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DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH
LUMEN GENTIUM
Proclaimed By His Holiness, Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964
CHAPTER I THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH
1. Christ is the light of humanity; and it is, accordingly, the
heart-felt desire of this sacred Council, being gathered together in the
Holy Spirit, that by proclaiming his Gospel to every creature (cf. Mk.
16:15), it may bring to all men that light of Christ which shines out
visibly from the Church. Since the Church, in Christ, is in the nature of
sacrament--a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of
unity among all men--she here purposes, for the benefit of the faithful
and of the whole world, to set forth, as clearly as possible, and in the
tradition laid down by earlier Councils, her own nature and universal
mission. The condition of the modern world lends greater urgency to this
duty of the Church; for, while men of the present day are drawn ever more
closely together by social, technical and cultural bonds, it still
remains for them to achieve full unity in Christ.
2. The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and
mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe,
and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life- and when they
had fallen in Adam, he did not abandon them, but at all times held out to
them the means of salvation bestowed in consideration of Christ, the
Redeemer, "who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every
creature" and predestined before time began "to become conformed to the
image of his Son, that he should be the firstborn among many brethren"
(Rom. 8:29). He determined to ca]l together in a holy Church those who
should believe in Christ. Already present in figure at the beginning of
the world, this Church was prepared in marvelous fashion in the history
of the people of Israel and in the o]d Alliance.[1] Established in this
last age of the world, and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit,
it will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time. At that
moment. as the Fathers put it, all the just from the time of Adam, "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, accordingly, came, sent by the Father who, before the
foundation of the world, chose us and predestined us in him for adoptive
sonship. For it is in him that it pleased the Father to restore all
things (cf. Eph. 1:4-5 and 10). To carry out the will of the Father
Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth and revealed to us his
mystery; by his obedience he brought about our redemption. The
Church--that is, the kingdom of Christ--already present in mystery, grows
visibly through the power of God in the world. The origin and growth of
the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the
open side of the crucified Jesus (cf. Jn. 19:34), 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 men to myself" (Jn. 12:32; Gk.).
As often as the sacrifice of the cross by which "Christ our Pasch is
sacrificed" (1 Cor. 5:7) is celebrated on the altar, the work of our
redemption is carried out. Likewise, in the sacrament of the eucharistic
bread, the unity of believers, who from one body in Christ (cf. 1 Cor.
10:17), 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 towards whom our whole life is directed.
4. When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth (cf. Jn.
17:4) was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost
in order that he might continually sanctify the Church, and that,
consequently, those who believe might have access through Christ in one
Spirit to the Father (cf. Eph. 2:18). He is the Spirit of life, the
fountain of water springing up to eternal life (cf. Jn. 4:47; 7:38-39).
To men, dead in sin, the Father gives life through him, until the day
when, in Christ, he raises to life their mortal bodies (cf. Rom.
8:10-11). The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the
faithful, as in a temple (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19). In them he prays and
bears witness to their adoptive sonship (cf. Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:1516 and
26). Guiding the Church in the way of all truth (cf. Jn. 16:13) and
unifying her in communion and in the works of ministry, he bestows upon
her varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her;
and he adorns her with his fruits (cf. Eph. 4:11-12; 1 Cor. 12:4; Gal.
5:22). By the power of the Gospel he permits the Church to keep the
freshness of youth. Constantly he renews her and leads her to perfect
union with her Spouse.[3] For the Spirit and the Bride both say to Jesus,
the Lord: "Come!" (cf. Apoc. 22:17).
Hence the universal Church is seen to be "a people brought into unity
from the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."[4]
5. The mystery of the holy Church is already brought to light in the way
it was founded. For the Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching
the Good News, that is, the coming of the kingdom of God, promised over
the ages in the scriptures: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God is at hand" (Mk. 1:15; Mt. 4:17). This kingdom shone out before men
in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ. The word of the
Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field (Mk. 4:14); those who
hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ (Lk.
12:32) have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power the seed
sprouts and grows until the harvest (cf. Mk. 4:26-29). The miracles of
Jesus also demonstrate that the kingdom has already come on earth: "If I
cast out devils by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come
upon you" (Lk. 11:20; cf. Matt. 12:28). But principally the kingdom is
revealed in the person of Christ himself, Son of God and Son of-Man, who
came "to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45).
When Jesus, having died on the cross for men, rose again from the dead,
he was seen to be constituted as Lord, the Christ, and as Priest for ever
(cf. Acts 2:36; Heb. 5:6; 7: 17-21), and he poured out on his disciples
the Spirit promised by the Father (cf. Acts 2:23). Henceforward the
Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and faithfully observing
his precepts of charity, humility and self-denial, receives the mission
of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the kingdom of Christ
and of God, and she is, on earth, the seed and the beginning of that
kingdom. While she slowly grows to maturity, the Church longs for the
completed kingdom and, with all her strength, hopes and desires to be
united in glory with her king.
6. In the Old Testament the revelation of the kingdom is often made under
the forms of symbols. In similar fashion the inner nature of the Church
is now made known to us in various images. Taken either from the life of
the shepherd or from cultivation of the land, from the art of building or
from family life and marriage, these images have their preparation in the
books of the prophets.
The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway
to which is Christ (Jn. 10:1-10). It is also a flock, of which God
foretold that he would himself be the shepherd (cf. Is. 40:11; Ex. 34:11
f.), and whose sheep, although watched over by human shepherds, are
nevertheless at all times led and brought to pasture by Christ himself,
the Good Shepherd and prince of shepherds (cf. Jn. 10:11; 1 Pet. 5:4),
who gave his life for his sheep (cf. Jn. 10:11-16).
The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage of God (1 Cor. 3:9). 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 again (Rom. 11:13-26). That land, like a
choice vineyard, has been planted by the heavenly cultivator (Mt.
21:33-43; cf. Is. 5:1 f.). Yet the true vine is Christ who gives life and
fruitfulness to the branches, that is, to us, who through the Church
remain in Christ without whom we can do nothing (Jn. 15:1-5).
Often, too, the Church is called the building of God (1 Cor. 3:9). The
Lord compared himself to the stone which the builders rejected, but which
was made into the corner stone (Mt. 21:42; cf. Acts 4:11; I Pet. 2:7; Ps.
117:22). On this foundation the Church is built by the apostles (cf. 1
Cor. 3:11) and from it the Church receives solidity and unity. This
edifice has many names to describe it: the house of God in which his
family dwells- the household of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:19, 22); the
dwelling-place of God among men (Apoc. 21:3); and, especially, the holy
temple. This temple, symbolized in places of worship built out of stone,
is praised by the 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 (I Pet. 2:5). It is this holy city that is
seen by John as it comes down out of heaven from God when the world is
made anew, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband (Apoc. 21:1 f.).
The Church, further, which is called "that Jerusalem which is above" and
"our mother" (Gal. 4:26; cf. Apoc. 12:17), is described as the spotless
spouse of the spotless lamb (Apoc. 19:7; 21:2 and 9; 22:17). It is she
whom Christ "loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might
sanctify her" (Eph. 5:263. It is she whom he unites to himself by an
unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly "nourishes and cherishes"
(Eph 5:29). It is she whom, once purified he willed to be joined to
himself, subject in love and fidelity (cf. Eph. 5:24), 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
understanding (cf. Eph. 3:19). While on earth she journeys in a foreign
land away from the Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 5:6), the Church sees herself as an
exile. She seeks and is concerned about 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 she appears in glory with her
Spouse (cf. Col. 3:1 1).
7. In the human nature united to himself, the son of God, by overcoming
death through his own death and resurrection, redeemed man and changed
him into a new creation (cf. Gal. 6:15; 2 Cor. 5:17). For by
communicating his Spirit, Christ mystically constitutes as his body those
brothers of his who are called together from every nation.
In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe and
who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to
Christ in his passion and glorification[6] Through baptism we are formed
in the likeness of Christ: "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into
one body" (1 Cor. 12:13). In this sacred rite fellowship in Christ's
death and resurrection is symbolized and is 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" (Rom. 6:4-5). Really sharing in 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" (1 Cor. 10:17). In this way all of us are made members of his
body (cf. 1 Cor. 12:27), "but severally members one of another"' (Rom.
12:4).
As all the members of the human body, though they are many, form one
body, so also are the faithful in Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12:12). Also, in the
building up of Christ's body there is engaged a diversity of members and
functions. 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 (cf. 1 Cor. 12:1-11). Among these gifts the primacy
belongs to the grace of the apostles to whose authority the Spirit
himself subjects even those who are endowed with charisms (cf. 1 Cor.
14). Giving the body unity through himself, both by his own power and by
the interior union of the members, this same Spirit produces and
stimulates love among the faithful. From this it follows that if one
member suffers anything, all the members suffer with him, and if one
member is honored, all the members together rejoice (cf. 1 Cor. 12:26).
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 hold the primacy (cf. Col. 1:15-18). By the greatness of his power
he rules heaven and earth, and with his all-surpassing perfection and
activity he fills the whole body with the riches of his glory (cf. Eph.
1:18-23).[7]
All the members must be formed in his likeness, until Christ be formed in
them (cf. Gal. 4:19). For this reason we, who have been made like to him,
who have died with him and risen with him, are taken up into the
mysteries of his life, until we reign together with him (cf. Phil. 3:21;
2 Tim. 2:11; Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:12, etc.). On earth, still as pilgrims in a
strange land, following in trial and in oppression the paths he trod, we
are associated with his sufferings as the body with its head, suffering
with him, that with him we may be glorified (cf. Rom. 8:17).
From him "the whole body, supplied and built up by joints and ligaments,
attains a growth that is of God" (Col. 2:19). He continually provides in
his body, that is, in the Church, for gifts of ministries through which,
by his power, we serve each other unto salvation so that, carrying out
the truth in love, we may through all things grow unto him who is our
head (cf. Eph. 4:11-16, Gk.).
In order that we might be unceasingly renewed in him (cf. Eph. 4:23), he
has shared with us his Spirit who, being one and the same in head and
members, gives life to, unifies and moves the whole body. Consequently,
his work could be compared by the Fathers to the function that the
principle of life, the soul, fulfills in the human body.[8]
Christ loves the Church as his bride, having been established as the
model of a man loving his wife as his own body (cf. Eph. 5:25-28); the
Church, in her turn, is subject to her head (Eph. 5:23-24). "Because in
him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9), he fills
the Church, which is his body and his fullness, with his divine gifts
(cf. Eph. 1:22-23) so that it may increase and attain to all the fullness
of God (cf. Eph. 3:19).
8. The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth
his holy Church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as a visible
organization[9] through which he communicates truth and grace to all men.
But, the society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical
body of Christ, the visible society and the spiritual community, the
earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches, are not to be
thought of as two realities. On the contrary, they form one complete
reality which comes together from a human and a divine element.[10] For
this reason the Church is compared, not without significance, 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
somewhat similar way, does the social structure of the Church serve the
Spirit of Christ who vivifies it, in the building up of the body (cf.
Eph. 4:15).[11]
This is the sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be
one, holy, catholic and apostolic,[12] which our Savior, after his
resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care (Jn. 21:17),
commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it (cf. Matt.
28:18, etc.), and which he raised up for all ages as "the pillar and
mainstay of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). This Church, constituted and
organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic
Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in
communion with him.[13] Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and
of truth are found outside its visible confines. Since these are gifts
belonging to the Church of Christ, they are forces impelling towards
Catholic unity.
Just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and
oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to
communicate the fruits of salvation to men. Christ Jesus, "though he was
by nature God . . . emptied himself, taking the nature of a slave" (Phil.
2:6, 7), and "being rich, became poor" (2 Cor. 8:9) for our sake.
Likewise, the Church, although she needs human resources to carry out her
mission, is not set up to seek earthly glory, but to proclaim, and this
by her own example, humility and self-denial. Christ was sent by the
Father "to bring good news to the poor . . . to heal the contrite of
heart" (Lk. 4:18), "to seek and to save what was lost" (Lk. 19:10).
Similarly, the Church encompasses with her love all those who are
afflicted by human misery and she recognizes in those who are poor and
who suffer, the image of her poor and suffering founder. She does all in
her power to relieve their need and in them she strives to serve Christ.
Christ, "holy, innocent and undefiled" (Heb. 7:26) knew nothing of sin
(2 Cor. 5:21), but came only to expiate the sins of the people (cf. Heb.
2:17). The Church, however, clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy
and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path 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 (cf. 1 Cor. 11:26). But by
the power of the risen Lord she is given strength to overcome, in
patience and in love, her sorrows and her difficulties, both those that
are from within and those that are from without, so that she may reveal
in the world, faithfully, however darkly, the mystery of her Lord until,
in the consummation, it shall be manifested in full light.
CHAPTER II THE PEOPLE OF GOD
9. At all times and in every race, anyone who fears God and does what is
right has been acceptable to him (cf. Acts 10:35). He has, however,
willed to make men holy and save them, not as individuals without any
bond or link between them, but rather to make them into a people who
might acknowledge him and serve him in holiness. He therefore chose the
Israelite race to be his own people and established a covenant with it.
He gradually instructed this people--in its history manifesting both
himself and the decree of his will--and made it holy unto himself. All
these things, however, happened as a preparation and figure of that new
and perfect covenant which was to be ratified in Christ, and of the
fuller revelation which was to be given through the Word of God made
flesh. "Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. . . I will put
my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts, and they shall
be my people . . . For they shall all know me from the least of them to
the greatest, says the Lord" (Jer. 31:31-34). Christ instituted this new
covenant, namely the new covenant in his blood (cf. 1 Cor. 11: 25); he
called a race made up of Jews and Gentiles which would be one, not
according to the flesh, but in the Spirit, and this race would be the new
People of God. For those who believe in Christ, who are reborn, not from
a corruptible seed, but from an incorruptible one through the word of the
living God (cf. 1 Pet. 1:23), not from flesh, but from water and the Holy
Spirit (cf. Jn. 3:5-6), are finally established as "a chosen race, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation . . . who in times past were not a
people, but now are the People of God" (1 Pet. 2:9-10).
That messianic people has as its head Christ, "who was delivered up for
our sins and rose again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25), and now,
having acquired the name which is above all names, reigns gloriously 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 a temple.
Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us (cf. Jn.
13:34). Its destiny is the kingdom of God which has been begun by God
himself on earth and which must be further extended until it is brought
to perfection by him at the end of time when Christ our life (cf. Col.
3:4), will appear and "creation itself also will be delivered from its
slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God"
(Rom. 8:21). Hence that messianic people, although it does not actually
include all men, and at times may appear as a small flock, is, however, a
most sure seed of unity, hope and salvation for the whole human race.
Established by Christ as a communion of life, love and truth, it is taken
up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all- as the light
of the world and the salt of the earth (cf. Mt. 5:13-16) it is sent forth
into the whole world.
As Israel according to the flesh which wandered in the desert was already
called the Church of God (2 Esd. 13:1; cf. Num. 20:4; Deut. 23:1 ff.), so
too, the new Israel, which advances in this present era in search of a
future and permanent city (cf. Heb. 13:14), is called also the Church of
Christ (cf. Mt. 16:18). It is Christ indeed who has purchased it with his
own blood (cf. Acts 20:28); he has filled it with his Spirit; he has
provided means adapted to its visible and social union. AU those, who in
faith look towards Jesus, the author of salvation and the principle of
unity and peace, God has gathered together and established as the Church,
that it may be for each and everyone the visible sacrament of this saving
unity.[1] Destined to extend to all regions of the earth, it enters into
human history, though it transcends at once all times and all racial
boundaries. Advancing through trials and tribulations, the Church is
strengthened by God's grace, promised to her by the Lord so that she may
not waver from perfect fidelity, but remain the worthy bride of the Lord,
until, through the cross, she may attain to that light which knows no
setting.
10. Christ the Lord, high priest taken from among men (cf. Heb. 5: 1-5),
made the new people "a kingdom of priests to God, his Father" (Apoc. 1:6;
cf. 5:9-10). The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy
Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood,
that through all the works of Christian men they may offer spiritual
sacrifices and proclaim the perfection of him who has called them out of
darkness into his marvelous light (cf. 1 Pet. 2:4-10). Therefore all the
disciples of Christ, persevering in prayer and praising God (cf. Acts
2:42-47), should present themselves as a sacrifice, living, holy and
pleasing to God (cf. Rom. 12:1). They should everywhere on earth bear
witness to Christ and give an answer to everyone who asks a reason for
the hope of an eternal life which is theirs. (cf. 1 Pet. 3:15).
Though they differ essentially and not only in degree, the common
priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood
are none the less ordered one to another; each in its own proper way
shares in the one priesthood of Christ.[2] The ministerial priest, by the
sacred power that he has, forms and rules the priestly people; in the
person of Christ he effects the eucharistic sacrifice and offers it to
God in the name of all the people. The faithful indeed, by virtue of
their royal priesthood, participate in the offering of the Eucharist.[3]
They exercise that priesthood, too, by the reception of the sacraments,
prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, abnegation and
active charity.
11. The sacred nature and organic structure of the priestly community is
brought into operation through the sacraments and the exercise of
virtues. Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful are
appointed by their baptismal character to Christian religious worship;
reborn as sons of God, they must profess before men the faith they have
received from God through the Church.[4] By the sacrament of Confirmation
they are more perfectly bound to the Church and are endowed with the
special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of
Christ, more strictly obliged to spread the faith by word and deed.[5]
Taking part in the eucharistic sacrifice, the source and summit of the
Christian life, they offer the divine victim to God and themselves along
with it.[6] And so it is that, both in the offering and in Holy
Communion, each in his own way, though not of course indiscriminately,
has his own part to play in the liturgical action. Then, strengthened by
the body of Christ in the eucharistic communion, they manifest in a
concrete way that unity of the People of God which this holy sacrament
aptly signifies and admirably realizes.
Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's
mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time,
reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and
which by charity, by example and by prayer labors for their conversion.
By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the
whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified
Lord that he may raise them up and save them (cf. Jas. 5:14-16). And
indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by
freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ (cf. Rom.
8:17; Col. 1:24; Tim. 2:11-12; 1 Pet. 4:13). Those among the faithful who
have received Holy Orders are appointed to nourish the Church with the
word and grace of God in the name of Christ. Finally, in virtue of the
sacrament of Matrimony by which they signify and share (cf. Eph. 5:32)
the mystery of the unity and faithful love between Christ and the Church,
Christian married couples help one another to attain holiness in their
married life and in the rearing of their children. Hence by reason of
their state in life and of their position they have their own gifts in
the People of God (cf. 1 Cor. 7:7)[7] From the marriage of Christians
there comes the family in which new citizens of human society are born
and, by the grace of the Holy Spirit in Baptism, those are made children
of God so that the People of God may be perpetuated throughout the
centuries. In what might be regarded as the domestic Church, the parents,
by word and example are the first heralds of the faith with regard to
their children. They must foster the vocation which is proper to each
child, and this with special care if it be to religion.
Strengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the
faithful, whatever their condition or state--though each in his own
way--are called by the Lord to that perfection of sanctity by which 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 a life of faith and
love and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips
praising his name (cf. Heb. 13:15). The whole body of the faithful who
have an anointing that comes from the holy one (cf. 1 Jn. 2:20 and 27)
cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the
supernatural appreciation of the faith (sensus fidei) of the whole
people, when, "from the bishops to the last of the faithful"[8] they
manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals. By this
appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth,
the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (magisterium),
and obeying it, receives not the mere word of men, but truly the word of
God (cf. 1 Th. 2:13), the faith once for all delivered to the saints (cf.
Jude 3). The People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more
deeply with right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life.
It is not only through the sacraments and the ministrations of the Church
that the Holy Spirit makes holy the People, leads them and enriches them
with his virtues. Allotting his gifts according as he wills (cf. Cor.
12:11), he also distributes special graces among the faithful of every
rank. By these gifts he makes them fit and ready to undertake various
tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church, as it is
written, "the manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for
profit" (1 Cor. 12:7). Whether these charisms be very remarkable or more
simple and widely diffused, they are to be received with thanksgiving and
consolation since they are fitting and useful for the needs of the
Church. Extraordinary gifts are not to be rashly desired, nor is it from
them that the fruits of apostolic labors are to be presumptuously
expected. Those who have charge over the Church should judge the
genuineness and proper use of these gifts, through their office not
indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to
what is good. (cf. Th. 5:12 and 19-21).
13. All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People
therefore, whilst remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout
the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God's will
may be fulfilled: he made human nature one in the beginning and has
decreed that all his children who were scattered should be finally
gathered together as one (cf. John 11:52). It was for this purpose that
God sent his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things (cf. Heb. 1:2),
that he might be teacher, king and priest of all, the head of the new and
universal People of God's sons. This, too, is why God sent the Spirit of
his Son, the Lord and Giver of Life. The Spirit is, for the Church and
for each and every believer, the principle of their union and unity in
the teaching of the apostles and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and
prayer (cf. Acts 2:42 Gk.).
The one People of God is accordingly present in all the nations of the
earth, since its citizens, who are taken from all nations, are of a
kingdom whose nature is not earthly but heavenly. All the faithful
scattered throughout the world are in communion with each other in the
Holy Spirit so that 'he who dwells in Rome knows those in most distant
parts to be his members' (qui Romae sedet, Indos scit membrum suum
esse).[9] Since the kingdom of Christ is not of this world (cf. Jn.
18:36), the Church or People of God which establishes this kingdom does
not take away anything from the temporal welfare of any people. Rather
she fosters and takes to herself, in so far as they are good, the
abilities, the resources and customs of peoples. In so taking them to
herself she purifies, strengthens and elevates them. The Church indeed is
mindful that she must work with that king to whom the nations were given
for an inheritance (cf. Ps. 2:8) and to whose city gifts are brought (cf.
PS. 71[72]: 1O; Is. 60:4-7; Apoc. 21:24). This character of universality
which adorns the People of God is a gift from the Lord himself whereby
the Catholic ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for the return of all
humanity and all its goods under Christ the Head in the unity of his
Spirit.[10] In virtue of this catholicity each part contributes its own
gifts to other parts and to the whole Church, so that the whole and each
of the parts are strengthened by the common sharing of all things and by
the common effort to attain to fullness in unity. Hence it is that the
People of God is not only an assembly of various peoples, but in itself
is made up of different ranks. This diversity among its members is either
by reason of their duties--some exercise the sacred ministry for the good
of their brethren--or it is due to their condition and manner of
life--many enter the religious state and, intending to sanctity by the
narrower way, stimulate their brethren by their example. Holding a
rightful place in the communion of the Church there are also particular
Churches that retain their own traditions, without prejudice to the Chair
of Peter which presides over the whole assembly of charity,[11] and
protects their legitimate variety while at the same time taking care that
these differences do not hinder unity, but rather contribute to it.
Finally, between all the various parts of the Church there is a bond of
close communion whereby spiritual riches, apostolic workers and temporal
resources are shared. For the members of the People of God are called
upon to share their goods, and the words of the apostle apply also to
each of the Churches, 'according to the gift that each has received,
administer it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of
God' (1 Pet. 5:10).
AU men are called to this catholic unity which prefigures and promotes
universal peace. And in different ways to it belong, or are related: the
Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind,
called by God's grace to salvation.
14. This holy Council first of all turns its attention to the Catholic
faithful. Basing itself on scripture and tradition, it teaches that the
Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one
Christ is mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his
body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of
faith and baptism (cf. Mk. 16:16; Jn. 3:5), and thereby affirmed at the
same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as
through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the
Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would
refuse either to enter it, or to remain in it.
Fully incorporated into the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit
of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together
with her entire organization, and who--by the bonds constituted by the
profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and
communion--are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ,
who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. Even though
incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in
charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but
"in body" not "in heart."[12] All children of the Church should
nevertheless remember that their exalted condition results, not from
their own merits, but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to respond
in thought, word and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be
saved, but they shall be the more severely judged.[13]
Catechumens who, moved by the Holy Spirit, desire with an explicit
intention to be incorporated into the Church, are by that very intention
joined to her. With love and solicitude mother Church already embraces
them as her own.
15. The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who
are honored by the name of Christian, but who do not however profess the
Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion
under the successor of Peter.[14] For there are many who hold sacred
scripture in honor as a rule of faith and of life, who have a sincere
religious zeal, who lovingly believe in God the Father Almighty and in
Christ, the Son of God and the Saviour,[15] who are sealed by baptism
which unites them to Christ, and who indeed recognize and receive other
sacraments in their own Churches or ecclesiastical communities. Many of
them possess the episcopate, celebrate the holy Eucharist and cultivate
devotion of the Virgin Mother of God.[16] There is furthermore a sharing
in prayer and spiritual benefits; these Christians are indeed in some
real way joined to us in the Holy Spirit for, by his gifts and graces,
his sanctifying power is also active in them and he has strengthened some
of them even to the shedding of their blood. And so the Spirit stirs up
desires and actions in all of Christ's disciples in order that all may be
peaceably united, as Christ ordained, in one flock under one
shepherd.[17] Mother Church never ceases to pray, hope and work that this
may be achieved, and she exhorts her children to purification and renewal
so that the sign of Christ may shine more brightly over the face of the
Church.
16. Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to
the People of God in various ways.[18] There is, first, that people to
which the covenants and promises were made, and from which Christ was
born according to the flesh (cf. Rom. 9:4-5): in view of the divine
choice, they are a people most dear for the sake of the fathers, for the
gifts of God are without repentance (cf. Rom. 11:29-29). But the plan of
salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first
place amongst whom are the Moslems: these profess to hold the faith of
Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's
judge on the last day. Nor is God remote from those who in shadows and
images seek the unknown God, since he gives to all men life and breath
and all things (cf. Acts 17:25-28), and since the Savior wills all men to
be saved (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4). Those who, through no fault of their own, do
not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek
God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do
his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience--those
too many achieve eternal salvation.[19] Nor shall divine providence deny
the assistance necessary for salvation to those who, without any fault of
theirs, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God, and who,
not without grace, strive to lead a good life. Whatever good or truth is
found amongst them is considered by the Church to be a preparation for
the Gospel[20] and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at
length have life. But very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have
become vain in their reasonings, have exchanged the truth of God for a
lie and served the world rather than the Creator (cf. Rom. 1:21 and 25).
Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to
ultimate despair. Hence to procure the glory of God and the salvation of
all these, the Church, mindful of the Lord's command, "preach the Gospel
to every creature" (Mk. 16:16) takes zealous care to foster the missions.
17. As he had been sent by the Father, the Son himself sent the apostles
(cf. Jn. 20:21) saying, "go, therefore, and 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 that I have commanded you;
and behold I am with you all days even unto the consummation of the
world" (Mt. 28:18-20). The Church has received this solemn command of
Christ from the apostles, and she must fulfill it to the very ends of the
earth (cf. Acts 1:8). Therefore, she makes the words of the apostle her
own, "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel" (1 Cor. 9:16), and
accordingly never ceases to send heralds of the Gospel until each time as
the infant Churches are fully established, and can themselves continue
the work of evangelization. For the Church is driven by the Holy Spirit
to do her part for the full realization of the plan of God, who has
constituted Christ as the source of salvation for the whole world. By her
proclamation of the Gospel, she draws her hearers to receive and profess
the faith, she prepares them for baptism, snatches them from the slavery
of error, and she incorporates them into Christ so that in love for him
they grow to full maturity. The effect of her work is that whatever good
is found sown in the minds and hearts of men or in the rites and customs
of peoples, these not only are preserved from destruction, but are
purified, raised up, and perfected for the glory of God, the confusion of
the devil, and the happiness of man. Each disciple of Christ has the
obligation of spreading the faith to the best of his ability.[21] But if
any believer can baptize, it is for the priests to complete the building
up of the body in the eucharistic sacrifice, thus fulfilling the words of
the prophet, "From the rising of the sun, even to going down, my name is
great among the gentiles. And in every place there is a sacrifice, and
there is offered to my name a clean offering" (Mal. 1:11).[22] Thus the
Church prays and likewise labors so that into the People of God, the Body
of the Lord and the Temple of the Holy Spirit, may pass the fullness of
the whole world, and that in Christ, the head of all things, all honor
and glory may be rendered to the Creator, the Father of the universe.
CHAPTER lII THE CHURCH IS HIERARCHICAL
18. In order to shepherd the People of God and to increase its numbers
without cease, Christ the Lord set up in his Church a variety of offices
which aim at the good of the whole body. The holders of office, who are
invested with a sacred power, are, in fact, dedicated to promoting the
interests of their brethren, so that all who belong to the People of God,
and are consequently endowed with true Christian dignity, may, through
their free and well ordered efforts towards a common goal, attain to
salvation.
This sacred synod, following in the steps of the First Vatican Council,
teaches and declares with it that Jesus Christ, the eternal pastor, set
up the holy Church by entrusting the apostles with their mission as he
himself had been sent by the Father (cf. Jn. 20:21). He willed that their
successors, the bishops namely, should be the shepherds in his Church
until the end of the world. In order that the episcopate itself, however,
might be one and undivided he put Peter at the head of the other
apostles, and in him he set up a lasting and visible source and
foundation of the unity both of faith and of communion.[1] This teaching
concerning the institution, the permanence, the nature and import of the
sacred primacy of the Roman Pontiff and his infallible teaching office,
the sacred synod proposes anew to be firmly believed by all the faithful,
and, proceeding undeviatingly with this same undertaking, it proposes to
proclaim publicly and enunciate clearly the doctrine concerning bishops,
successors of the apostles, who together with Peter's successor, the
Vicar of Christ[2] and the visible head of the whole Church, direct the
house of the living God.
19. The Lord Jesus, having prayed at length to the Father, called to
himself those whom he willed and appointed twelve to be with him, whom he
might send to preach the kingdom of God (cf. Mk. 3:13-19; Mt. 10:1-42).
These apostles (cf. Lk. 6:13) he constituted in the form of a college or
permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from
amongst them (cf. Jn. 21:15-17). He sent them first of all to the
children of Israel and then to all peoples (cf. Rom. 1:16), SO that,
sharing in his power, they might make all peoples his disciples and
sanctify and govern them (cf. Mt. 28:16-20; Mk. 16:15; Lk. 24:45-48; Jn.
20:21-23) and thus spread the Church and, administering it under the
guidance of the Lord, shepherd it all days until the end of the world
(cf. Mt. 28:20). They were fully confirmed in this mission on the day of
Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:1-26) according to the promise of the Lord: "You
shall receive power when the Holy Ghost descends upon you; and you shall
be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). By preaching everywhere the
Gospel (cf. Mk. 16:20), welcomed and received under the influence of the
Holy Spirit by those who hear it, the apostles gather together the
universal Church, which the Lord founded upon the apostles and built upon
blessed Peter their leader, the chief corner-stone being Christ Jesus
himself (cf. Apoc. 21:14; Mt. 16:1118; Eph. 2:20).[3]
20. That divine mission, which was committed by Christ to the apostles,
is destined to last until the end of the world (cf. Mt. 28:20), since the
Gospel, which they were charged to hand on, is, for the Church, the
principle of all its life for all time. For that very reason the apostles
were careful to appoint successors in this hierarchically constituted
society.
In fact, not only had they various helpers in their ministry,[4] but, in
order that the mission entrusted to them might be continued after their
death, they consigned, by will and testament, as it were, to their
immediate collaborators the duty of completing and consolidating the work
they had begun,[5] urging them to tend to the whole flock, in which the
Holy Spirit had appointed them to shepherd the Church of God (cf. Acts
20:28). They accordingly designated such men and then made the ruling
that likewise on their death other proven men should take over their
ministry.[6] Amongst those various offices which have been exercised in
the Church from the earliest times the chief place, according to the
witness of tradition, is held by the function of those who, through their
appointment to the dignity and responsibility of bishop, and in virtue
consequently of the unbroken succession, going back to the beginning,[7]
are regarded as transmitters of the apostolic line.[8] Thus, according
to the testimony of St. Irenaeus, the apostolic tradition is
manifested[9] and preserved[10] in the whole world by those who were made
bishops by the apostles and by their successors down to our own time.
In that way, then, with priests and deacons as helpers,[11] the bishops
received the charge of the community, presiding in God's stead over the
flock[12] of which they are the shepherds in that they are teachers of
doctrine, ministers of sacred worship and holders of office in
government.[13] Moreover, just as the office which the Lord confided to
Peter alone, as first of the apostles, destined to be transmitted to his
successors, is a permanent one, so also endures the office, which the
apostles received, of shepherding the Church, a charge destined to be
exercised without interruption by the sacred order of bishops.[14] The
sacred synod consequently teaches that the bishops have by divine
institution taken the place of the apostles as pastors of the Church,[15]
in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and
whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ (cf. Lk.
10:16).[16]
21. In the person of the bishops, then, to whom the priests render
assistance, the Lord Jesus Christ, supreme high priest, is present in the
midst of the faithful. Though seated at the right hand of God the Father,
he is not absent from the assembly of his pontiffs;[17] on the contrary
indeed, it is above all through their signal service that he preaches the
Word of God to all peoples and administers without cease to the faithful
the sacraments of faith; that through their paternal care (cf. 1 Cor.
4:15) he incorporates, by a supernatural rebirth, new members into his
body; that finally, through their wisdom and prudence he directs and
guides the people of the New Testament on their journey towards eternal
beatitude. Chosen to shepherd the Lord's flock, these pastors are
servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (cf. 1 Cor. 4:1),
to whom entrusted the duty of affirming the Gospel of the grace of
God (cf. Rom. 15:16; Acts 20:24), and of gloriously promulgating the
Spirit and proclaiming justification (cf. 2 Cor. 3: 8-9).
In order to fulfill such exalted functions, the apostles were endowed by
Christ with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming upon them (cf.
Acts 1:8; 2:4; Jn. 20:22-23), and, by the imposition of hands, (cf. 1
Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6-7) they passed on to their auxiliaries the gift of
the Spirit, which is transmitted down to our day through episcopal
consecration.[18] The holy synod teaches, moreover, that the fullness of
the sacrament of Orders is conferred by episcopal consecration, that
fullness, namely, which both in the liturgical tradition of the Church
and in the language of the Fathers of the Church is called the high
priesthood, the acme of the sacred ministry.[19] Now, episcopal
consecration confers, together with the office of sanctifying, the duty
also of teaching and ruling, which, however, of their very nature can be
exercised only in hierarchical communion with the head and members of the
college. In fact, from tradition, which is expressed especially in the
liturgical rites and in the customs of both the Eastern and Western
Church, it is abundantly clear that by the imposition of hands and
through the words of the consecration, the grace of the Holy Spirit is
given,[20] and a sacred character is impressed[21] in such wise that
bishops, in a resplendent and visible manner, take the place of Christ
himself, teacher, shepherd and priest, and act as his representatives (in
eius persona).[22] It is the right of bishops to admit newly elected
members into the episcopal body by means of the sacrament of Orders.
22. Just as, in accordance with the Lord's decree, St Peter and the rest
of the apostles constitute a unique apostolic college, so in like fashion
the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the bishops, the successors of
the apostles, are related with and united to one another. Indeed, the
very ancient discipline whereby the bishops installed throughout the
whole world lived in communion with one another and with the Roman
Pontiff in a bond of unity, charity and peace;[23] likewise the holding
of councils[24] in order to settle conjointly,[25] in a decision rendered
balanced and equitable by the advice of many, all questions of major
importance;[26] all this points clearly to the collegiate character and
structure of the episcopal order, and the holding of ecumenical councils
in the course of the centuries bears this out unmistakably. Indeed,
pointing to it also quite clearly is the custom, dating from very early
times, of summoning a number of bishops to take part in the elevation of
one newly chosen to the highest sacerdotal office. One is constituted a
member of the episcopal body in virtue of the sacramental consecration
and by the hierarchical communion with the head and members of the
college.
The college or body of bishops has for all that no authority unless
united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its head, whose
primatial authority, let it be added, over all, whether pastors or
faithful, remains in its integrity. For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of
his office as Vicar of Christ, namely, and as pastor of the entire
Church, has full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church, a
power which he can always exercise unhindered. The order of bishops is
the successor to the college of the apostles in their role as teachers
and pastors, and in it the apostolic college is perpetuated. Together
with their head, the Supreme Pontiff, and never apart from him, they have
supreme and full authority over the universal Church;[27] but this power
cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff. The Lord
made Peter alone the rock-foundation and the holder of the keys of the
Church (cf. Mt. 16:18-19), and constituted him shepherd of his whole
flock (cf. Jn. 21:15 ff.). It is clear, however, that the office of
binding and loosing which was given to Peter (Mt. 16:19), was also
assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head (Mt. 18:18;
28:16-20).[28] This college, in so far as it is composed of many members,
is the expression of the multifariousness and universality of the People
of God; and of the unity of the flock of Christ, in so far as it is
assembled under one head. In it the bishops, whilst loyally respecting
the primacy and pre-eminence of their head, exercise their own proper
authority for the good of their faithful, indeed even for the good of the
whole Church, the organic structure and harmony of which are strengthened
by the continued influence of the Holy Spirit. The supreme authority over
the whole Church, which this college possesses, is exercised in a solemn
way in an ecumenical council. There never is an ecumenical council which
is not confirmed or at least recognized as such by Peter's successor.
And it is the prerogative of the Roman Pontiff to convoke such councils,
to preside over them and to confirm them.[29] This same collegiate power
can be exercised in union with the pope by the bishops while living in
different parts of the world, provided the head of the college summon
them to collegiate action, or at least approve or freely admit the
corporate action of the unassembled bishops, so that a truly collegiate
act may result.
23. Collegiate unity is also apparent in the mutual relations of each
bishop to individual dioceses and with the universal Church. The Roman
Pontiff, as the successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible source
and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company
of the faithful.[30] The individual bishops are the visible source and
foundation of unity in their own particular Churches,[31] which are
constituted after the model of the universal Church; it is in these and
formed out of them that the one and unique Catholic Church exists.[32]
And for that reason precisely each bishop represents his own Church,
whereas all, together with the pope, represent the whole Church in a bond
of peace, love and unity.
Individual bishops, in so far as they are set over particular Churches,
exercise their pastoral office over the portion of the People of God
assigned to them, not over other Churches nor the Church universal. But
in so far as they are members of the episcopal college and legitimate
successors of the apostles, by Christ's arrangement and decree,[33] each
is bound to have such care and solicitude for the whole Church which,
though it be not exercised by any act of jurisdiction, does for all that
redound in an eminent degree to the advantage of the universal Church.
For all the bishops have the obligation of fostering and safeguarding the
unity of the faith and of upholding the discipline which is common to the
whole Church- of schooling the faithful in a love of the whole Mystical
Body of Christ and, in a special way, of the poor, the suffering, and
those who are undergoing persecution for the sake of justice (cf. Mt.
5:10); finally, of promoting all that type of active apostolate which is
common to the whole Church, especially in order that the faith may
increase and the light of truth may rise in its fullness on all men.
Besides, it is an established fact of experience that, in ruling well
their own Churches as portions of the universal Church, they contribute
efficaciously to the welfare of the whole Mystical Body, which, from
another point of view, is a corporate body of Churches.[34]
The task of announcing the Gospel in the whole world belongs to the body
of pastors, to whom, as a group, Christ gave a general injunction and
imposed a general obligation, to which already Pope Celestine called the
attention of the Fathers of the Council of Ephesus.[35] Consequently, the
bishops, each for his own part, in so far as the due performance of their
own duty permits, are obliged to enter into collaboration with one
another and with Peter's successor, to whom, in a special way, the noble
task of propagating the Christian name was entrusted.[36] Thus, they
should come to the aid of the missions by every means in their power,
supplying both harvest workers and also spiritual and material aids,
either directly and personally themselves, or by arousing the fervent
cooperation of the faithful. Lastly, in accordance with the venerable
example of former times, bishops should gladly extend their fraternal
assistance, in the fellowship of an all-pervading charity, to other
Churches, especially to neighboring ones and to those most in need of
help.
It has come about through divine providence that, in the course of time,
different Churches set up in various places by the apostles and their
successors joined together in a multiplicity of organically united groups
which, whilst safeguarding the unity of the faith and the unique divine
structure of the universal Church, have their own discipline, enjoy their
own liturgical usage and inherit a theological and spiritual patrimony.
Some of these, notably the ancient patriarchal Churches, as mothers in
the faith, gave birth to other daughter-Churches, as it were, and down to
our own days they are linked with these by bonds of a more intimate
charity in what pertains to the sacramental life and in a mutual respect
for rights and obligations.[37] This multiplicity of local Churches,
unified in a common effort, shows all the more resplendently the
catholicity of the undivided Church. In a like fashion the episcopal
conferences at the present time are in a position to contribute in many
and fruitful ways to the concrete realization of the collegiate spirit.
24. The bishops, in as much as they are the successors of the apostles,
receive from the Lord, to whom all power is given in heaven and on earth,
the mission of teaching all peoples, and of preaching the Gospel to every
creature, so that all men may attain to salvation through faith, baptism
and the observance of the commandments (cf. Mt. 28:18; Mk. 16:15-16; Acts
26:17 f.). For the carrying out of this mission Christ promised the Holy
Spirit to the apostles and sent him from heaven on the day of Pentecost,
so that through his power they might be witnesses to him in the remotest
parts of the earth, before nations and peoples and kings (cf. Acts 1:8;
2:1 ff.; 9:15). That office, however, which the Lord committed to the
pastors of his people, is, in the strict sense of the term, a service,
which is called very expressively in sacred scripture a diakonia or
ministry (cf. Acts 1:17 and 25; 21:19; Rom. 11:13; 1 Tim. 1:12).
The canonical mission of the bishops, on the other hand, can be made by
legitimate customs that have not been revoked by the supreme and
universal authority of the Church, or by laws made or acknowledged by the
same authority, or directly by Peter's successor himself. Should he
object or refuse the apostolic communion, then bishops cannot be admitted
to office.[38]
25. Among the more important duties of bishops that of preaching the
Gospel has pride of place.[39] For the bishops are heralds of the faith,
who draw new disciples to Christ; they are authentic teachers, that is,
teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach the faith to
the people assigned to them, the faith which is destined to inform their
thinking and direct their conduct; and under the light of the Holy Spirit
they make that faith shine forth, drawing from the storehouse of
revelation new things and old (cf. Mt. 13:52); they make it bear fruit
and with watchfulness they ward off whatever errors threaten their flock
(cf. 2 Tim. 4-14). Bishops who teach in communion with the Roman Pontiff
are to be revered by all as witnesses of divine and Catholic truth; the
faithful, for their part, are obliged to submit to their bishops'
decision, made in the name of Christ, in matters of faith and morals, and
to adhere to it with a ready and respectful allegiance of mind. This
loyal submission of the will and intellect must be given, in a special
way, to the authentic teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, even when
he does not speak ex cathedra in such wise, indeed, that his supreme
teaching authority be acknowledged with respect, and sincere assent be
given to decisions made by him, conformably with his manifest mind and
intention, which is made known principally either by the character of the
documents in question, or by the frequency with which a certain doctrine
is proposed, or by the manner in which the doctrine is formulated.
Although the bishops, taken individually, do not enjoy the privilege of
infallibility, they do, however, proclaim infallibly the doctrine of
Christ on the following conditions: namely, when, even though dispersed
throughout the world but preserving for all that amongst themselves and
with Peter's successor the bond of communion, in their authoritative
teaching concerning matters of faith and morals, they are in agreement
that a particular teaching is to be held definitively and absolutely.[40]
This is still more clearly the case when, assembled in an ecumenical
council, they are, for the universal Church, teachers of and judges in
matters of faith and morals, whose decisions must be adhered to with the
loyal and obedient assent of faith.[41]
This infallibility, however, with which the divine redeemer wished to
endow his Church in defining doctrine pertaining to faith and morals, is
co-extensive with the deposit of revelation, which must be religiously
guarded and loyally and courageously expounded. The Roman Pontiff, head
of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his
office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful--who
confirms his brethren in the faith (cf. Lk. 22:32)--he proclaims in an
absolute decision a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals.[42] For that
reason his definitions are rightly said to be irreformable by their very
nature and not by reason of the assent of the Church, is as much as they
were made with the assistance of the Holy Spirit promised to him in the
person of blessed Peter himself; and as a consequence they are in no way
in need of the approval of others, and do not admit of appeal to any
other tribunal. For in such a case the Roman Pontiff does not utter a
pronouncement as a private person, but rather does he expound and defend
the teaching of the Catholic faith as the supreme teacher of the
universal Church, in whom the Church's charism of infallibility is
present in a singular way.[43] The infallibility promised to the Church
is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter's
successor, they exercise the supreme teaching office. Now, the assent of
the Church can never be lacking to such definitions on account of the
same Holy Spirit's influence, through which Christ's whole flock is
maintained in the unity of the faith and makes progress in it.[44]
Furthermore, when the Roman Pontiff, or the body of bishops together with
him, define a doctrine, they make the definition in conformity with
revelation itself, to which all are bound to adhere and to which they are
obliged to submit; and this revelation is transmitted integrally either
in written form or in oral tradition through the legitimate succession of
bishops and above all through the watchful concern of the Roman Pontiff
himself- and through the light of the Spirit of truth it is scrupulously
preserved in the Church and unerringly explained.[45] The Roman Pontiff
and the bishops, by reason of their office and the seriousness of the
matter, apply themselves with zeal to the work of inquiring by every
suitable means into this revelation and of giving apt expression to its
contents;[46] they do not, however, admit any new public revelation as
pertaining to the divine deposit of faith.[47]
26. The bishop, invested with the fullness of the sacrament of Orders, is
"the steward of the grace of the supreme priesthood,"[48] above all in
the Eucharist, which he himself offers, or ensures that it is
offered,[49] from which the Church ever derives its life and on which it
thrives. This Church of Christ is really present in all legitimately
organized local groups of the faithful, which, in so far as they are
united to their pastors, are also quite appropriately called Churches in
the New Testament.[50] For these are in fact, in their own localities,
the new people called by God, in the power of the Holy Spirit and as the
result of full conviction (cf. 1 Thess. 1:5). In them the faithful are
gathered together through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and the
mystery of the Lord's Supper is celebrated "so that, by means of the
flesh and blood of the Lord the whole brotherhood of the Body may be
welded together."[51] In each altar community, under the sacred ministry
of the bishop,[52] a manifest symbol is to be seen of that charity and
"unity of the mystical body, without which there can be no
salvation."[53] In these communities, though they may often be small and
poor, or existing in the diaspora, Christ is present through whose power
and influence the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church is
constituted.[54] For "the sharing in the body and blood of Christ has no
other effect than to accomplish our transformation into that which we
receive."[55]
Moreover, every legitimate celebration of the Eucharist is regulated by
the bishop, to whom is confided the duty of presenting to the divine
majesty the cult of the Christian religion and of ordering it in
accordance with the Lord's injunctions and the Church's regulations, as
further defined for the diocese by his particular decision.
Thus the bishops, by praying and toiling for the people, apportion in
many different forms and without stint that which flows from the
abundance of Christ's holiness. By the ministry of the word they impart
to those who believe the strength of God unto salvation (cf. Rom. I:16),
and through the sacraments, the frequent and fruitful distribution of
which they regulate by their authority,[56] they sanctify the faithful.
They control the conferring of Baptism, through which a sharing in the
priesthood of Christ is granted. They are the original ministers of
Confirmation; it is they who confer sacred Orders and regulate the
discipline of Penance, and who diligently exhort and instruct their
flocks to take the part that is theirs, in a spirit of faith and
reverence, in the liturgy and above all in the holy sacrifice of the
Mass. Finally, by the example of their manner of life they should
exercise a powerful influence for good on those over whom they are
placed, by abstaining from all wrong doing in their conduct, and, as far
as they are able, with the help of the Lord, changing it for the better,
so that together with the flock entrusted to them, they may attain to
eternal life.[57]
27. The bishops, as vicars and legates of Christ, govern the particular
Churches assigned to them[58] by their counsels, exhortations and
example, but over and above that also by the authority and sacred power
which indeed they exercise exclusively for the spiritual development of
their flock in truth and holiness, keeping in mind that he who is greater
should become as the lesser, and he who is the leader as the servant (cf.
Lk. 22:26-27). This power, which they exercise personally in the name of
Christ, is proper, ordinary and immediate, although its exercise is
ultimately controlled by the supreme authority of the Church and can be
confined within certain limits should the usefulness of the Church and
the faithful require that. In virtue of this power bishops have a sacred
right and a duty before the Lord of legislating for and of passing
judgment on their subjects, as well as of regulating everything that
concerns the good order of divine worship and of the apostolate.
The pastoral charge, that is, the permanent and daily care of their
sheep, is entrusted to them fully; nor are they to be regarded as vicars
of the Roman Pontiff; for they exercise the power which they possess in
their own right and are called in the truest sense of the term prelates
of the people whom they govern.[59] Consequently their authority, far
from being damaged by the supreme and universal power, is much rather
defended, upheld and strengthened by it,[60] since the Holy Spirit
preserves unfailingly that form of government which was set up by Christ
the Lord in his Church.
Sent as he is by the Father to govern his family, a bishop should keep
before his eyes the example of the Good Shepherd, who came not to be
waited upon but to serve (cf. Mt. 20:28; Mk. 10:45) and to lay down his
life for his sheep (cf. Jn. 10:11). Taken from among men and oppressed by
the weakness that surrounds him, he can compassionate those who are
ignorant and erring (cf. Heb. 5:1-2). He should not refuse to listen to
his subjects whose welfare he promotes as of his very own children and
whom he urges to collaborate readily with him. Destined to render an
account for their souls to God (cf. Heb. 13:17), by prayer, preaching
and all good works of charity he should be solicitous both for their
welfare and for that too of those who do not belong to the unique flock,
but whom he should regard as entrusted to him in the Lord. Since, like St
Paul, he is in duty bound to everyone, he should be eager to preach the
Gospel to all (cf. Rom. 1:14-15), and to spur his faithful on to
apostolic and missionary activity. As to the faithful, they should be
closely attached to the bishop as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and as
Jesus Christ is to the Father, so that all things may conspire towards
harmonious unity,[61] and bring forth abundant fruit unto the glory of
God (cf. 2 Cor. 4:15).
28. Christ, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world (Jn. 10:36),
has, through his apostles, made their successors, the bishops namely,[62]
sharers in his consecration and mission; and these, in their turn, duly
entrusted in varying degrees various members of the Church with the
office of their ministry. Thus the divinely instituted ecclesiastical
ministry is exercised in different degrees by those who even from ancient
times have been called bishops, priests and deacons.[63] Whilst not
having the supreme degree of the pontifical office, and notwithstanding
the fact that they depend on the bishops in the exercise of their own
proper power, the priests are for all that associated with them by reason
of their sacerdotal dignity;[64] and in virtue of the sacrament of
Orders,[65] after the image of Christ, the supreme and eternal priest
(Heb. 5:1-10; 7:24; 9:11-28), they are consecrated in order to preach the
Gospel and shepherd the faithful as well as to celebrate divine worship
as true priests of the New Testament.[66] On the level of their own
ministry sharing in the unique office of Christ, the mediator, (1 Tim.
2:5), they announce to all the word of God. However, it is in the
eucharistic cult or in the eucharistic assembly of the faithful (synaxis)
that they exercise in a supreme degree their sacred functions; there,
acting in the person of Christ[67] and proclaiming his mystery, they
unite the votive offerings of the faithful to the sacrifice of Christ
their head, and in the sacrifice of the Mass they make present again and
apply, until the coming of the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 11:26), the unique
sacrifice of the New Testament, that namely of Christ offering himself
once for all a spotless victim to the Father (cf. Heb. 9:11-28).[68] And
on behalf of the faithful who are moved to sorrow or are stricken with
sickness they exercise in an eminent degree a ministry of reconciliation
and comfort, whilst they carry the needs and supplications of the
faithful to God the Father (cf. Heb. 5:1-4). Exercising, within the
limits of the authority which is theirs, the office of Christ, the
Shepherd and Head,[69] they assemble the family of God as a brotherhood
fired with a single ideal,[70] and through Christ in the Spirit they lead
it to God the Father. In the midst of the flock they adore him in spirit
and in truth (cf. Jn. 4:24). In short, they labor in preaching and
instruction (cf. 1 Tim. 5:17), firmly adhering to what they read and
meditate in the law of God, inculcating that which they believe, and
putting into practice what they preach.[71]
The priests, prudent cooperators of the episcopal college[72] and its
support and mouthpiece, called to the service of the People of God,
constitute, together with their bishop, a unique sacerdotal college
(presbyterium)[73] dedicated it is true to a variety of distinct duties.
In each local assembly of the faithful they represent in a certain sense
the bishop, with whom they are associated in all trust and generosity; in
part they take upon themselves his duties and solicitude and in their
daily toils discharge them. Those who, under the authority of the bishop,
sanctify and govern that portion of the Lord's flock assigned to them
render the universal Church visible in their locality and contribute
efficaciously towards building up the whole body of Christ (cf. Eph.
4:12). And ever anxious for the good of the children of God they should
be eager to lend their efforts to the pastoral work of the whole diocese,
nay rather of the whole Church. By reason of this sharing in the
priesthood and mission of the bishop the priests should see in him a true
father and obey him with all respect. The bishop, on his side, should
treat the priests, his helpers, as his sons and friends, just as Christ
calls his disciples no longer servants but friends (cf. Jn. 15:15). All
priests, then, whether diocesan or religious, by reason of the sacrament
of Orders and of the ministry correspond to and cooperate with the body
of bishops and, according to their vocation and the grace that is given
them they serve the welfare of the whole Church.
In virtue of their sacred ordination and of their common mission all
priests are united together by bonds of intimate brotherhood, which
manifests itself in a spontaneously and gladly given mutual help, whether
spiritual or temporal, whether pastoral or personal, through the medium
of reunions and community life, work and fraternal charity.
As to the faithful, they (the priests) should bestow their paternal
attention and solicitude on them, whom they have begotten spiritually
through baptism and instruction (cf. 1 Cor. 4:15; 1 Pet. 1:23). Gladly
constituting themselves models of the flock (cf. 1 Pet. 5:3), they should
preside over and serve their local community in such a way that it may
deserve to be called by the name which is given to the unique People of
God in its entirety, that is to say, the Church of God (cf. Cor. 1:2; 2
Cor. 1:1, and passim). They should be mindful that by their daily conduct
and solicitude they display the reality of a truly priestly and pastoral
ministry both to believers and unbelievers alike, to Catholics and
non-Catholics; that they are bound to bear witness before all men of the
truth and of the life, and as good shepherds seek after those too (cf.
Lk. 15:4-7) who, whilst having been baptised in the Catholic Church, have
given up the practice of the sacraments, or even fallen away from the
faith.
Since the human race today is tending more and more towards civil,
economic and social unity, it is all the more necessary that priests
should unite their efforts and combine their resources under the
leadership of the bishops and the Supreme Pontiff and thus eliminate
division and dissension in every shape or form, so that all mankind may
be led into the unity of the family of God.
29. At a lower level of the hierarchy are to be found deacons, who
receive the imposition of hands "not unto the priesthood, but unto the
ministry."[74] For, strengthened by sacramental grace they are dedicated
to the People of God, in conjunction with the bishop and his body of
priests, in the service of the liturgy, of the Gospel and of works of
charity. It pertains to the office of a deacon, in so far as it may be
assigned to him by the competent authority, to administer Baptism
solemnly, to be custodian and distributor of the Eucharist, in the name
of the Church, to assist at and to bless marriages, 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 the prayer of the
faithful, to administer sacramentals, and to officiate at funeral and
burial services. Dedicated to works of charity and functions of
administration, deacons should recall the admonition of St Polycarp: "Let
them be merciful, and zealous, and let them walk according to the truth
of the Lord, who became the servant of all."[75]
Since, however, the laws and customs of the Latin Church in force today
in many areas render it difficult to fulfill these functions, which are
so extremely necessary for the life of the Church, it will be possible in
the future to restore the diaconate as a proper and permanent rank of the
hierarchy. But it pertains to the competent local episcopal conferences,
of one kind or another, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, to
decide whether and where it is opportune that such deacons be appointed.
Should the Roman Pontiff think fit, it will be possible to confer this
diaconal order even upon married men, provided they be of more mature
age, and also on suitable young men, for whom, however, the law of
celibacy must remain in force.
CHAPTER IV THE LAITY
30. Having made clear the functions of the hierarchy, the holy Council is
pleased to turn its attention to the state of those Christians who are
called the laity. Everything that has been said of the People of God is
addressed equally to laity, religious and clergy. Because of their
situation and mission, however, certain things pertain particularly to
the laity, both men and women, the foundations of which must be more
fully examined owing to the special circumstances of our time. The
pastors, indeed, know well how much the laity contribute to the welfare
of the whole Church. For they know that they themselves were not
established by Christ to undertake alone the whole salvific mission of
the Church to the world, but that it is their exalted office so to be
shepherds of the faithful and also recognize the latter's contribution
and charisms that everyone in his own way will, with one mind, cooperate
in the common task. For all must "practice the truth in love, and so grow
up in all things in him who is the 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" (Eph.
4:15-16).
31. The term "laity" is here understood to mean all the faithful except
those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved
by the Church. That is, the faithful who by Baptism are incorporated into
Christ, are placed in the People of God, and in their own way share the
priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ, and to the best of their
ability carry on the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church
and in the world.
Their secular character is proper and peculiar to the laity. Although
those in Holy Orders may sometimes be engaged in secular activities, or
even practice a secular profession, yet by reason of their particular
vocation, they are principally and expressly ordained to the sacred
ministry. At the same time, religious give outstanding and striking
testimony that the world cannot be transfigured and offered to God
without the spirit of the beatitudes. But by reason of their special
vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging
in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's will. They live
in the world, that is, they are engaged in each and every work and
business of the earth and in the ordinary circumstances of social and
family life which, as it were, constitute their very existence. There
they are called by God that, being led by the spirit to the Gospel, they
may contribute to the sanctification of the world, as from within like
leaven, by fulfilling their own particular duties. Thus, especially by
the witness of their life, resplendent in faith, hope and charity they
must manifest Christ to others. It pertains to them in a special way so
to illuminate and order all temporal things with which they are so
closely associated that these may be effected and grow according to
Christ and may be to the glory of the Creator and 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" (Rom. 12:4-5).
There is, therefore, one chosen People of God: "one Lord, one faith, one
baptism" (Eph. 4.5); there is a common dignity of members deriving from
their rebirth in Christ, a common grace as sons, a common vocation to
perfection, one salvation, one hope and undivided charity. In Christ and
in the Church there is, then, no inequality arising from race or
nationality, social condition or sex, for "there is neither Jew nor
Greek; there is neither slave nor freeman; there is neither male nor
female. For you are all 'one' in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3: 28 Greek; cf.
Col. 3:11).
In the Church not everyone marches along the same path, yet all are
called to sanctity and have obtained an equal privilege of faith through
the justice of God (cf. 2 Pet. 1:1). Although by Christ's will some are
established as teachers, dispensers of the mysteries and pastors for the
others, there remains, nevertheless, a true equality between all with
regard to the dignity and to the activity which is common to all the
faithful in the building up of the Body of Christ. The distinction which
the Lord has made between the sacred ministers and the rest of the People
of God involves union, for the pastors and the other faithful are joined
together by a close relationship: the pastors of the Church--following
the example of the Lord--should minister to each other and to the rest of
the faithful; the latter should eagerly collaborate with the pastors and
teachers. And so amid variety all will bear witness to the wonderful
unity in the Body of Christ: this very diversity of graces, of ministries
and of works gathers the sons of God into one, for "all these things are
the work of the one and the same Spirit"(1 Cor. 12:11).
As the laity through the divine choice have Christ as their brother, who,
though Lord of all, came not to be served but to serve (cf. Mt. 20:28),
they also have as brothers those in the sacred ministry who by teaching,
by sanctifying and by ruling with the authority of Christ so nourish the
family of God that the new commandment of love may be fulfilled by all.
As St Augustine very beautifully puts it: "When I am frightened by what I
am to you, then I am consoled by what I am with you. To you I am the
bishop, with you I am a Christian. The first is an office, the second a
grace; the first a danger, the second salvation.[1]
33. Gathered together in the People of God and established in the one
Body of Christ under one head, the laity--no matter who they are--have,
as living members, the vocation of applying to the building up of the
Church and to its continual sanctification all the powers which they have
received from the goodness of the Creator and from the grace of the
Redeemer.
The apostolate of the laity is a sharing in the salvific mission of the
Church. Through Baptism and Confirmation all are appointed to this
apostolate by the Lord himself. Moreover, by the sacraments, and
especially by the Eucharist, that love of God and man which is the soul
of the apostolate is communicated and nourished. The laity, however, are
given this special vocation: to make the Church present and fruitful in
those places and circumstances where it is only through them that she can
become the salt of the earth.[2] Thus, every lay person, through those
gifts given to him, is at once the witness and the living instrument of
the mission of the Church itself "according to the measure of Christ's
bestowal" (Eph. 4: 7).
Besides this apostolate which belongs to absolutely every Christian, the
laity can be called in different ways to more immediate cooperation in
the apostolate of the hierarchy,[3] like those men and women who helped
the apostle Paul in the Gospel, laboring much in the Lord (cf. Phil. 4-3;
Rom. 16:3 ff.). They have, moreover, the capacity of being appointed by
the hierarchy to some ecclesiastical offices with a view to a spiritual
end.
All the laity, then, have the exalted duty of working for the ever
greater spread of the divine plan of salvation to all men, of every epoch
and all over the earth. Therefore may the way be clear for them to share
diligently in the salvific work of the Church according to their ability
and the needs of the times.
34. Since he wishes to continue his witness and his service through the
laity also, the supreme and eternal priest, Christ Jesus, vivifies them
with his spirit and ceaselessly impels them to accomplish every good and
perfect work.
To those whom he intimately joins to his life and mission he also gives a
share in his priestly office, to offer spiritual worship for the glory of
the Father and the salvation of man. Hence the laity, dedicated as they
are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and
prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in
them. For all their works, prayers and apostolic undertakings, family and
married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are
accomplished in the Spirit--indeed even the hardships of life if
patiently borne--all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ (cf. Pet. 2:5). In the celebration of the Eucharist
these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of
the Lord. And so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity
consecrate the world itself to God.
35. Christ is the great prophet who proclaimed the kingdom of the Father
both by the testimony of his life and by the power of his word. Until the
full manifestation of his glory, he fulfills this prophetic office, not
only by the hierarchy who teach in his name and by his power, but also by
the laity. He accordingly both establishes them as witnesses and provides
them with the appreciation of the faith (sensus fidei) and the grace of
the word (cf. Acts 2:17-18; Apoc. 19:10) so that the power of the Gospel
may shine out in daily family and social life. They show themselves to be
the children of the promise if, strong in faith and hope, they make the
most of the present time (Eph 5:16; Col. 4:5), and with patience await
the future glory (cf. Rom. 8:25). Let them not hide this their hope then,
in the depths of their hearts, but rather express it through the
structure of their secular lives in continual conversion and in wrestling
"against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces
of iniquity" (Eph. 6:12).
As the sacraments of the New Laws which nourish the life and the
apostolate of the faithful, prefigure the new heaven and the new earth
(cf. Apoc. 21:1), SO too the laity become powerful heralds of the faith
in things to be hoped for (cf. Heb. 11:1) if they join unhesitating
profession of faith to the life of faith. This evangelization, that is,
the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life, acquires a
specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the
ordinary circumstances of the world.
The state of life that is sanctified by a special sacrament, namely,
married and family life, has a special importance in this prophetic
office. Where the Christian religion pervades the whole structure of life
with a continuous and ever more profound transformation, there is both
the practice and an outstanding school of the lay apostolate. In it the
married partners have their own proper vocation: they must be witnesses
of faith and love of Christ to one another and to their children. The
Christian family proclaims aloud both the present power of the kingdom of
God and the hope of the blessed life. Hence, by example and by their
testimony, they convict the world of sin and give light to those who seek
the truth.
Therefore, even when occupied by temporal affairs, the laity can, and
must, do valuable work for the evangelization of the world. But if, when
there are no sacred ministers or when these are impeded under
persecution, some lay people supply sacred functions to the best of their
ability, or if, indeed, many of them expend all their energies in
apostolic work, nevertheless the whole laity must cooperate in spreading
and in building up the kingdom of Christ. Let the laity, therefore,
diligently apply themselves to a more profound knowledge of revealed
truth and earnestly beg of God the gift of wisdom.
36. Christ, made obedient unto death and because of this exalted by the
Father (cf. Ph. 2:8-9), has entered into the glory of his kingdom. All
things are subjected to him until he subjects himself and all created
things to the Father, so that God may be all in all (cf. 1 Cor.
15:27-28). He communicated this power to the disciples that they be
constituted in royal liberty and, by self-abnegation of a holy life,
overcome the reign of sin in themselves (cf. Rom. 6:12)--that indeed by
serving Christ in others they may in humility and patience bring their
brethren to that king to serve whom is to reign. The Lord also desires
that his kingdom be spread by the lay faithful: the kingdom of truth and
life, the kingdom of holiness and grace, the kingdom of justice, love and
peace.[4] In this kingdom creation itself will be delivered from the
slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God
(cf. Rom. 8:21). Clearly, a great promise, a great commission is given to
the disciples: "all things are yours, you are Christ's, and Christ is
God's" (1 Cor. 3:23).
The faithful must, then, recognize the inner nature, the value and the
ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God. Even by their
secular activity they must aid one another to greater holiness of life,
so that the world may be filled with the spirit of Christ and may the
more effectively attain its destiny in justice, in love and in peace. The
laity enjoy a principle role in the universal fulfillment of this task.
Therefore, by their competence in secular disciplines and by their
activity, interiorly raised up by grace, let them work earnestly in order
that created goods through human labor, technical skill and civil culture
may serve the utility of all men according to the plan of the creator and
the light of his word. May these goods be more suitably distributed among
all men and in their own way may they be conducive to universal progress
in human and Christian liberty. Thus, through the members of the Church,
will Christ increasingly illuminate the whole of human society with his
saving light.
Moreover, by uniting their forces, let the laity so remedy the
institutions and conditions of the world when the latter are an
inducement to sin, that these may be conformed to the norms of justice,
favoring rather than hindering the practice of virtue. By so doing they
will impregnate culture and human works with a moral value. In this way
the field of the world is better prepared for the seed of the divine word
and the doors of the Church are opened more widely through which the
message of peace may enter the world.
Because of the very economy of salvation the faithful should learn to
distinguish carefully between the rights and the duties which they have
as belonging to the Church and those which fall to them as members of the
human society. They will strive to unite the two harmoniously,
remembering that in every temporal affair they are to be guided by a
Christian conscience, since not even in temporal business may any human
activity be withdrawn from God's dominion. In our times it is most
necessary that this distinction and harmony should shine forth as clearly
as possible in the manner in which the faithful act, in order that the
mission of the Church may correspond more fully with the special
circumstances of the world today. But just as it must be recognized that
the terrestrial city, rightly concerned with secular affairs, is governed
by its own principles, thus also the ominous doctrine which seeks to
build society with no regard for religion, and attacks and utterly
destroys the religious liberty of its citizens, is rightly to be
rejected.[5]
37. Like all Christians, the laity have the right to receive in abundance
the help of the spiritual goods of the Church, especially that of the
word of God and the sacraments from the pastors.[6] To the latter the
laity should disclose their needs and desires with that liberty and
confidence which befits children of God and brothers of Christ. By reason
of the knowledge, competence or pre-eminence which they have the laity
are empowered--indeed sometimes obliged--to manifest their opinion on
those things which pertain to the good of the Church.[7] If the occasion
should arise this should be done through the institutions established by
the Church for that purpose and always with truth, courage and prudence
and with reverence and charity towards those who, by reason of their
office, represent the person of Christ.
Like all Christians, the laity should promptly accept in Christian
obedience what is decided by the pastors who, as teachers and rulers of
the Church, represent Christ. In this they will follow Christ's example
who, by his obedience unto death, opened the blessed way of the liberty
of the sons of God to all men. Nor should they fail to commend to God in
their prayers those who have been placed over them, who indeed keep watch
as having to render an account of our souls, that they may do this with
joy and not with grief (cf. Heb. 13:17).
The pastors, indeed, should recognize and promote the dignity and
responsibility of the laity in the Church. They should willingly use
their prudent advice and confidently assign duties to them in the service
of the Church, leaving them freedom and scope for acting. Indeed, they
should give them the courage to undertake works on their own initiative.
They should with paternal love consider attentively in Christ initial
moves, suggestions and desires proposed by the laity.[8] Moreover the
pastors must respect and recognize the liberty which belongs to all in
the terrestrial city.
Many benefits for the Church are to be expected from this familiar
relationship between the laity and the pastors. The sense of their own
responsibility is strengthened in the laity, their zeal is encouraged,
they are more ready to unite their energies to the work of their pastors.
The latter, helped by the experience of the laity, are in a position to
judge more clearly and more appropriately in spiritual as well as in
temporal matters. Strengthened by all her members, the Church can thus
more effectively fulfill her mission for the life of the world.
38. Each individual layman must be a witness before the world to the
resurrection and life of the Lord Jesus, and a sign of the living God.
All together, and each one to the best of his ability, must nourish the
world with spiritual fruits (cf. Gal. 5:22). They must diffuse in the
world the spirit which animates those poor, meek and peace-makers whom
the Lord in the Gospel proclaimed blessed (cf. Mt. 5:3-9). In a word:
'what the soul is in the body, let Christians be in the world.'[9]
CHAPTER V: THE CALL TO HOLINESS
39. The Church, whose mystery is set forth by this sacred Council, is
held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because
Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as
"alone holy,"[1] loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for
her so as to sanctify her (cf. Eph 5:25-26); he joined her to himself as
his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory
of God. Therefore all in the Church, whether they belong to the hierarchy
or are cared for by it, are called to holiness, according to the
apostle's saying: 'for this is the will of God, your sanctification' (1
Th. 4:3; cf. Eph. 1:4). This holiness of the Church is constantly shown
forth in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in the faithful
and so it must be; it is expressed in many ways by the individuals who,
each in his own state of life, tend to the perfection of love, thus
sanctifying others; it appears in a certain way of its own in the
practice of the counsels which have been usually called "evangelical."
This practice of the counsels prompted by the Holy Spirit, undertaken by
many Christians whether privately or in a form or state sanctioned by the
Church, gives and should give a striking witness and example of that
holiness.
40. The Lord Jesus, divine teacher and model of all perfection, preached
holiness of life (of which he is the author and maker) to each and every
one of his disciples without distinction: "You, therefore, must be
perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt. 5:48).[2] For he sent
the Holy Spirit to all to move them interiorly to love God with their
whole heart, with their whole soul, with their whole understanding, and
with their whole strength (cf. Mk. 12:30), and to love one another as
Christ loved them (cf. Jn. 13:34; 15:12). The followers of Christ, called
by God not in virtue of their works but by his design and grace, and
justified in the Lord Jesus, have been made sons of God in the baptism of
faith and partakers of the divine nature, and so are truly sanctified.
They must therefore hold on to and perfect in their lives that
sanctification which they have received from God. They are told by the
apostle to live "as is fitting among saints" (Eph. 5:3), and to put on
"as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness,
meekness, and patience" (Col. 3:12), to have the fruits of the Spirit for
their sanctification (cf. Gal. 5:22; Rom. 6:22). But since we all offend
in many ways (cf. Jas. 3:2), we constantly need God's mercy and must pray
every day: "And forgive us our debts" (Mt. 6:12)[3]
It is therefore quite clear that all Christians in any state or walk of
life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection
of love,[4] and by this holiness a more human manner of life is fostered
also in earthly society. In order to reach this perfection the faithful
should use the strength dealt out to them by Christ's gift, so that,
following in his footsteps and conformed to his image, doing the will of
God in everything, they may wholeheartedly devote themselves to the glory
of God and to the service of their neighbor. Thus the holiness of the
People of God will grow in fruitful abundance, as is clearly shown in the
history of the Church through the life of so many saints.
41. The forms and tasks of life are many but holiness is one--that
sanctity which is cultivated by all who act under God's Spirit and,
obeying the Father's voice and adoring God the Father in spirit and in
truth, follow Christ, poor, humble and cross-bearing, that they may
deserve to be partakers of his glory. Each one, however, according to his
own gifts and duties must steadfastly advance along the way of a living
faith, which arouses hope and works through love.
In the first place, the shepherds of Christ's flock, in the image of the
high and eternal priest, shepherd and bishop of our souls, should carry
out their ministry with holiness and eagerness, with humility and
fortitude; thus fulfilled, this ministry will also be for them an
outstanding means of sanctification. Called to the fullness of the
priesthood, they are endowed with a sacramental grace, so that by prayer,
sacrifice and preaching, and through every form of episcopal care and
service, they may fulfill the perfect duty of pastoral love.[5] They
should not be afraid to lay down their life for their sheep and, being a
model to their flock (cf. 1 Pet. 5:3), they must foster a growing
holiness in the Church, also by their own example.
Priests, who resemble the episcopal rank, forming the spiritual crown of
the bishops,[6] partake of their grace of office through Christ the
eternal and only Mediator; they should grow in the love of God and of
their neighbor by the daily exercise of their duty, should keep the bond
of priestly fellowship, should abound in every spiritual good and bear a
living witness of God to all,[7] imitating those priests who, in the
course of centuries, left behind them an outstanding example of holiness,
often in a humble and hidden service. Their praise lives on in God's
Church. They have the duty to pray and offer sacrifice for their people
and for the whole People of God, appreciating what they do and imitating
what they touch with their hands.[8] Rather than be held back by perils
and hardships in their apostolic labors they should rise to greater
holiness, nourishing and fostering their action with an overflowing
contemplation, for the delight of the entire Church of God. Let all
priests, especially those who by special title of ordination are called
diocesan priests, remember that their faithful union and generous
cooperation with their bishop greatly helps their sanctification.
The ministers of lesser rank also partake in a special way of the mission
and grace of the high priest, and in the first place the deacons who,
waiting upon the mysteries of Christ and of the Church,[9] should keep
themselves free from every vice, should please God and give a good
example to all in everything (cf. 1 Tim. 3:8-10 and 12-13). Clerics,
called by the Lord and set aside as his portion and preparing themselves
for the ministerial duties under the watchful eye of the shepherds, are
bound to conform their minds and hearts to such high calling, persevering
in prayer, fervent in love, thinking about whatever is true, just and of
good repute, doing everything for the glory and honor of God. Close to
them are those laymen chosen by God, who are called by the bishop to give
themselves fully to apostolic works, and carry out a very fruitful
activity in the Lord's field.[10]
Christian married couples and parents, following their own way, should
support one another in grace all through life with faithful love, and
should train their children (lovingly received from God) in Christian
doctrine and evangelical virtues. Because in this way they present to all
an example of unfailing and generous love, they build up the brotherhood
of charity, and they stand as witnesses and cooperators of the
fruitfulness of mother Church, as a sign of, and a share in that love
with which Christ loved his bride and gave himself for her.[11] In a
different way, a similar example is given by widows and single people,
who can also greatly contribute to the holiness and activity of the
Church. And those who engage in human work, often of a heavy kind, should
perfect themselves through it, help their fellow-citizens, and promote
the betterment of the whole of human society and the whole of creation;
indeed, with their active charity, rejoicing in hope and bearing one
another's burdens, they should imitate Christ who plied his hands with
carpenter's tools and is always working with the Father for the salvation
of all; and they should rise to a higher sanctity, truly apostolic, by
their everyday work itself.
In a special way also, those who are weighed down by poverty, infirmity,
sickness and other hardships should realize that they are united to
Christ, who suffers for the salvation of the world; let those feel the
same who suffer persecution for the sake of justice, those whom the Lord
declared blessed in the Gospel and whom "the God of all grace, who has
called us to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore,
establish, strengthen and settle" (1 Pet. 5: 10).
Accordingly all Christians, in the conditions, duties and circumstances
of their life and through all these, will sanctify themselves more and
more if they receive all things with faith from the hand of the heavenly
Father and cooperate with the divine will, thus showing forth in that
temporal service the love with which God has loved the world.
42. 'God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides
in him' (1 Jn. 4:16). God has poured out his love in our hearts through
the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (cf. Rom. 5:5); therefore the
first and most necessary gift is charity, by which we love God above all
things and our neighbor because of him. But if charity is to grow and
fructify in the soul like a good seed, each of the faithful must
willingly hear the word of God and carry out his will with deeds, with
the help of his grace; he must frequently partake of the sacraments,
chiefly the Eucharist, and take part in the liturgy; he must constantly
apply himself to prayer, self-denial, active brotherly service and the
practice of all virtues. This is because love, as the bond of perfection
and fullness of the law (cf. Col. 3:14; Rom. 13:10), governs, gives
meaning to, and perfects all the means of sanctification[12] Hence the
true disciple of Christ is marked by love both of God and of his neighbor.
Since Jesus, the Son of God, showed his love by laying down his life for
us, no one has greater love than he who lays down his life for him and
for his brothers (cf. 1 Jn. 3:16, Jn. 15:13). Some Christians have been
called from the beginning, and will always be called, to give this
greatest testimony of love to all, especially to persecutors. Martyrdom
makes the disciple like his master, who willingly accepted death for the
salvation of the world, and through it he is conformed to him by the
shedding of blood. Therefore the Church considers it the highest gift and
supreme test of love. And while it is given to few, all however must be
prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of
the cross amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks.
Likewise the Church's holiness is fostered in a special way by the
manifold counsels which the Lord proposes to his disciples in the Gospel
for them to observe.[13] Towering among these counsels is that precious
gift of divine grace given to some by the Father (cf. Mt. 19:11; 1 Cor.
7:7) to devote themselves to God alone more easily with an undivided
heart (cf. 1 Cor 7:32-34) in virginity or celibacy.[14] This perfect
continence for love of the kingdom of heaven has always been held in high
esteem by the Church as a sign and stimulus of love, and as a singular
source of spiritual fertility in the world.
The Church bears in mind too the apostle's admonition when calling the
faithful to charity and exhorting them to have the same mind which Christ
Jesus showed, who "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant . . .
and became obedient unto death" (Phil. 2:7-8) and for our sakes "became
poor, though he was rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). Since the disciples must always
imitate this love and humility of Christ and bear witness of it, Mother
Church rejoices that she has within herself many men and women who pursue
more closely the Savior's self-emptying and show it forth more clearly,
by undertaking poverty with the freedom of God's sons, and renouncing
their own will: they subject themselves to man for the love of God, thus
going beyond what is of precept in the matter of perfection, so as to
conform themselves more fully to the obedient Christ.[15]
Therefore all the faithful are invited and obliged to holiness and the
perfection of their own state of life. Accordingly let all of them see
that they direct their affections rightly, lest they be hindered in their
pursuit of perfect love by the use of worldly things and by an adherence
to riches which is contrary to the spirit of evangelical poverty,
following the apostle's advice: Let those who use this world not fix
their abode in it, for the form of this world is passing away (cf. 1 Cor.
7:31, Greek text).[16]
CHAPTER VI RELIGIOUS
43. The teaching and example of Christ provide the foundation for the
evangelical counsels of chaste self-dedication to God, of poverty and of
obedience. The Apostles and Fathers of the Church commend them as an
ideal of life, and so do her doctors and pastors. They therefore
constitute a gift of God which the Church has received from her Lord and
which by his grace she always safeguards.
Guided by the Holy Spirit, Church authority has been at pains to give a
right interpretation of the counsels, to regulate their practice, and
also to set up stable forms of living embodying them. From the God-given
seed of the counsels a wonderful and wide-spreading tree has grown up in
the field of the Lord, branching out into various forms of religious life
lived in solitude or in community. Different religious families have come
into existence in which spiritual resources are multiplied for the
progress in holiness of their members and for the good of the entire Body
of Christ.[1]
members of these families enjoy many helps towards holiness of life. They
have a stable and more solidly based way of Christian life. They receive
well-proven teaching on seeking after perfection. They are bound together
in brotherly communion in the army of Christ. Their Christian freedom is
fortified by obedience. Thus they are enabled to live securely and to
maintain faithfully the religious life to which they have pledged
themselves. Rejoicing in spirit they advance on the road of love.[2]
This form of life has its own place in relation to the divine and
hierarchical structure of the Church Not, however, as though it were a
kind of middle way between the clerical and lay conditions of life.
Rather it should be seen as a form of life to which some Christians, both
clerical and lay, are called by God so that they may enjoy a special gift
of grace in the life of the Church and may contribute, each in his own
way, to the saving mission of the Church.[3]
44. The Christian who pledges himself to this kind of life binds himself
to the practice of the three evangelical counsels by vows or by other
sacred ties of a similar nature. He consecrates himself wholly to God,
his supreme love. In a new and special way he makes himself over to God,
to serve and honor him. True, as a baptized Christian he is dead to sin
and dedicated to God; but he desires to derive still more abundant fruit
from the grace of his baptism. For this purpose he makes profession in
the Church of the evangelical counsels. He does so for two reasons:
first, in order to be set free from hindrances that could hold him back
from loving God ardently and worshipping him perfectly, and secondly, in
order to consecrate himself in a more thoroughgoing way to the service of
God.[4] The bonds by which he pledges himself to the practice of the
counsels show forth the unbreakable bond of union that exists between
Christ and his bride the Church. The more stable and firm these bonds
are, then, the more perfect will the Christian's religious consecration
be.
Being means to and instruments of love,[5] the evangelical counsels unite
those who practice them to the Church and her mystery in a special way.
It follows that the spiritual life of such Christians should be dedicated
also to the welfare of the entire Church. To the extent of their
capacities and in keeping with the particular kind of religious life to
which they are individually called, whether it be one of prayer or of
active labor as well, they have the duty of working for the implanting
and strengthening of the kingdom of Christ in souls and for spreading it
to the four corners of the earth. It is for this reason that the
distinctive character of various religious institutes is preserved and
fostered by the Church.
All the members of the Church should unflaggingly fulfill the duties of
their Christian calling. The profession of the evangelical counsels
shines before them as a sign which can and should effectively inspire
them to do so. For the People of God has here no lasting city but seeks
the city which is to come, and the religious state of life, in bestowing
greater freedom from the cares of earthly existence on those who follow
it, simultaneously reveals more clearly to all believers the heavenly
goods which are already present in this age, witnessing to the new and
eternal life which we have acquired through the redemptive work of Christ
and preluding our future resurrection and the glory of the heavenly
kingdom. Furthermore the religious state constitutes a closer imitation
and an abiding reenactment in the Church of the form of life which the
Son of God made his own when he came into the world to do the will of the
Father and which he propounded to the disciples who followed him. Finally
this state manifests in a special way the transcendence of the kingdom of
God and its requirements over all earthly things, bringing home to all
men the immeasurable greatness of the power of Christ in his sovereignty
and the infinite might of the Holy Spirit which works so marvelously in
the Church.
The state of life, then, which is constituted by the profession of the
evangelical counsels, while not entering into the hierarchical structure
of the Church, belongs undeniably to her life and holiness.
45. It is the task of the Church's hierarchy to feed the People of God
and to lead them to good pasture (cf. Ezek. 34:14). Accordingly it is for
the hierarchy to make wise laws for the regulation of the practice of the
counsels whereby the perfect love of God and of our neighbor is fostered
in a unique way.[6] Again, in docile response to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit the hierarchy accepts rules of religious life which are
presented for its approval by outstanding men and women, improves them
further and then officially authorizes them. It uses its supervisory and
protective authority too to ensure that religious institutes established
all over the world for building up the Body of Christ may develop and
flourish in accordance with the spirit of their founders.
With a view to providing better for the needs of the whole of the Lord's
flock and for the sake of the general good, the Pope, as primate over the
entire Church, can exempt any institute of Christian perfection and its
individual members from the jurisdiction of local ordinaries and subject
them to himself alone.[7] Similarly they can be left or entrusted to the
care of the appropriate patriarchal authorities. Members of these
institutes, however, in fulfilling the duty towards the Church inherent
in their particular form of life must show respect and obedience towards
bishops in accordance with canon law, both because these exercise
pastoral authority in their individual churches and because this is
necessary for unity and harmony in the carrying out of apostolic work.[8]
Besides giving legal sanction to the religious form of life and thus
raising it to the dignity of a canonical state, the Church sets it forth
liturgically also as a state of consecration to God. She herself, in
virtue of her God-given authority, receives the vows of those who profess
this form of life, asks aid and grace for them from God in her public
prayer, commends them to God and bestows on them a spiritual blessing,
associating their self-offering with the sacrifice of the Eucharist.
46. Let religious see well to it that the Church truly show forth Christ
through them with every-increasing clarity to believers and unbelievers
alike--Christ in contemplation on the mountain, or proclaiming the
kingdom of God to the multitudes, or healing the sick and maimed and
converting sinners to a good life, or blessing children and doing good to
all men, always in obedience to the will of the Father who sent him.[9]
At the same time let all realize that while the profession of the
evangelical counsels involves the renunciation of goods that undoubtedly
deserve to be highly valued, it does not constitute an obstacle to the
true development of the human person but by its nature is supremely
beneficial to that development. For the counsels, when willingly embraced
in accordance with each one's personal vocation, contribute in no small
degree to the purification of the heart and to spiritual freedom: they
continually stimulate one to ardor in the life of love; and above all
they have the power to conform the Christian man more fully to that kind
of poor and virginal life which Christ the Lord chose for himself and
which his Virgin Mother embraced also. This is proved by the example of
the many holy founders of religious institutes.
Let no one think either that their consecrated way of life alienates
religious from other men or makes them useless for human society. Though
in some cases they have no direct relations with their contemporaries,
still in a deeper way they have their fellow men present with them in the
heart of Christ and cooperate with them spiritually, so that the building
up of human society may always have its foundation in the Lord and have
him as its goal. otherwise those who build it may have labored in
vain.[10]
For this reason, then, this sacred council gives its support and praise
to men and women, brothers and sisters, who in monasteries or in schools
and hospitals or in missions adorn the bride of Christ by the steadfast
and humble fidelity of their consecrated lives and give generous service
of the most varied kinds to all manner of men.
47. Let everyone who has been called to the profession of the counsels
take earnest care to preserve and excel still more in the life in which
God has called him, for the increase of the holiness of the Church, to
the greater glory of the one and undivided Trinity, which in Christ and
through Christ is the source and origin of all holiness.
CHAPTER VII THE PILGRIM CHURCH
48. The Church, to which we are all called in Christ Jesus, and in which
by the grace of God we acquire holiness, will receive its perfection only
in the glory of heaven, when will come the time of the renewal of all
things (Acts 3:21). At that time, together with the human race, the
universe itself, which is so closely related to man and which attains its
destiny through him, will be perfectly reestablished in Christ (cf. Eph.
1:10; Col. 1:20; 2 Pet. 3:10-13).
Christ lifted up from the earth, has drawn all men to himself (cf. Jn.
12:32). Rising from the dead (cf. Rom. 6:9) he sent his life-giving
Spirit upon his disciples and through him set up his Body which is the
Church as the universal sacrament of salvation. Sitting at the right hand
of the Father he is continually active in the world in order to lead men
to the Church and, through it, join them more closely to himself; and, by
nourishing them with his own Body and Blood, make them partakers of his
glorious life. The promised and hoped for restoration, therefore, has
already begun in Christ. It is carried forward in the sending of the Holy
Spirit and through him continues in the Church in which, through our
faith, we learn the meaning of our earthly life, while we bring to term,
with hope of future good, the task allotted to us in the world by the
Father, and so work out our salvation (cf. Phil. 2:12).
Already the final age of the world is with us (cf. 1 Cor. 10:11) and the
renewal of the world is irrevocably under way- it is even now anticipated
in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a
sanctity that is real though imperfect. However, until there be realized
new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells (cf. 2 Pet. 3:13) the
pilgrim Church, in its sacraments and institutions, which belong to this
present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she
herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet
and await the revelation of the sons of God (cf. Rom. 8: 19-22).
So it is, united with Christ in the Church and marked with the Holy
Spirit "who is the guarantee of our inheritance" (Eph. 1:14) that we are
truly called and indeed are children of God (cf. 1 Jn. 3:1) though we
have not yet appeared with Christ in glory (cf. Col 3:4) in which we will
be like to God, for we will see him as he is (cf. 1 Jn. 3:2). "While we
are at home in the body we are away from the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:6) and
having the first fruits of the Spirit we groan inwardly (cf. Rom. 8:23)
and we desire to be with Christ (cf. Phil. 1:23). That same charity urges
us to live more for him who died for us and who rose again (cf. 2 Cor.
5:15). We make it our aim, then, to please the Lord in all things (cf. 2
Cor. 5:9) and we put on the armor of God that we may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil and resist in the evil day (cf. Eph.
6:11-13). Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow
the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single
course of our earthly life is completed (cf. Heb. 9:27), we may merit to
enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed
(cf. Mt. 25:31-46) and not, like the wicked and slothful servants (cf.
Mt. 25:26), be ordered to depart into the eternal fire (cf. Mt. 25:41),
into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth" (Mt.
22:13 and 25:30). Before we reign with Christ in glory we must all appear
"before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or
evil, according to what he has done in the body" (2 Cor. 5:10), and at
the end of the world "they will come forth, those who have done good, to
the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the
resurrection of judgment" (Jn. 5:29; cf. Mt. 25:46). We reckon then that
"the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the
glory that is to be revealed to us" (Rom. 8:18; cf. 2 Tim. 2:11-12), and
strong in faith we look for "the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory
of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Tit. 2:13) "who will change
our lowly body to be like his glorious body" (Phil. 3:21) and who will
come "to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who
have believed" (2 Th. 1:10).
49. When the Lord will come in glory, and all his angels with him (cf.
Mt. 25:31), death will be no more and all things will be subject to him
(cf. 1 Cor. 15:26-27). But at the present time some of his disciples are
pilgrims on earth Others have died and are being purified, while still
others are in glory, contemplating "in full light, God himself triune and
one, exactly as he is."[1] All of us, however, in varying degrees and in
different ways share in the same charity towards God and our neighbors,
and we all sing the one hymn of glory to our God. All, indeed, who are
of Christ and who have his Spirit form one Church and in Christ cleave
together (Eph. 4:16). so it is that the union of the wayfarers with the
brethren who sleep in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted, but
on the contrary, according to the constant faith of the Church, this
union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods.[2] Being more
closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church
more firmly in holiness, add to the nobility of the worship that the
Church offers to God here on earth, and in many ways help in a broader
building up of the Church (cf. 1 Cor. 12:12-27).[3] Once received into
their heavenly home and being present to the Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 5:8),
through him and with him and in him they do not cease to intercede with
the Father for us,[4] as they proffer the |
