Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

 Sorry you see it that way.  I've seen it in some mainstream churches, but
 most fundamentalist churches that I know of are just the opposite, wanting
 few, if any, ties to society.




 Jim

    .1
    
    But isolationism is not what I'm talking about, Jim.  I'm talking
    about dismissing, ignoring, rationalizing, spiritualizing or watering
    down the teachings of Jesus to make them palatable.
    
    Shalom,
    Richard
    

      I think when the full gospel is 'come upon' by a group.
      it will be rejected by all institutions.  The remnant that
      'follows on to know the Lord' will appear much as the sect
      did just after the cross event.
    
    						Tony

 
I see what you are saying Richard, and I agree (though I suspect we would
disagree on why I agree with you.




 Jim

    Richard:
    
    You're leaving the church would only weaken the institution further. 
    
    I do believe however that the Church will ultimately be victorious. 
    See below:
    
    "And I say to you thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my
    church.  And the gates of hell shall not stand up to it."
    
    Back in the days of old, the gate of a fortress had the best defense,
    the best soldiers because the gate was the most vulnerable.  Jesus is
    saying here that the best of the netherworld will be thwarted.
    
    -Jack

    in my opinion there is a big difference between the spiritual church and 
    the institutional church[es] in general.   

    I don't believe spirit can ever be separate from body.
    
    There is no spiritual church separate from the body of believers!
    
    

    ZZ    I don't believe spirit can ever be separate from body.
      
    Ask your Old Testament Professor what she thinks of this.  I'd be
    interested in what she has to say.  If you read the accounts of the
    deaths of David, Abraham, Hezekiah, and other Kings, you will always
    see a phrase such as  "And Abraham died at a ripe old age and was
    gathered to his people."  He was buried and yet scripoture tells us he
    was gathered to his people.  Again, I would be curious as to how your
    professor would answer that.  
     
    By the way, the reference is Genesis 25:8.
      
   ZZ     There is no spiritual church separate from the body of believers!
    
    I agree with that.  I do however believe there is One church and is
    comprised of all believers in Jesus Christ throughout the world.  
    Denominations were mankind's idea.
    
    -Jack

    Given my Old Testament teacher is a woman, I would assume she would
    agree with the statement that there can be no separation of Body and
    Spirit.
    
    Given, I don't have a need for an external authority figure telling me
    what to believe, it really is irrelevent anyways.
    
    Since you do have a need for Biblical authority, reread 1 Corinthian
    15.  Even Paul, in his battle against gnosticism preaches the union of
    body and spirit.  He does discuss the transformation from physical body
    to spiritual body, but this is very different than the separation of
    body and spirit.

    >There is no spiritual church separate from the body of believers!
    
    But there is a spiritual church seperate from the institutional church.

 ZZ   Given, I don't have a need for an external authority figure telling
 ZZ   me what to believe, it really is irrelevent anyways.
    
    I didn't say for you to believe what she tells you.  I suggested you
    ask her what she believes...considering she is your professor and you
    paid her for her expertise.  If you are really serious about learning,
    then you will broaden your mind to the possibility of new
    thinking...and that your doctrines might not be correct.  Otherwise,
    what's the point in going to school and putting yourself under the
    scrutiny of a professor?
    
    -Jack

    
    Re.8
    
    Jack,
    
    Suggestion for promoting the cause of inclusivity, rather than a
    male-only religion and world:
    
    >Denominations were humankind's idea
                        ^^^^^^^^^
    
    Note that I'm not suggesting to change it to Womankind or 
    Childrenkind, but rather to something that includes everybody.
    
    Cindy

    Now Cindy....we've been through this before...remember??
    
    That whole thing about bastardizing the English language for Political
    Correctness purposes...
    
    I know it's been a while since we bantered on that AWoman thing and
    can't remember whether or not it got resolved.  Therefore, I will
    acquiesce gladly if you can answer this question.
    
    The root of the word man...as used in fireman, chairman, mailman, etc.
    comes from the German root word, "mon" and is not gender specific.  Am
    I correct in saying this and if not I will gladly change it to
    humankind.  
    
    Correction, I will acquiesce.  I just looked up the word humankind and
    it is recognized as an accurate portryal of the human race.  I
    apologize and thank you for pointing it out to me.
    
    -Jack
    

    Man:   It is mankind's idea.
    
    Woman:  I don't feel included when you use mankind.
    
    Man:  I don't care.  How many times have I told you womankind are
          included within mankind.

    re .10
    
    
    I agree.
    
    There are two different definitions the the phrase "The Church".  Both
    are radically different.
    
    a.  The institutional church or group of institutional churches.
    b.  the collective union of all people holding an affiliation with the
    particular believes.  i.e. followers of Jesus.
    
    I would define the real church as b.  The union of believers.
    
    I define the Catholic Church as the union of all people who consider
    themselves Catholic.

.10

>    But there is a spiritual church seperate from the institutional church.

This has been my experience as well.  Though I would have said there is a
spiritual church distinctive from the institutional church.

My mind isn't entirely made up about parting with the institutional church.
I will give it some time and prayer.

Richard

    >I would define the real church as b.  The union of believers.
    
    I agree. I do not make a judgment on someone who is a member of an 
    institutional church The church would have to be examined in an individual
    case -- I can't just go by the name on the building. 
    But the act of just attending and being a member (and doing nothing
    else) is meaningless to me.
    Christ did say "My kingdom is not of this world".    
    

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).

All 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.

    Boy am I glad that all these weighty documents entered by John C only
    apply to "men"

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 III: 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]

"Men" includes you, Patricia.

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 merits which they acquired on
earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus (cf. 1 Tim.
2:5), serving God in all things and completing in their flesh what is
lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his Body, that is, the
Church (cf. Col. 1:24).[5] So by their brotherly concern is our weakness
greatly helped.

50. In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of
Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days
of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the
dead;[6] and, "because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the
dead that they may be loosed from their sins" (2 Mac. 12:46) she offers her
suffrages for them. The Church has always believed that the apostles and
Christ's martyrs, who gave the supreme witness of faith and charity by the
shedding of their blood, are closely united with us in Christ; she has
always venerated them, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and the holy
angels, with a special love,[7] and has asked piously for the help of their
intercession. Soon there were added to these others who had chosen to
imitate more closely the virginity and poverty of Christ,[8] and still
others whom the outstanding practice of the Christian virtues[9] and the
wonderful graces of God recommended to the pious devotion and imitation of
the faithful.[10]

To look on the life of those who have faithfully followed Christ is to be
inspired with a new reason for seeking the city which is to come (cf. Heb.
13:14 and 11:10), while at the same time we are taught to know a most safe
path by which, despite the vicissitudes of the world, and in keeping with
the state of life and condition proper to each of us, we will be able to
arrive at perfect union with Christ, that is, holiness.[11] God shows to
men, in a vivid way, his presence and his face in the lives of those
companions of ours in the human condition who are more perfectly transformed
into the image of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18). He speaks to us in them and
offers us a sign of this kingdom,[12] to which we are powerfully attracted,
so great a cloud of witnesses is there given (cf. Heb. 12:1) and such a
witness to the truth of the Gospel.

It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those
in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of
fraternal charity the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be
strengthened (cf. Eph. 4:1-6). Exactly as Christian communion between men on
their earthly pilgrimage brings us closer to Christ, so our community with
the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head
issues all grace and the life of the People of God itself.[13] It is most
fitting, therefore, that we love those friends and co-heirs of Jesus Christ
who are also our brothers and outstanding benefactors, and that we give due
thanks to God for them,[14] "humbly invoking them, and having recourse to
their prayers, their aid and help in obtaining from God through his Son,
Jesus Christ, Our Lord, our only Redeemer and Savior, the benefits we
need."[15] Every authentic witness of love, indeed, offered by us to those
who are in heaven tends to and terminates in Christ, "the crown of all the
saints,"[16] and through him in God who is wonderful in his saints and is
glorified in them.[17]

It is especially in the sacred liturgy that our union with the heavenly
Church is best realized; in the liturgy, through the sacramental signs, the
power of the Holy Spirit acts on us, and with community rejoicing we
celebrate together the praise of the divine majesty,[18] when all those of
every tribe and tongue and people and nation (cf. Apoc. 5:9)- who have been
redeemed by the blood of Christ and gathered together into one Church
glorify, in one common song of praise, the one and triune God. When, then,
we celebrate the eucharistic sacrifice we are most closely united to the
worship of the heavenly Church; when in the fellowship of communion we honor
and remember the glorious Mary ever virgin, St Joseph, the holy apostles and
martyrs and all the saints.[19]

51. This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors
in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers who are in
the glory of heaven or who are yet being purified after their death- and it
proposes again the decrees of the Second Council of Nicea,[20] of the
Council of Florence,[21] and of the Council of Trent.[22] At the same time,
in keeping with its pastoral preoccupations, this council urges all
concerned to remove or correct any abuses, excesses or defects which may
have crept in here or there, and so restore all things that Christ and God
be more fully praised. Let us teach the faithful, therefore, that the
authentic cult of the saints does not, consist so much in a multiplicity of
external acts, but rather in a more intense practice of our love, whereby,
for our own greater good and that of the Church, we seek from the saints
"example in their way of life, fellowship in their communion, and the help
of their intercession."[23] On the other hand, let the faithful be taught
that our communion with these in heaven, provided that it is understood in
the full light of faith, in no way diminishes the worship of adoration given
to God the Father, through Christ, in the Spirit; on the contrary, it
greatly enriches it.[24]

For if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the Most Holy
Trinity--all of us who are sons of God and form one family in Christ (cf.
Heb. 3:6)--we will be faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church and
will share in a foretaste of the liturgy of perfect glory.[25] At the hour
when Christ will appear, when the glorious resurrection of the dead will
occur, the glory of God will light up the heavenly city, and the Lamb will
be its lamp (cf. Apoc. 21:24). Then the whole Church of the saints in the
supreme happiness of charity will adore God and "the Lamb who was slain"
(Apoc. 5:12), proclaiming with one voice: "To him who sits upon the throne
and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever'
(Apoc. 5:13-14).

CHAPTER VIII: OUR LADY

I. INTRODUCTION

52. Wishing in his supreme goodness and wisdom to effect the redemption of
the world, "when the fullness of time came, God sent his Son, born of a
woman . . . that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Gal. 4:4). "He for
us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnated by
the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary."[1] This divine mystery of salvation
is revealed to us and continued in the Church, which the Lord established as
his body. Joined to Christ the head and in communion with all his saints,
the faithful must in the first place reverence the memory "of the glorious
ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ."[2]

53. The Virgin Mary, who at the message of the angel received the Word of
God in her heart and in her body and gave Life to the world, is acknowledged
and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer. Redeemed,
in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son and united to
him by a close and indissoluble tie, she is endowed with the high office and
dignity of the Mother of the Son of God, and therefore she is also the
beloved daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of
this gift of sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in heaven
and on earth. But, being of the race of Adam, she is at the same time also
united to all those who are to be saved; indeed, "she is clearly the mother
of the members of Christ . . . since she has by her charity joined in
bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its
head."[3] Wherefore she is hailed as pre-eminent and as a wholly unique
member of the Church, and as its type and outstanding model in faith and
charity. The Catholic Church taught by the Holy Spirit, honors charity. The
Catholic Church taught by the Holy Spirit, honors her with filial affection
and devotion as a most beloved mother.

54. Wherefore this sacred synod, while expounding the doctrine on the
Church, in which the divine Redeemer brings about our salvation, intends to
set forth painstakingly both the role of the Blessed Virgin in the mystery
of the Incarnate Word and the Mystical Body, and the duties of the redeemed
towards the Mother of God, who is mother of Christ and mother of men, and
most of all those who believe. It does not, however, intend to give a
complete doctrine on Mary, nor does it wish to decide those questions which
the work of theologians has not yet fully clarified. Those opinions
therefore may be lawfully retained which are propounded in Catholic schools
concerning her, who occupies a place in the Church which is the highest
after Christ and also closest to us.[4]

II. THE FUNCTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN THE PLAN OF SALVATION

55. The sacred writings of the Old and New Testaments, as well as venerable
tradition, show the role of the Mother of the Savior in the plan of
salvation in an ever clearer light and call our attention to it The books of
the Old Testament describe the history of salvation, by which the coming of
Christ into the world was slowly prepared. The earliest documents, as they
are read in the Church and are understood in the light of a further and full
revelation, bring the figure of a woman, Mother of the Redeemer, into a
gradually clearer light. Considered in this light, she is already
prophetically foreshadowed in the promise of victory over the serpent which
was given to our first parents after their fall into sin (cf. Gen 3:15).
Likewise she is the virgin who shall conceive and bear a son, whose name
shall be called Emmanuel (cf. Is. 8:14; Mic. 5:2-3; Mt. 1:22-23). She stands
out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and
receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are
fulfilled in her, the exhalted Daughter of Sion and the new plan of
salvation is established, when the Son of God has taken human nature from
her, that he might in the mysteries of his flesh free man from sin.

56. The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by
assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a
share in bringing about death, so also a woman should contribute to life.
This is preeminently true of the Mother of Jesus, who gave to the world the
Life that renews all things, and who was enriched by God with gifts
appropriate to such a role. It is no wonder then that it was customary for
the Fathers to refer to the Mother of God as all holy and free from every
stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new
creature.[5] Enriched from the first instant of her conception with the
splendor of an entirely unique holiness, the virgin of Nazareth is hailed by
the heralding angel, by divine command, as "full of grace" (cf. Lk. 1:38),
and to the heavenly messenger she replies: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
be it done unto me according to thy word" (Lk. 1:38). Thus the daughter of
Adam, Mary, consenting to the word of God, became the Mother of Jesus.
Committing herself wholeheartedly and impeded by no sin to God's saving
will, she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person
and work of her Son, under and with him, serving the mystery of redemption,
by the grace of Almighty God. Rightly, therefore, the Fathers see Mary not
merely as passively engaged by God, but as freely cooperating in the work of
man's salvation through faith and obedience. For, as St Irenaeus says, she
"being obedient, became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole
human race."[6] Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert with him
in their preaching: "the knot of Eve's disobedience was united by Mary's
obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by
her faith."[7] Comparing Mary with Eve, they call her "Mother of the
living,"[8] and frequently claim: "death through Eve, life through Mary."[9]

57. This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made
manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death;
first when Mary, arising in haste to go to visit Elizabeth, is greeted by
her as blessed because of her belief in the promise of salvation and the
precursor leaped with joy in the womb of his mother (cf. Lk. 1:41-45); then
also at the birth of Our Lord, who did not diminish his mother's virginal
integrity but sanctified it,[10] the Mother of God joyfully showed her
firstborn son to the shepherds and the Magi: when she presented him to the
Lord in the temple, making the offering of the poor, she heard Simeon
foretelling at the same time that her Son would be a sign of contradiction
and that a sword would pierce the mother's soul, that out of many hearts
thoughts might be revealed (cf. Lk. 2:34-35); when the child Jesus was lost
and they had sought him sorrowing, his parents found him in the temple,
engaged in the things that were his Father's, and they did not understand
the words of their Son. His mother, however, kept all these things to be
pondered in her heart (cf. Lk. 2:41-5l).

58. In the public life of Jesus Mary appears prominently; at the very
beginning when at the marriage feast of Cana, moved with pity, she brought
about by her intercession the beginning of miracles of Jesus the Messiah
(cf. Jn. 2:1-11). In the course of her Son's preaching she received the
words whereby, in extolling a kingdom beyond the concerns and ties of flesh
and blood, he declared blessed those who heard and kept the word of God (cf.
Mk. 3:35; par. Lk. 11:27-27) as she was faithfully doing (cf. Lk. 2:19; 51).
Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully
persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in
keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the
intensity of his suffering, associated herself with his sacrifice in her
mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim
which was born of her. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying
on the cross as a mother to his disciple, with these words: "Woman, behold
thy son" (Jn. 19:26-27).[11]

59. But since it had pleased God not to manifest solemnly the mystery of the
salvation of the human race before he would pour forth the Spirit promised
by Christ, we see the apostles before the day of Pentecost "persevering with
one mind in prayer with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with his
brethren" (Acts 1:14), and we also see Mary by her prayers imploring the
gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation.
Finally the Immaculate Virgin preserved free from all stain of original
sin,[12] was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory,[13] when her
earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things,
that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords,
(cf. Apoc. 19:16) and conqueror of sin and death.[14]

III. THE BLESSED VIRGIN AND THE CHURCH

60. In the words of the apostle there is but one mediator: "for there is but
one God and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
himself a redemption for all" (1 Tim. 2:5-6). But Mary's function as mother
of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but
rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men
originates not in any inner necessity but in the disposition of God. It
flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his
mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it. It does
not hinder in any way the immediate union of the faithful with Christ but on
the contrary fosters it.

61. The predestination of the Blessed Virgin as Mother of God was associated
with the incarnation of the divine word: in the designs of divine Providence
she was the gracious mother of the divine Redeemer here on earth, and above
all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid
of the Lord. She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ, she
presented him to the Father in the temple, shared her Son's sufferings as he
died on the cross. Thus, in a wholly singular way she cooperated by her
obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Savior in
restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us
in the order of grace.

62. This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly
from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she
sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment
of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving
office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of
eternal salvation.[15] By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren
of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and
difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home. Therefore the
Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate,
Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.[16] This, however, is so understood
that it neither takes away anything from nor adds anything to the dignity
and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator.[17]

No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and
Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways
both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is
radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation
of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold
cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source.

The Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary, which
it constantly experiences and recommends to the heartfelt attention of the
faithful, so that encouraged by this maternal help they may the more closely
adhere to the Mediator and Redeemer.

63. By reason of the gift and role of her divine motherhood, by which she is
united with her Son, the Redeemer, and with her unique graces and functions,
the Blessed Virgin is also intimately united to the Church. As St. Ambrose
taught, the Mother of God is a type of the Church in the order of faith,
charity, and perfect union with Christ.[18] For in the mystery of the
Church, which is itself rightly called mother and virgin, the Blessed Virgin
stands out in eminent and singular fashion as exemplar both of virgin and
mother.[19] Through her faith and obedience she gave birth on earth to the
very Son of the Father, not through the knowledge of man but by the
overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, in the manner of a new Eve who placed her
faith, not in the serpent of old but in God's messenger without waivering in
doubt. The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first
born among many brethren (Rom. 8:29), that is, the faithful, in whose
generation and formation she cooperates with a mother's love.

64. The Church indeed contemplating her hidden sanctity, imitating her
charity and faithfully fulfilling the Father's will, by receiving the word
of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and baptism she
brings forth sons, who are conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of God, to
a new and immortal life. She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety
and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse. Imitating the mother of her
Lord, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, she keeps intact faith, firm hope
and sincere charity.[20]

65. But while in the most Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that
perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle (cf. Eph. 5:27), the
faithful still strive to conquer sin and increase in holiness. And so they
turn their eyes to Mary who shines forth to the whole community of the elect
as the model of virtues. Devoutly meditating on her and contemplating her in
the light of the Word made man, the Church reverently penetrates more deeply
into the great mystery of the Incarnation and becomes more and more like her
spouse. Having entered deeply into the history of salvation, Mary, in a way,
unites in her person and re-echoes the most important doctrines of the
faith: and when she is the subject of preaching and worship she prompts the
faithful to come to her Son, to his sacrifice and to the love of the Father.
Seeking after the glory of Christ, the Church becomes more like her lofty
type, and continually progresses in faith, hope and charity, seeking and
doing the will of God in all things. The Church, therefore, in her apostolic
work too, rightly looks to her who gave birth to Christ, who was thus
conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, in order that through the
Church he could be born and increase in the hearts of the faithful. In her
life the Virgin has been a model of that motherly love with which all who
join in the Church's apostolic mission for the regeneration of mankind
should be animated.

IV. THE CULT OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN THE CHURCH

66. Mary has by grace been exalted above all angels and men to a place
second only to her Son, as the most holy mother of God who was involved in
the mysteries of Christ: she is rightly honored by a special cult in the
Church. From the earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honored under the
title of Mother of God, whose protection the faithful take refuge together
in prayer in all their perils and needs.[21] Accordingly, following the
Council of Ephesus, there was a remarkable growth in the cult of the People
of God towards Mary, in veneration and love, in invocation and imitation,
according to her own prophetic words: "all generations shall call me
blessed, because he that is mighty hath done great things to me" (Lk. 1:48).
This cult, as it has always existed in the Church, for all its uniqueness,
differs essentially from the cult of adoration, which is offered equally to
the Incarnate Word and to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and it is most
favorable to it. The various forms of piety towards the Mother of God, which
the Church has approved within the limits of sound and orthodox doctrine,
according to the dispositions and understanding of the faithful, ensure that
while the mother is honored, the Son through whom all things have their
being (cf. Col. 1:15-16) and in whom it has pleased the Father that all
fullness should dwell (cf. Col. 1:19) is rightly known, loved and glorified
and his commandments are observed.

67. The sacred synod teaches this Catholic doctrine advisedly and at the
same time admonishes all the sons of the Church that the cult, especially
the liturgical cult, of the Blessed Virgin, be generously fostered, and that
the practices and exercises of devotion towards her, recommended by the
teaching authority of the Church in the course of centuries be highly
esteemed, and that those decrees, which were given in the early days
regarding the cult images of Christ, the Blessed Virgin and the saints, be
religiously observed.[22] But it strongly urges theologians and preachers of
the word of God to be careful to refrain as much from all false exaggeration
as from too summary an attitude in considering the special dignity of the
Mother of God.[23] Following the study of Sacred Scripture, the Fathers, the
doctors and liturgy of the Church, and under the guidance of the Church's
magisterium, let them rightly illustrate the duties and privileges of the
Blessed Virgin which always refer to Christ, the source of all truth,
sanctity, and devotion. Let them carefully refrain from whatever might by
word or deed lead the separated brethren or any others whatsoever into error
about the true doctrine of the Church. Let the faithful remember moreover
that true devotion consists neither in sterile or transitory affection, nor
in a certain vain credulity, but proceeds from true faith, by which we are
led to recognize the excellence of the Mother of God, and we are moved to a
filial love towards our mother and to the imitation of her virtues.

V. MARY, SIGN OF TRUE HOPE AND COMFORT FOR THE PILGRIM PEOPLE OF GOD

68. In the meantime the Mother of Jesus in the glory which she possesses in
body and soul in heaven is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to
be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth, until
the day of the Lord shall come (cf. 2 Pet. 3:10), a sign of certain hope and
comfort to the pilgrim People of God.

69. It gives great joy and comfort to this sacred synod that among the
separated brethren too there are those who give due honor to the Mother of
Our Lord and Savior, especially among the Easterns, who with devout mind and
fervent impulse give honor to the Mother of God, ever virgin.[24] The entire
body of the faithful pours forth urgent supplications to the Mother of God
and of men that she, who aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers,
may now, exalted as she is above all the angels and saints, intercede before
her Son in the fellowship of all the saints, until all families of people,
whether they are honored with the title of Christian or whether they still
do not know the Savior, may be happily gathered together in peace and
harmony into one People of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided
Trinity.

         
    > Boy am I glad that all these weighty documents entered by John C only
    > apply to "men"

    But the church is "she." So you see, the Roman Catholic church is run
    by feminists after all.

    Eric

APPENDIX ANNOUNCEMENT MADE BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE COUNCIL AT THE
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THIRD GENERAL CONGREGATION 16 NOVEMBER, 1964

A query has been made as to what is the theological qualification to be
attached to the teaching put forward in the schema The Church, on which a
vote is to be taken.

The doctrinal commission has replied to this query in appraising the modi
proposed to the third chapter of the schema The Church:

As is self-evident, the conciliar text is to be interpreted in accordance
with the general rules which are known to all. On this occasion the
doctrinal commission referred to its Declaration of 6 March, 1964, which we
reproduce here:

Taking into account conciliar practice and the pastoral purpose of the
present council, the sacred synod defined as binding on the Church only
those matters of faith and morals which it has expressly put forward as
such.

Whatever else it proposes as the teaching of the supreme magisterium of the
Church is to be acknowledged and accepted by each and every member of the
faithful according to the mind of the Council which is clear from the
subject matter and its formulation, following the norms of theological
interpretation.

The following explanatory note prefixed to the modi of chapter three of the
schema The Church is given to the Fathers, and it is according to the mind
and sense of this note that the teaching contained in chapter three is to be
explained and understood.

PRELIMINARY EXPLANATORY NOTE

The commission has decided to preface its assessment of the modi with the
following general observations.

1. The word College is not taken in the strictly juridical sense, that is as
a group of equals who transfer their powers to their chairman, but as a
permanent body whose form and authority is to be ascertained from
revelation. For this reason it is explicitly said about the twelve apostles
in the reply to modus 12 that Our Lord constituted them "as a college or
permanent group" (cf. modus 53, c). In the same way the words Order or Body
are used at other times for the college of bishops. The parallel between
Peter and the apostles on the one hand and the Pope and the bishops on the
other does not imply the transmission of the extraordinary power of the
apostles to their successors, nor obviously does it imply equality between
the head and members of the college, but only a proportion between the two
relationships: Peter--apostles and pope--bishops. And therefore the
commission decided to write in Art. 22 not "in the same manner" (eadem
ratione) but "in like manner" (pari ratione).

2. A man becomes a member of the college through episcopal consecration and
hierarchical communion with the head of the college and its members (cf.
art. 22, end of par. 1).

It is the unmistakable teaching of tradition, including liturgical
tradition, that an ontological share in the sacred functions is given by
consecration. The word function is deliberately used in preference to powers
which can have the sense of power ordered to action. A canonical or
juridical determination through hierarchical authority is required for such
power ordered to action. A determination of this kind can come about through
appointment to a particular office or the assignment of subjects, and is
conferred according to norms approved by the supreme authority. The need for
a further norm follows from the nature of the case, because it is a question
of functions to be discharged by more than one subject, who work together in
the hierarchy of functions intended by Christ. "Communion" of this kind was
in fact a feature abiding in the varying circumstances of the life of the
Church through the ages, before it was endorsed and codified by law.

For this reason it is expressly stated that hierarchical communion with the
head and members is required. The idea of communion was highly valued in the
early Church, as indeed it is today especially in the East. It is not to be
understood as some vague sort of goodwill, but as something organic which
calls for a juridical structure as well as being enkindled by charity. The
commission, therefore, agreed, almost unanimously, on the wording "in
hierarchical communion" (cf. modus 40 and the statements about canonical
mission in art.24).

The documents of recent Popes dealing with episcopal jurisdiction are to be
interpreted as referring to this necessary determination of powers.

3. There is no such thing as the college without its head: it is "The
subject of supreme and entire power over the whole Church." This much must
be acknowledged lest the fullness of the Pope's power be jeopardized. The
idea of college necessarily and at all times involves a head and in the
college the head preserves intact his function as Vicar of Christ and pastor
of the universal Church. In other words it is not a distinction between the
Roman Pontiff and the bishops taken together but between the Roman Pontiff
by himself and the Roman Pontiff along with the bishops. The Pope alone, in
fact, being head of the college, is qualified to perform certain actions in
which the bishops have no competence whatsoever, for example, the
convocation and direction of the college, approval of the norms of its
activity, and so on (cf. modus 18). It is for the Pope, to whom the care of
the whole flock of Christ has been entrusted, to decide the best manner of
implementing this care, either personal or collegiate, in order to meet the
changing needs of the Church in the course of time. The Roman Pontiff
undertakes the regulation, encouragement, and approval of the exercise of
collegiality as he sees fit.

4. The Pope, as supreme pastor of the Church, may exercise his power at any
time, as he sees fit, by reason of the demands of his office. But as the
Church's tradition attests, the college, although it is always in existence,
is not for that reason continually engaged in strictly collegiate activity.
In other words it is not always "in full activity" (in actu pleno); in fact
it is only occasionally that it engages in strictly collegiate activity and
that only with the consent of the head (nonnisi consentiente capite). The
phrase with the consent of the head is used in order to exclude the
impression of dependence on something eternal: but the word "consent"
entails communion between head and members and calls for this action which
is exclusive to the head. The point is expressly stated in art. 22, par. 2
and it is explained at the end of the same article. The negative formulation
"only with" (nonnisi) covers all cases: consequently it is evident that the
norms approved by the supreme authority must always be observed (cf. modus
84).

Clearly it is the connection of bishops with their head that is in question
throughout and not the activity of bishops independently of the Pope. In a
case like that, in default of the Pope's action, the bishops cannot act as a
college, for this is obvious from the idea of "college" itself. This
hierarchical communion of all bishops with the Pope is unmistakably hallowed
by tradition.

Notes available on-line at American Methodist University:

    http://listserv.american.edu/catholic/church/vaticanii/lumen-gentium.html

    >    Boy am I glad that all these weighty documents entered by John C
    >only apply to "men"
    
    It only applies to those 'men' who want to believe it. I am not one
    of those men. And if someone else choses to belief that, it is their
    business.
    
    These 'documents' don't apply to me as I can find no mention of the
    position of pope in the bible or even a mention of a single monolythic
    leader or church in the NT.  Peter never said he was THE elder,he said
    he was 'AN elder'. There is no evidence in Scripture that Peter was in
    Rome. Had he been, Paul  would have sent him greetings in his letter to
    the Romans. His use of Bablyon meant Babylon. Babylon was only used by
    John *later* in Revelation in a different way due only to the nature of
    his vision. Sound scholarship tells us this.
    Is the use of Bablyon mentioned in the book of Romans? 
    
    When a group of people use something they themselves define to validate
    another claim they make, this is called circular reasoning. 
    
    This does not refer Christians who quote the Bible, as in reality the 
    Bible did not come out of any institutional church. 
    The Holy Spirit set men aside to write it...and the churcheS circulated 
    the individual books and later put them all in the Bible. No one has 
    special access or special knowledge because of their position.
    
    I hope this note doesn't get renamed to 'The Jay Kuhn circular reasoning' 
    note. :-)
    
    Optional Scripture Snippet:
    
    John 18:36 (NKJV)  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If
                       My kingdom were of this world, My servants would
    		       fight, so that I could not be delivered to the Jews;
                       but now My kingdom is not from here." 
    
    
    
    

| <<< Note 1146.26 by COVERT::COVERT "John R. Covert" >>>

| "Men" includes you, Patricia.

	Patricia is a man???? WHOA!!!!! Where have I been?????  :-)

| <<< Note 1146.45 by COVERT::COVERT "John R. Covert" >>>

| Notes available on-line at American Methodist University:

	Wouldn't it have been easier to provide the pointer earlier before you
put all those in?????? :-)

    	Easier for John?  Yes.
    
    	Easier for the web-impaired?  No.

    Man:   All men are subjected to the authority of the institutional
    church.
    
    Woman:  Boy am I glad I am not a man.
    
    
    Man:   When I say all men I include all women in men:
    
    Woman:  I don't include myself in all men:
    
    Man:  I've told you one hundred times, that women are
    included in the term man:
    
          Except if the woman wants to be a priest!

    	Sounds like a chip-on-the-shoulder thing again...
    
    	Of course we all know that documents such as those previously
    	posted use the term "man" to mean "a human being, regardless
    	of sex or age" (I got that from defn #2 in the American Heritage
    	Dictionary).
    
    	This inclusive-language garbage is just another smokescreen to
    	sidetrack theology issues the debater doesn't want to (or is
    	unable to) address.

    Patricia:
    
    What did you think of the example Jesus gave when he washed the
    disciples feet.  Remember when Peter said, OHH No Lord.  Don't do this
    thing and Jesus replied, Peter, unless you allow me to wash you can
    have no part of me.
    
    Now to me this is an example of humility.  As a spiritual leader, it
    would be my responsibility to emulate this example.  Do you have a
    problem with this?  As a spiritual leader, would you humble yourself to
    washing the feet of your family and your church flock?
    
    -Jack

John,

Don't you think that you at least violated the *spirit* of the
100-line posting limit -- by about 2400 lines??!!!!!

Bob, as mod


P.S. I appreciate that you have zeal to set the record straight,
accurately and completely, but do you honestly think in a discussion
forum such as this that anyone will read even 10% of this?

Would you please consider abstracting the above?

| <<< Note 1146.49 by CSC32::J_OPPELT "Wanna see my scar?" >>>

| Easier for the web-impaired?  No.

	Do you know what a :-) means? 

        The following is a machine-selected set of paragraphs
        excerpted from John Covert's lengthy postings.

        Bob
                               +++++++++++++
...
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.
...
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).
...
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.
...
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.
...
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]
...
1. The word College is not taken in the strictly juridical sense, that is as
a group of equals who transfer their powers to their chairman, but as a
permanent body whose form and authority is to be ascertained from
revelation. For this reason it is explicitly said about the twelve apostles
in the reply to modus 12 that Our Lord constituted them "as a college or
permanent group" (cf. modus 53, c). In the same way the words Order or Body
are used at other times for the college of bishops. The parallel between
Peter and the apostles on the one hand and the Pope and the bishops on the
other does not imply the transmission of the extraordinary power of the
apostles to their successors, nor obviously does it imply equality between
the head and members of the college, but only a proportion between the two
relationships: Peter--apostles and pope--bishops. And therefore the
commission decided to write in Art. 22 not "in the same manner" (eadem
ratione) but "in like manner" (pari ratione).
...

	Joe, you aren't making sense here. If man = humankind, then why is it
different for when one wants to be a priest? There is a clear difference there.
Please address what Patricia said, and don't brush it off in the manner you
did.


Glen

    
    Re.51 and others
    
    Yes, me too!  I'm glad they apply to men only too, and not to me.  
    Thanks for that, Patricia.  (;^)   
    
    >Of course we all know that documents such as those previously
    >posted use the term "man" to mean "a human being, regardless
    >of sex or age" (I got that from defn #2 in the American
    >Heritage Dictionary).
              
    Typical male response.
    
    Additionally, unless the dictionary is infallable too, and written 
    by God, there is nothing sacred about it, and we can - and 
    frequently do - add and change it as time goes on.  There is not one
    thing about this ever-evolving English language that has 'always been
    that way'.  I also suspect very highly that it was originally written
    by men as well, and so why would they bother to think about gender-
    inclusive language?
    
    As for the Roman Catholic Church being referred to as 'her', and
    therefore being controlled by women - forget it.  The Church rules are
    defined by the Pope, who is at last glance, a man.
    
    Cindy              

    Woman:  I don't include myself under the title "man"
    
    Man:  Sounds like a chip-on-the-shoulder thing again...
    
    	  Of course we all know that documents such as those previously
    	  posted use the term "man" to mean "a human being, regardless
    	  of sex or age" (I got that from defn #2 in the American Heritage
    	  Dictionary).
    
    	  This inclusive-language garbage is just another smokescreen to
    	  sidetrack theology issues.
    
    
    

    
    Re.51
    
    	>This inclusive-language garbage is just another smokescreen to
    	>sidetrack theology issues the debater doesn't want to (or is
    	>unable to) address.
    
    What an ATTITIDE!  Everybody - you especially, Jack - I want you to see
    the case here of assuming something, and then drawing a completely
    false conclusion and foisting it upon the person who made the comment.
    
    And another thing - I wrote in another note that in general, women
    prefer to *discuss* rather than *debate*, so if you find yourselves
    with a lack of women in this topic from this note on - especially after
    comments like this - then men, don't be surprised.  You brought it on
    yourself.  
    
    Especially you, Joe - it's so obvious you don't give a d*mn about how 
    women feel, and are in absolutely no position and show no willingness 
    to listen to what we are really saying.  Instead you write junk like
    this, and expect us to take it?  Forget it!
    
    (There...and now I suppose you'll attribute my little outburst of real
    feelings to PMS...that would be the typical male response to this.)
    
    'Nuff said.
    
    Cindy

    Cindy,
    
    Note collision.
    
                        patricia

    
    Re.59 does not apply to all the wonderful men in this conference who
    are also appalled, or at least are trying to understand the woman's
    perspective.  Many thanks to you all.
    
    Cindy

    Cindy:
    
    I Don't believe You!!!  I mentioned this morning that I now see
    humankind as a viable word and acquiesced!  And yet you are still
    picking on me!  What gives!?

    
    That's OK, Patricia.  If we both go for it, maybe they'll begin to see
    that we are both trying to get through to them, and interestingly
    enough, are saying just about the very same things.
    
    Cindy

    
    Jack,
    
    That has nothing to do with the 'humankind' - this is for all the times
    over the years that you've made assumptions, and drawn conclusions that
    were completely false.  I just wanted to point out an example while it
    was still fresh on the screen.
    
    Thank you for agreeing with me on 'humankind'.  I do appreciate that.
    
    Cindy

    Cindy, 
    
    not only that but Joe's particular charge
    
    "a smokescreen to sidetrack theology issues the debater doesn't want to
    (or is unable to ) address."
    
    I wish I could find a weighty theological discussion by this notable
    theologian here!.
    
    But then my gyno repressive chip on the shoulder and gender feminism
    must be erupting!

    
    Patricia,
    
    Hahaha!!!  Yes indeed!  Good point!
    
    Cindy

    Cindy:
    
    This practice of assuming is NOT reserved for myself alone.  Heck I
    have been referred to as a sexist here in this conference simply
    because certain people have had their filters working too much!  
    
    Misunderstanding is prevalent amongst the masses...trust me!
    
    -Jack

    
    I didn't limit it to you, Jack...just wanted to call your attention to
    it.  And if you'll reread it, you'll see that indeed it wasn't you this
    time, rather it was somebody else.  By that logic, it's inferred
    already that it's not reserved to you alone.
    
    Just as I, personally, have never referred to you as 'sexist' in this
    conference, though you mentioned it in your note to me.
    
    Cindy

    	Sounds like a GLOW tag-team today!
    
    	Take it to the next international women's conference.  Perhaps
    	they'll help you rewrite the english language...

    
    Re.69
    
    In case you haven't looked at any Digital documentation lately, you'll
    see that all gender references have been long since removed per the 
    Digital style guide.
    
    As a technical writer, I write inclusive, gender-neutral copy every
    day, as do all of my colleagues.  For example, we stopped referring to 
    a user as 'he', long, long ago. 
    
    For alternatives to gender-specific writing, you can pick up a copy of 
    the "Handbook Of Non-Sexist Writing", by Miller and Swift.
    
    Cindy

	Joe, it would be nice if you could answer, say, a weeks worth of notes
in here with zero anger. So far this week you haven't answered one. Actually, I
wonder how long it has been?


Glen

    re:  back in the .50's....a few notes
    
    
    What's with all this "typical male reaction" garbage?  Do you expect to
    be taken seriously when you use such a broad brush?
    
    Talk about gender stereotyping... [I was under the impression that this
    is what feminists wish to avoid, therefore I find these comments
    somewhat hypocritical.]
    
    Having a problem with a certain theological doctrine is one thing,
    nit-picking its lack of PC-inclusive language is simply deflecting
    attention away from the real issue. 
    
    
    -steve
                         

    Steve,
    
    Anything that is important to people is a real issue. 
    God's commandment that we should love our neighbors makes it a
    theological issue.  God's commandment that we should do unto others as
    we would have others do unto them makes it a theological issue.
    
    What I as a woman here is that you as a man cannot understand why it is
    such a big issue to woman to be included under the title 'man'.  I know
    that I am not a man.  I know that I have learned since I was a young
    child that what men do is considered normative and what women do is
    considered something ancilliary.  An example was our minister came back
    from a trip to the India and said, "everybody in this particular town
    wheres arms".  I asked, everybody or all men?  He corrected himself and
    said "all men".  When I as a woman object to non gender inclusive
    language, I am objecting to the tradition that goes along with it of
    being excluded.  I can accept that you as a man, may not be able to
    understand why I feel pain from being excluded and pain from the
    language which I feel excludes.
    
    But because you are my brother and we are expected to show brotherly
    and sisterly love for each other, I expect that if I tell you that a
    particular thing causes me pain, and if it is fairly simple and
    reasonable to make alterations that do not cause pain, that the loving
    response would be to make the alterations.
    
    When I hear instead, people saying, "that's stupid" "it's only
    language", "I don't care if it causes you pain, I'm going to use it
    anyhow", then I get angry.  People doing that to me are discounting
    something that causes me pain.  They are not taking me serious as a
    person and as a sister.  As humans, we don't deliberately do things
    that cause pain to others.
    
    Language is a big deal.  It symbolizes a whole lot about our attitudes
    toward each other.

 ZZ   I expect that if I tell you that a
 ZZ   particular thing causes me pain, and if it is fairly simple and
 ZZ   reasonable to make alterations that do not cause pain, that the
 ZZ   loving response would be to make the alterations.
    
    Actually, this is scriptural as well.  Paul in the letter to the Romans
    makes reference to this in the later chapters.
    
    "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and the
    things wherewith one may edify another."  What was trying to be
    conveyed in Chapter 14 is that if something offends your brother or
    sister (in this case I believe it was eating of meat), then the best
    thing to do is abstain for the sake of edifying your sister or brother.
    The eating of meat was not sin, yet it would cause another to stumble
    and therefore is worthy of abstaining from.
    
    Personally, I have been a stickler over this because in fact the suffix
    "man" or in the German "mon" IS IN FACT gender neutral and has
    absolutely nothing to do with favoring men over women.  What I am
    trying to avoid is the misinterpretation of the word "mon" for the sake
    of including women.  This would be criminal in the eyes of any language
    scholar.  Yet at the same time, humankind and the like ARE recognized
    by Webster as proper English words and therefore should be used.  It is
    not inappropriate.
    
    -Jack

    Beautifully said, Patricia.  And, I agree.
    I don't note here at all and maintain a read-only
    status because I don't have the energy to battle
    all the time.  I agree with what you say, Patricia,
    but for me at this time in my life, I don't have 
    extra energy.  I am working and in grad school,
    doing an internship.  What I *need* is support,
    not the same old battle.
    
    Often, I read these notes and feel so very sad.
    Are we not all Christians or at least trying to
    understand each other?  Why so much resistance to
    each other's perceptions?  If half that energy was
    used for support, how much more inviting this
    notesfile would be!
    
    Sigh...  
    
    And support does NOT mean that women have to accept
    the traditional excluded status!  We are NOT invisible.
    We have feelings and value too.
    
    Dolores
    
    

    
    Re.72
    
    >What's with all this "typical male reaction" garbage?  Do you expect
    >to be taken seriously when you use such a broad brush?
                                 
    I'm glad that someone finally picked up on this, Steve.  I purposely 
    wrote that to make precisely that point. 
    
    Now that it's been made, I don't intend to write it again.   
    
    However, given your last statement, you still aren't getting the other
    point I was trying to make.  
    
    Cindy

                                           
    Re.74
    
    Jack,
    
    I don't care if the origin is 'mon', and is therefore gender neutral.
    That's not the point.  There are many words that are perfectly 
    acceptable in other languages that would be offensive if spoken in 
    (American) English.  The point is that it is 'man' in our language, and
    to me, a woman, I do not find it inclusive in THIS language.    
    
    Though I don't know for certain, I suspect that the word 'n*gger' was
    probably once quite an acceptable term as defined by most American
    dictionaries to describe our African American brothers and sisters. 
    Now though, my American Heritage Dictionary lists it as 'Offensive
    Slang'.  Therefore it is no longer commonly used in our culture,
    fortunately.  There's also the word 'negro', which quite innocently
    means the color 'black' in a few other languages, and yet this term 
    in OUR country to describe African Americans has also been virtually 
    phased out of our language.  And so on.
    
    Cindy

    
    Re.73
    
    Great note, Patricia.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Cindy

                      
    Re.75 from Dolores
    
    Men - at least the ones who care about why there aren't more women
    actively participating here (and even those who aren't) -  please 
    don't let this comment from Dolores escape you:
    
    >   I don't note here at all and maintain a read-only
    >   status because I don't have the energy to battle
    >   all the time.  I agree with what you say, Patricia,
    >   but for me at this time in my life, I don't have
    >   extra energy. 
    
    Cindy

         <<< Note 1146.73 by POWDML::FLANAGAN "let your light shine" >>>

>    Anything that is important to people is a real issue. 
    
    	It is only a real issue to those who think it is important.
    
    	EVERYTHING is important to SOMEBODY.  That doesn't mean I
    	have to consider everybody else's issues important too.
    
>    God's commandment that we should love our neighbors makes it a
>    theological issue.  God's commandment that we should do unto others as
>    we would have others do unto them makes it a theological issue.
    
    	You're stretching here.  Trying to make it seem that God wants
    	me to embrace your feminist theology is rather patronizing.
    
>    What I as a woman here is that you as a man cannot understand why it is
>    such a big issue to woman to be included under the title 'man'.  I know
>    that I am not a man.  
    
    	Then tell us what species you are!
    
    	You know what I'm saying, and I know what you're saying.  It
    	has degenerated at this point to nothing more than a debate of
    	semantics.  (The funny thing is that I'm not even the one using
    	the term.  I'm just defending others' right to use it as it has
    	always been defined.)
    
>    I can accept that you as a man, may not be able to
>    understand why I feel pain from being excluded and pain from the
>    language which I feel excludes.
    
    	The problem lies in the fact that you are fabricating the 
    	exclusion when the term "man" is clearly being used as an
    	inclusive term.  It's all well and good to express your feelings,
    	and for others to accept them, but when dealing with your 
    	feelings requires me to embrace what I see as an irrational
    	call for everyone to redefine the English language to cater
    	to your sensitivities, then I believe I am excused from your
    	call to change.
    
    	In another notes conference an Asian noter used to get very upset
    	with the use of the term "Chink".  When it was used to refer to
    	Asians his feelings were well-founded, but when he also called
    	people to task for using it such as "a chink in the armor", he
    	was generally called to task in equal measure.
    
>    But because you are my brother and we are expected to show brotherly
>    and sisterly love for each other, I expect that if I tell you that a
>    particular thing causes me pain, and if it is fairly simple and
>    reasonable to make alterations that do not cause pain, that the loving
>    response would be to make the alterations.
    
    	All this came about because some Church documents that used the
    	term "man" as an inclusive term were posted here.  If your above
    	statement is a response to that, then in effect you are asking 
    	the Church to rewrite all the documents already in existence.
    	That's irrational.
    
    	If your statement is directed to an individual, then I don't
    	see any individuals forcing the term upon you.
    
>    When I hear instead, people saying, "that's stupid" "it's only
>    language", "I don't care if it causes you pain, I'm going to use it
>    anyhow", then I get angry.  
    
    	Let us know when you hear this.  A search of this topic and if
    	topic 1144 only turns up the term "stupid" in your own notes.
    	As for "it's only language", my position is that YOU are the
    	one who is trivializing the language by expecting it to bend to
    	your sensitivities.  And nobody has said, "I don't care if it
    	causes you pain".  These three statements from you tell me that
    	this is a case of self-victimization, which I have been contending
    	all along.
    
>    Language is a big deal.  It symbolizes a whole lot about our attitudes
>    toward each other.
    
    	Only if used to deliberately do that.  Language is also a big
    	deal in that it cannot be ignored and should not be subjected
    	to the agendas of a few.

...  re: the past many notes

" I forget what the question is, but the answer is, be gender inclusive"

"No it isn't"

"yes it is"

"no it isn't"


Instead of continuing  a debate that has been carried out in other notes, 
why don't both sides stop, take it as a point well made, and address the 
point of the original note.   

I'll make a try. 

Is there a purpose to the institutional church?  I think there is, as we're 
told many times to meet as a body, that there will be a church.  The point
is, to work out what that purpose is, and to stick to it...   People through
history don't have a good track record in sticking to it, but that's no reason
to throw out the baby.

    re: .73
    
    Hi Patricia,  
    
    What I see happening is nit-picking over language, rather than any real
    problem with the doctrine itself.  Let me clarify: 
    
    In the Bible, "mankind" is all-inclusive.  It has always been viewed as
    being all-inclusive, and it always will (at least by serious scholars)
    be viewed as being all-inclusive.  I guess my question is, why do you
    view this term as being exclusionary?  Seems to be a complete nit-pick
    on the semantics of grammar, rather than a problem in understanding the
    meaning of its use.
    
    To me, the most important aspect is the intended *meaning* of the word. 
    In this case, there is no question as to the meaning intended, it most
    certainly is *all-inclusive*.  I fail to see this issue as being
    anything more than the logical outcome of PCness taken to the extreme.
    
    "Mankind", "humankind"...both mean the same thing.  For you, I'll try to
    remember to use "humankind", if it makes that much difference to you. 
    I don't know how well I'll sleep using a PC term, though.  I may
    develop a serious personality disorder or something.
    
    FWIW, PC terms probably drives me just as crazy as "mankind" (etc.)
    drives you...maybe moreso.
    
    
    -steve 

    But, as she said, language is important!
    
    Dolores

| <<< Note 1146.80 by CSC32::J_OPPELT "Wanna see my scar?" >>>

| >    God's commandment that we should love our neighbors makes it a
| >    theological issue.  God's commandment that we should do unto others as
| >    we would have others do unto them makes it a theological issue.

| You're stretching here.  Trying to make it seem that God wants
| me to embrace your feminist theology is rather patronizing.

	Actually, Joe, for those that believe the Bible, it would appear that
God did that already.

    Steve,
    
    Thanks,  I appreciate your promised intent to humor me. (I hope that
    includes Cindy and Dolores too!)
    
                                     Patricia

                                                                          
    Re.82
    
    Steve,
    
    Referring back to the documents that triggered a good portion of this
    discussion - they also use words like 'brother(s)' and 'son'.
    
    I, personally, don't feel like I'm a 'brother' or a 'son' to anyone.
     
    However, I'd accept 'brothers and sisters', or 'sons and daughters'. 
    It's not that difficult to include an extra word to explicitly
    recognize and include the other half of humankind in such documents.  
    
    Btw, we haven't even begun to discuss other contents of the document,
    so please stop assuming we have or do not have a 'problem with the
    doctrine itself' until we actually get that far.  You may not think
    these other things are all that important, but they are to some of us.
    
    Cindy

    .82
    
    I suggest that perhaps the issue is more
    about compassion than political correctness?
    
    Enough for one day.
    
    Dolores

	"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased
to give you the Kingdom.  Sell all your belongings and give the money
to the poor.  Provide for yourselves purses that don't wear out, and
save your riches in heaven, where they will never decrease, because
no thief can get to them, and no moth can destroy them.  For your
heart will always be where your riches are."  Luke 12:32-34 (TEV)

	"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever
shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."
Matthew 5:39 (KJV)

	"Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow
of thee turn not thou away.  Ye have heard that it hath been said,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you,
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;..."
Matthew 5:42-44 (KJV)


Professional clergy:  How long do you think I'd last preaching these
things (without diluting them)?

Consensus response:  About three years, but you'd have to be itinerant.

    re: .87
    
    Okay, I withdraw my assumption.  You may indeed have a problem with the
    doctrine, but we have certainly been concentrating on simple verbiage
    sensitivities through this string- not doctrinal difficulties.  I
    would think that the latter problems would be more important (thus
    conspicuous by their absense), but that's my opinion.
    
    
    
    -steve 

    Actually I must confess that I did not read much of the material as
    posted.  I do however believe that treatment of women and respect for
    the equality of women is one of the most important doctrinal issues
    facing the Roman Catholic church today.  That is why I thought it was
    wonderful when the Pope of the Roman Catholic church just recently
    apologized to the women of the world for its past contributions to the 
    mistreatment of women.  I have amazing respect for an institutional
    church that will admit is own errors.
    
                                     Patricia

    re: .88
    
    I disagree completely.  However, I do have compassion for the
    sensitivities of my brothers and sister (regardless of how I view
    language), and have promised to make an effort at altering certain
    terms that some in here are sensitive to.
    
    Regardless of the sensitivies, though, we ARE moving from
    long-accepted inclusive verbiage to PC-type terms.  I believe the issue
    is rooted in the PC movement, though this may not be the conscious 
    motivation.
    
    
    -steve 

    Steve,
    
    I do appreciate that committment particularly understanding that your
    are not all together comfortable with the language changes.
    
                                         Patricia

    The only doctrines that matter are:
    
    1. Attributes of God
    2. Person of Christ
    3. Nature of Man
    4. Requirements of Atonement
    5. Source of Revelation
    
    Nothing else qualify as doctrines.  When people have a truthful
    understanding of these 5, all other issues (which is what they are,
    they're not doctrines), including those on individual and gender 
    relationships, will fall into their Godly perspective.
    
    Mike

    
    Yes, Steve - ditto what Patricia said.
         
    Cindy

================================================================================
Note 1146.90                The Institutional Church                    90 of 96
CSC32::J_CHRISTIE "Ps. 85.10"                        25 lines  28-SEP-1995 15:40
       -< How long do you think one would last preaching these things? >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased
to give you the Kingdom.  Sell all your belongings and give the money
to the poor.  Provide for yourselves purses that don't wear out, and
save your riches in heaven, where they will never decrease, because
no thief can get to them, and no moth can destroy them.  For your
heart will always be where your riches are."  Luke 12:32-34 (TEV)

	"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever
shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."
Matthew 5:39 (KJV)

	"Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow
of thee turn not thou away.  Ye have heard that it hath been said,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you,
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;..."
Matthew 5:42-44 (KJV)


Professional clergy:  How long do you think I'd last preaching these
things (without diluting them)?

Consensus response:  About three years, but you'd have to be itinerant.

.57>  The Church rules are defined by the Pope, who is at last glance, a man.
    
perhaps, certainly, but, i only wish he'd wear trousers more often... 


re .0

richard, to leave the institutional church?

funny as it may sound, even as an atheist i am still a member of the
institutional church (at least i get to pay church tax and vote on who
should be the priest).

i have been reluctant to leave purely on the grounds that even as an
atheist, as a member i have at least some say on what the church does
and i can so support radical reforms - which is something i couldn't 
do if i was not a member.




andreas.

Andreas,

Why do you care what the church does? From what you have written in the 
past, I suspect that the church may have a lot more influence over your 
life, even as a non-believer, than they currently do here.

Do you have to pay church taxes if you are not a member? How do these taxes 
work?

Steve

> Do you have to pay church taxes if you are not a member? 

as an individual i wouldn't have to pay church tax once i left. 
as a company (and i am self-employed) i'd have to continue paying
church tax.

it would be interesting to get the stats on this. i bet the 
institutional churches (reformed and catholic) make most of
their money in continental europe, where the church and the state
are not clearly separated, and where the state collects tax money
on behalf of the church.


> I suspect that the church may have a lot more influence over your 
> life, even as a non-believer, than they currently do here.

since the church is not clearly separated from the state it does 
retain a strong influence namely in the schools and in the social 
services, besides in the traditional church services. the up-side 
of this patchy church/state separation is that the state has some 
influence on how the church should be organised. in switzerland this 
means that even for the catholic church, the priests must be elected 
by the parishioners and they cannot be appointed by decree. in one 
diocese, the people have even the right to elect their own bishop 
(all that the pope can do here is to accept the people's choice by 
pseudo-appointing the bishop following the democratic election).



andreas.

I have decided to stay with the church that holds my membership for the
time being.

Shalom,
Richard