Relationship between collegiality of bishop

 

14. Relationship between collegiality of bishop and the primacy and infallibility of the Roman Pontiff.

Introduction: The Church is the supernatural society established by Jesus Christ where the Christ believers are joined as a part of the mystical body of Christ. It is union and communion of Christ’s believers with one-another in and through the grace of Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to God the Father.

 

Who is Bishop: Bishops are the successors of the apostles. They are teachers for doctrine, priests for sacred worship, and ministers for governing. They have taken up the service of the community by presiding in place of God over the flock.  Bishop as priest preaches the word of God to all nations, and constantly administering the sacraments of faith to those who believe, by their paternal functioning. He incorporates new members in His Body by a heavenly regeneration, and finally by their wisdom and prudence He directs and guides the People of the New Testament in their pilgrimage toward eternal happiness. As a Priest by Episcopal consecration the fullness of the sacrament of Orders is conferred, that fullness of power, namely, which both in the Church's liturgical practice and in the language of the Fathers of the Church is called the high priesthood, the supreme power of the sacred ministry.

 

As a prophet the principal duties of bishops is preaching of the Gospel. For bishops are preachers of the faith, who lead new disciples to Christ and they are authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach to the people committed to them the faith they must believe and put into practice, and by the light of the Holy Spirit illustrate that faith. His kingly function includes as vicars and ambassadors of Christ, governing the particular churches entrusted to them by their counsel, exhortations, example, and even by their authority and sacred power, which indeed they use only for the edification of their flock in truth and holiness. Pope is also a bishop who is Vicar of Christ, Successor of Peter, Head of the college of bishops, bishop of Rome and the Pastor of the Universal Church. As Pope, he has full authority over the universal Church.  He has highest, full, immediate, universal authority.  

 

The Relationship between Collegiality of the Bishops and the Primacy and Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff:

 

Collegiality of the Bishops

 

It is an organic reality not mere category of office holders. It is the best expression of communion of all the churches, which constitute the universal church. It embodies a strong bond of faith, love and order which tie the Catholic Church together. Bishops belong to this college by virtue of their Episcopal Ordination, in which they receive the fullness of the sacrament of orders, and their communion with the members of the college and the Pope. The bishop of Rome is a member of this college but he is also the head, operative center and usual spokesman.

 

The College of Bishops (According to Code of Cannon Law)

 

The college of bishops, whose head is the Supreme Pontiff and whose members are bishops by virtue of sacramental consecration and hierarchical communion with the head and members of the college and in which the apostolic body continues, together with its head and never without this head, is also the subject of supreme and full power over the universal Church.(Can. 336)

Can. 337

1. The college of bishops exercises power over the universal Church in a solemn manner in an ecumenical council.

§2. It exercises the same power through the united action of the bishops dispersed in the world, which the Roman Pontiff has publicly declared or freely accepted as such so that it becomes a true collegial act.

§3. It is for the Roman Pontiff, according to the needs of the Church, to select and promote the ways by which the college of bishops is to exercise its function collegially regarding the universal Church.

Can. 338 §1. It is for the Roman Pontiff alone to convoke an ecumenical council, preside over it personally or through others, transfer, suspend, or dissolve a council, and to approve its decrees.

§2. It is for the Roman Pontiff to determine the matters to be treated in a council and establish the order to be observed in a council. To the questions proposed by the Roman Pontiff, the council fathers can add others which are to be approved by the Roman Pontiff.

Can. 339 §1. All the bishops and only the bishops who are members of the college of bishops have the right and duty to take part in an ecumenical council with a deliberative vote.

§2. Moreover, some others who are not bishops can be called to an ecumenical council by the supreme authority of the Church, to whom it belongs to determine their roles in the council.

Can. 340 If the Apostolic See becomes vacant during the celebration of a council, the council is interrupted by the law itself until the new Supreme Pontiff orders it to be continued or dissolves it.

Can. 341 §1. The decrees of an ecumenical council do not have obligatory force unless they have been approved by the Roman Pontiff together with the council fathers, confirmed by him, and promulgated at his order.

§2. To have obligatory force, decrees which the college of bishops issues when it places a truly collegial action in another way initiated or freely accepted by the Roman Pontiff need the same confirmation and promulgation.

 

Primacy of Roman Pontiff

 

The word primacy, which in general use means the state of being first, as in time, place, rank etc. as applied to the pope means his state of being first of all the bishops, not only in rank or dignity, but in pastoral authority. The primacy of the Pope, then, is that full, supreme, and universal authority over all the bishops and faithful of the Church which belongs by divine right to the bishop of Rome as the successor of St. Peter, who received such a primacy among the apostles directly from Christ.

The doctrine of papal primacy, while always present in the deposit of revealed truth, was not always and in every part of the church so clearly understood or explicitly professed as it has been in the Western Church since the time of Pope St. Leo the Great. Lacking the space that would be needed to trace the history of this doctrine, this article will itself to presenting the three most authoritative statements that the Church has made on the nature of the papal primacy namely, the decrees of the council of Florence and of the two Councils of the Vatican.

Councils assign the primatial power of the Pope. The Pope’s power is-

i) universal: it extends to the whole Church, i.e. to all the members of the Church (pastors and faithful) as to all the various matters, which can arise.

ii) ordinary: it is not extraordinary, which would mean that it can not be used only in exceptional circumstances; nor is it delegated, that is, it belongs inherently to the office of Pope and is not delegated to him by someone else.

iii) supreme: meaning that it is not subordinated to any other authority full it takes in all questions which might arise in the life of the Church, and does so from every point of view

iv) immediate: it need not be exercised through intermediaries and where necessary can have the most practical applications.

 

The Roman Pontiff (According to Code of Cannon Law)

 

Can. 331 The bishop of the Roman Church, in whom continues the office given by the Lord uniquely to Peter, the first of the Apostles, and to be transmitted to his successors, is the head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of Christ, and the pastor of the universal Church on earth. By virtue of his office he possesses supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely.

Can. 332 §1. The Roman Pontiff obtains full and supreme power in the Church by his acceptance of legitimate election together with episcopal consecration. Therefore, a person elected to the supreme pontificate who is marked with episcopal character obtains this power from the moment of acceptance. If the person elected lacks episcopal character, however, he is to be ordained a bishop immediately.

§2. If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyone.

Can. 333 §1. By virtue of his office, the Roman Pontiff not only possesses power over the universal Church but also obtains the primacy of ordinary power over all particular churches and groups of them. Moreover, this primacy strengthens and protects the proper, ordinary, and immediate power which bishops possess in the particular churches entrusted to their care.

§2. In fulfilling the office of supreme pastor of the Church, the Roman Pontiff is always joined in communion with the other bishops and with the universal Church. He nevertheless has the right, according to the needs of the Church, to determine the manner, whether personal or collegial, of exercising this office.

§3. No appeal or recourse is permitted against a sentence or decree of the Roman Pontiff.

Can. 334 Bishops assist the Roman Pontiff in exercising his office. They are able to render him cooperative assistance in various ways, among which is the synod of bishops. The cardinals also assist him, as do other persons and various institutes according to the needs of the times. In his name and by his authority, all these persons and institutes fulfill the function entrusted to them for the good of all the churches, according to the norms defined by law.

Can. 335 When the Roman See is vacant or entirely impeded nothing is to be altered in the governance of the universal Church; the special laws issued for these circumstances, however, are to be observed.

 

 

Infallibility

 

The doctrine of Infallibility means that popes are divinely preserved from error when they make declarations from Ex cathedra the (from the chair of Peter) addressed to the whole church on faith and morals. a supernatural gift free from error in all official pronouncements on matters of faith and morals. This doctrine defined dogmatically in the First Vatican Council of 1869–70.

 

Papal Infallibility

 

While the First Vatican Council defined papal infallibility in 1870, we must understand that the date on which a doctrine is officially defined is not the date on which it becomes true. Rather, it was always true. It’s just that different aspects of the Faith are challenged at different periods of history, and when a challenge occurs or a serious concern or question arises, then the Church will settle  the difficulty by formally stating what the truth of the matter is to end the confusion. So papal infallibility has always been true, and, moreover, was accepted and practiced from the earliest times.

 

The evidence that papal infallibility is part of the Christian Faith comes from three sources

 

A. Scriopture: Such passages as: “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church; to you I give the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven”, and “Do you love me, Peter. Feed my sheep”, and “I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith may not fail. You in turn must confirm your brethren”, have always been taken to refer to a special role for Peter in the establishment of the Church, and special divine protection for Peter in the exercise of his authority.

 

B. History: From the earliest times we see the bishops of Rome acting as if they had special authority in succession from St. Peter, and we also see the rest of the Church accepting their authority as if they knew it was genuine. Thus Pope clement wrote to settle a problem in the church of Corinth before the end of the Ist century. During the first few hundred years of Church history, moreover, many who were accused of heresy appealed from every corner of the known world to Rome for vindication or condemnation. The fathers too repeatedly attest to the authority of Roman see. and the Popes always had the decisive word at general councils,as when the Fathers of the council of Chalcedon said in response to the Papal definition of the two natures of Christ, “Peter has spoken through Leo” and accepted it unhesitatingly.

 

C. Logic: It is clear even from Scripture that Peter had a special commission and special powers from Christ to care for the flock of Christ, to bind and loose, and to confirm his brothers in faith indeed he had the very powers of the keys to the kingdom. Obviously, these powers were essential to the Church as constituted by Christ. And Christ promised to be with the Church always to the end of time, and said that the powers of hell would not prevail against it.

Now, clearly Christ knew that Peter would not live until the end of time, so he must have intended that the power he gave to Peter would be carried on until His return. After all, Peter was to feed “My” (Christ) sheep, and so was serving as the vicar of Christ in Christ’s absence. When Peter died, a new vicar would take his place, and so on until Christ returned to claim his own. The parable of the steward awaiting his Master’s return is very much to the point.

Just as clearly, Peter’s authority also enabled himself to set forth the manner in which their successors would be selected, either by choosing the successor personally before death or by setting forth some other means eventually, election by the College of Cardinals.

 

So at last we can say that, The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its head." As such, this college has "supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff. The college of bishops exercises power over the universal Church in a solemn manner in an ecumenical council.  But "there never is an ecumenical council which is not confirmed or at least recognized as such by Peter's successor. 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 he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals.

 

Conclusion: Moreover, if this special and essential power were to pass out of existence, it would be proof that Christ was no longer with his Church and that the powers of Hell had indeed prevailed. Therefore, again, Christ must have intended successors to Peter.

For this reason, we are not at all surprised that subsequent popes claimed to have the Petrine power and that the early Christian community accepted it without question. As I indicated above, this authority was exercised by the fourth Pope, Clement, while St. John the Evangelist was still alive. The earliest Christians were in a position to know Christ’s will from other sources than Scripture (just as we today, under the guidance of the Church, are able to learn from Tradition.