144.Bishops, established by the Holy Spirit, succeed the apostles.

Bishops, established by the Holy Spirit, succeed the apostles.

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Faith Lesson 144

Ave Maria series

144  What is the task of the bishops?

Bishops have responsibility for the local Church that is entrusted to them and a share in the responsibility for the whole Church.  They exercise their authority in communion with one another and for the benefit of the whole Church under the leadership of the Pope.  [886-887, 893-896, 938-939]

Bishop James Powers (center) is the bishop of the Diocese of Superior Catholic Church which includes Rhinelander, my residence since 1971. …..144

Bishops must first of all be apostles—faithful witnesses of Jesus, who personally called them to follow him and then sent them.  So they bring Christ to mankind and mankind to Christ.  This happens through their preaching, the celebration of the sacraments, and their governance of the Church.  As a successor of the apostles, a bishop exercises his ministry by virtue of his own apostolic authority; he is not an agent or a sort of assistant to the Pope.  Yet he acts with and under the Pope.

“He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”  Luke 10:16

[886-887, 893-896, 938-939]

The episcopal college and its head, the Pope

886 "The individual bishops are the visible source and foundation of unity in their own particular Churches."(Lumen gentium 23)⁴⁰⁸   As such, they "exercise their pastoral office over the portion of the People of God assigned to them,"( Lumen gentium 23)⁴⁰⁹  assisted by priests and deacons. But, as a member of the episcopal college, each bishop shares in the concern for all the Churches.(compare Christus Dominus 3)⁴¹⁰  The bishops exercise this care first "by ruling well their own Churches as portions of the universal Church," and so contributing "to the welfare of the whole Mystical Body, which, from another point of view, is a corporate body of Churches."( Lumen gentium 23)⁴¹¹  They extend it especially to the poor,(compare Galatians 2:10)⁴¹² to those persecuted for the faith, as well as to missionaries who are working throughout the world. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

887 Neighboring particular Churches who share the same culture form ecclesiastical provinces or larger groupings called patriarchates or regions.(compare Apostolic Constitutions 34)⁴¹³  The bishops of these groupings can meet in synods or provincial councils. "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."(Lumen gentium 23)⁴¹⁴ –CCC

The sanctifying office

893 The bishop is "the steward of the grace of the supreme priesthood,"( Lumen gentium 23)⁴²³ especially in the Eucharist which he offers personally or whose offering he assures through the priests, his co-workers. The Eucharist is the center of the life of the particular Church. The bishop and priests sanctify the Church by their prayer and work, by their ministry of the word and of the sacraments. They sanctify her by their example, "not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock."(1 Peter 5:3)⁴²⁴  Thus, "together with the flock entrusted to them, they may attain to eternal life."( Lumen gentium 23)⁴²⁵ –CCC

The governing office

894 "The bishops, as vicars and legates of Christ, govern the particular Churches assigned to them by their counsels, exhortations, and example, but over and above that also by the authority and sacred power" which indeed they ought to exercise so as to edify, in the spirit of service which is that of their Master.(Lumen gentium 27; compare Luke 22:26-27)⁴²⁶ --CCC

895 "The 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."(Lumen gentium 27)⁴²⁷  But the bishops should not be thought of as vicars of the Pope. His ordinary and immediate authority over the whole Church does not annul, but on the contrary confirms and defends that of the bishops. Their authority must be exercised in communion with the whole Church under the guidance of the Pope.—CCC

896 The Good Shepherd ought to be the model and "form" of the bishop's pastoral office. Conscious of his own weaknesses, "the bishop . . . can have compassion for those who are ignorant and erring. He should not refuse to listen to his subjects whose welfare he promotes as of his very own children. . . . The faithful . . . should be closely attached to the bishop as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to the Father"(Lumen gentium 27 § 2)⁴²⁸ —CCC

IN BRIEF

938 The Bishops, established by the Holy Spirit, succeed the apostles. They are "the visible source and foundation of unity in their own particular Churches" (Lumen gentium 23).--CCC

939 Helped by the priests, their co-workers, and by the deacons, the bishops have the duty of authentically teaching the faith, celebrating divine worship, above all the Eucharist, and guiding their Churches as true pastors. Their responsibility also includes concern for all the Churches, with and under the Pope.—CCC

Bishop James Powers