
for the holiness and perfection of their own proper state. Indeed they have an
obligation to so strive. Let all then have care that they guide aright their
own deepest sentiments of soul. Let neither the use of the things of this world
nor attachment to riches, which is against the spirit of evangelical poverty,
hinder them in their quest for perfect love Let them heed the admonition of the
Apostle to those who use this world; let them not come to terms with this
world; for this world, as we see it, is passing away.(235)(16*)
CHAPTER
VI
RELIGIOUS
43. The evangelical counsels of chastity dedicated to God, poverty and obedience are based upon the words and examples of the Lord. They were further commanded by the apostles and Fathers of the Church, as well as by the doctors and pastors of souls. The counsels are a divine gift, which the Church received from its Lord and which it always safeguards with the help of His grace. Church authority has the duty, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of interpreting these evangelical counsels, of regulating their practice and finally to build on them stable forms of living. Thus it has come about, that, as if on a tree which has grown in the field of the Lord, various forms of solidarity and community life, as well as various religious families have branched out in a marvelous and multiple way from this divinely given seed. Such a multiple and miraculous growth augments both the progress of the members of these various religious families themselves and the welfare of the entire Body of Christ.(1*) These religious families give their members the support of a more firm stability in their way of life and a proven doctrine of acquiring perfection. They further offer their members the support of fraternal association in th