Lumen Gentium

Let’s face it, we Americans have a hard time with authority. Sure, we know that it is necessary, but our ideal of “rugged individualism” makes us chafe under any power set above us. It is easier to accept if we can believe that the authority has some hidden ulterior motives or that the people in charge are corrupt, but just trustworthy enough to be useful. These beliefs allow us to remain in control, and to preserve our autonomy. Of course, in moments of reflection we realize that such pessimism about leaders is mostly unfounded paranoia, even given fallen human nature and the tendency of power to corrupt the human heart.

Obedience & The Problem of Authority

This American attitude tends to make things difficult when it comes to understanding authority within the Church. On one hand, we see Christ’s plan for the Church as one of charitable unity, with the gentle Shepherd as our head. On the other hand, we see the human structure of popes, bishops, and priests that all too often feeds our natural mistrust with power plays, scandals, and clericalism. This dichotomy leads some people to conclude that the human power structure of the Catholic Church must be an earthly construct that should be changed, if not done away with completely, to allow the true Church to shine.

We cannot talk about the hierarchy of the Church without first discussing the virtue of obedience. In our modern world, and especially in individualistic America, we tend to view obedience as a character flaw at worst and as a necessary evil at best. However, in Catholic tradition obedience is considered a strength and a virtue. When Saint Paul tells husbands and wives to submit to each other in the fifth chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, he is not encouraging them to follow the social norms of his time. He is rather exhorting them to greater holiness. What is this virtue of obedience? First of all, obedience can originate in the intellect. We can reason that it is a good thing to obey authorities placed over us. The role of authority is to guide us to the true good when our fallen human nature makes it difficult for us to choose properly. For example, why do we need speed limits? If everyone would just use proper judgment and drive safely, speed limit laws would not be necessary. However, we are all guilty of selfishness in driving. We are in a hurry, so we become careless of the safety of others. Without the law, we might put other people in danger for the sake of our selfish “need” to get somewhere faster. The law guides us to the greater good of the safety of our fellow human beings. So, we can reason that it is a good thing that we have an authority that sees the need to overcome such carelessness and selfishness, and the power to enforce good judgment. More importantly, the soul of all virtue is love. To obey an authority can be an exercise of love. The word that Saint Paul uses in Ephesians 5 is “submit.” To submit means to put yourself under the mission of someone else. When wives submit to their husbands and when husbands submit to their wives, they lovingly put themselves at service of the mission of the other. Likewise, when we submit to the authority of the Church, we place ourselves at the service of the mission of the priests and bishops placed over us. To do so is to ultimately place ourselves lovingly at the service of the mission of Christ.

The Role of the Hierarchy

The hierarchy exists to protect the mysteries of God. The Holy Spirit has been given to the Church as a whole to lead us to all truth, according to Christ’s promise (John 16:12). While each member of the Church participates in the Spirit’s work (as we saw in article 12 from Chapter 2), it is the special role of the bishops to judge when an interpretation of Revelation is true. We can readily imagine the chaos if Christ had not given bishops this function. Any group that got together could interpret the Bible for themselves and claim to be led by the Spirit. Contradicting claims of authentic interpretations could easily lead to schism, and would certainly lead to confusion. Christ gave a clear voice through which the Holy Spirit may speak: the bishops in union with the Supreme Pontiff in Rome. As an expression of this purpose for the hierarchy, bishops and the priests who assist them are to be “teachers for doctrine.” They are to “strive to inquire properly into that revelation and to give apt expression of its contents.” They “instruct the faithful to love for the whole mystical body of Christ.” Finally, they are to teach by modeling and illustrating the faith. The laity, by their obedience of mind and heart and by their inquiries into matters of faith, come to know and live the truth in their own lives.

Not only is the hierarchy the steward of the “deposit of faith,” it is also the steward of grace. Bishops, and the priests who serve them, are the priests ordained for sacred worship. While all of the faithful share in Christ’s priestly office, ordained ministers are the special presence of Christ the High Priest to His people. They are the ordinary ministers of the sacraments, through which the entire world is brought to salvation. Again, we can easily consider the reasons for Christ to distribute His grace mainly through such a structure. Theologically, Christ wants to communicate clearly to us that grace comes from Him. He communicates his grace through a minister whom He has chosen and ordained to stand in His place to distribute His grace. Through the bishops and priests, we hear the words of Christ forgiving our sins. We see in the hands of the bishops and priests the hands of Christ giving us His Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. We are anointed with oil at the hands of Christ through His chosen servants. What a beautiful communication of love by Christ who reaches out to touch us through the men of the hierarchy, to give us physical assurance of His presence with us. Additionally, by working through the hands of human ministers, Christ draws us to union with each other as well as to union with Him. So why not show this love through all of His people, instead of through the chosen few? Salvation history runs along many dynamics, each of which could be an entire treatise in and of itself (which means I’ll never run out of things to write about)! One such dynamic is that of “giver” and “receiver” of the gift. God is the ultimate giver of all gifts: life, sustenance, pleasure, mercy, salvation, etc. Humanity is His intended receiver of all of these gifts. To point us to this relationship, God has set up sacramental signs that reveal the great exchange of gifts. Marriage is one such sign, in which the husband gives the gift of life through his sexuality and the woman receives it and brings the potential of life to fullness. The ordained priesthood is also such a sign, but more perfectly so since at the hands of the priest God’s most precious gifts are actually given to His people. The laity receives these gifts and, through their cooperation with God’s grace, bring about new life in Christ. Is that cool or what?

Members of the hierarchy are also ministers for the governing of the People of God. As shepherds of the flock of Christ, they move all believers in a free and ordered way toward the common goals of salvation and the advancement of the Kingdom of God. By promoting discipline and growth in virtue, they nurture the growth of the People of God in holiness. They promote every activity of interest to the whole Church. One very important task that they have is to identify the special Gifts and talents individual members of their churches have been given and to guide them to the best use. It is worth reiterating here a point made often in the document. All leadership within the Church is meant to be servitude. Members of the hierarchy must be first and foremost the servants of the Body of Christ. This is a key difference between the sacred hierarchy of the Church and purely human structures of power.

The hierarchy is also to lead the way in the evangelization of the world. Bishops and priests are given the task of proclaiming the Gospel everywhere on earth. They are also to supply the missions with workers (reflecting their duty to discern the gifts of their flock) and to give spiritual and material aid to their efforts.

The Hierarchy in Christ's Plan for the Church

The third chapter of Lumen Gentium reminds us that the hierarchy is part of Jesus Christ’s plan for the Church. He instituted the papacy and the episcopate. Some questions remain, however. How do we know that Christ intended the Church to form the way it did? What role does human authority play in God’s loving plan of salvation? What does its presence reveal to us?

How do we know that Christ intended the Church to form the way it did? One measure of Christ’s intentions for His Church is to trace practices and beliefs back to the apostles. There is some great scholarship done on the Fathers of the Church, the first successors of the Apostles in the first few hundred years of the Church. Some of the the Fathers of the Church were prolific writers and teachers. They report practices and beliefs passed down from the apostles that may not appear directly in Sacred Scripture, and they often clarify practices and beliefs that appear in Sacred Scripture but vaguely. The Church Fathers can show us that a belief or practice can be traced to the apostles, or that a scriptural text has been interpreted a certain way throughout the history of the Church. Exploring the texts of the footnotes for the third chapter of Lumen Gentium is a fruitful exercise.

The Protestant reformers did not have them available when they rejected the hierarchy of the Church during the Reformation. These texts provide a clear window into the understanding of the role of Church authority by the early Church, traced back to the apostles.

Evidence from Sacred Scripture

Let’s first take a look at the scriptural origins of the hierarchy used by Lumen Gentium. In the third footnote, for article 19, the Council points out that Jesus chose twelve apostles (Mark 3:13-19), whom He chose to have a special relationship with through which they would learn more intimately who He is and what His mission is. Once His time on earth was complete, He commissioned these twelve to continue His mission on earth, and gave them the special power to loose and to bind (Matthew 10:1-42); (Matthew 28:16-20); (John 20:23). From the twelve, He chose Peter to especially feed His sheep, to whom He gave the keys to heaven (Matthew 16:13-19; John 21:15-17).

In the fourth footnote, for LG20, the biblical references show us that the apostles appointed helpers to assist them in their work (Acts 6:1-6), and often to continue the work they began. Some of these helpers are given official titles that indicate an official role in the Church. Others are not labeled with such titles (Acts 13:1-3; Colossians 4:10-11). The titles are usually translated into English as “servants” or “elders” (Acts 11:27-30; Acts 20: 17 ). The Greek for these titles are “episkopos” (bishops), “presbyteros:” (priest), and “diakonos” (deacon) (Philippians 1:1). Believers were told to respect and obey the servants placed over them (1Thes 5:12-13).

The fifth footnote, still in LG20, make allusions to the passing on of the powers of the offices of the Church, which ensures the continuation of the hierarchical service. In Acts 20:25-28, Saint Paul tells the people of Ephesus that he is going to Jerusalem, most likely to meet his death. He repeats this message to Timothy in his second letter to him (2Tim 4:5-6). Paul, as a bishop of the Church, is giving advice to Timothy, who has been ordained as a bishop to carry on Paul’s work. Paul tells Timothy to be careful to preserve the integrity of the priesthood (1Tim 5:19-22 also see Titus 1:5-9). Paul entrusts Timothy to pass on to others the teachings that he has passed on to Timothy. The bishops are the stewards of the truths of the faith (2Tim 2:1-2).

So, scripture shows us that Christ commissioned twelve apostles to carry on His mission, and they in turn commissioned helpers to assist them in their work. How do we know that Christ intended this system to be permanent, and how do we know that He intended it to take the form of authority and structure that it has today? The best way to know would be to look at the understanding of the earliest leaders of the Church to see how they understood their role. How they define their roles can be traced to the apostles, and can be correlated to Sacred Scripture. The footnotes in the next few chapters of Lumen Gentium show us a quick snapshot of teachings from such witnesses.

Evidence from the Early Church Fathers

Footnotes 5 and 6, in LG20, refer to Saint Clement of Rome. Saint Clement of Rome, also known as Pope Clement I, is believed to be the fourth pope. According to Tertullian and Saint Jerome, Clement was ordained by Saint Peter. Although there is some question about exactly where Saint Clement falls in the historical timeline, the question is only about 40 years difference. Saint Clement wrote to the Corinthians about he role of the bishop, echoing much of what Paul said to Timothy and Titus.

Tertullion was born around 160 AD and he grew up pagan, with strong anti-Christian biases. Despite his biases, he converted to Christianity at around the age of 30. He was always very skeptical about the Church, and that skepticism makes his writings all the more convincing. Unfortunately this same skepticism also got Tertullian into trouble with Church authorities. He died outside of the graces of the Church. Lumen Gentium refers to Tertullian often. Footnotes 7 & 8 in LG20 refer to his writing, “Prescriptions Against Heresies,” in which Tertullian uses the succession of ministerial power traced to the apostles as a norm for orthodoxy. Heretical sects could not claim a heritage of leadership - priests and bishops - rooted in the apostles.

Saint Irenaeus was made bishop of Lyons in 178 AD. He was a compassionate but stout adversary of heresies of his time, and a prolific writer and teacher. Footnotes 9 & 10 in LG20 refer to his great work, “Against Heresies,” in which Saint Irenaeus contrasts the unfounded claims of heretical teachers with the founded claims of the priests who are rooted in apostolic succession and the Tradition passed down through it.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch was raised to bishop of Antioch by Saint Peter. He strengthened his flock during the persecution of Domitian. He was martyred sometime between the year 98 and 117 AD. His trip from Syria to Rome, where he was executed, is well documented. Ignatius encouraged the churches on the way from Syria to Rome, where he was martyred. He wrote many letters to these churches, most of them the very churches founded by Saint Paul. LG20 quotes from his letter to the Philadelphians, as referenced in footnotes 11 and 12, in which Saint Ignatius sings the praises of the bishop of Philadelphia and attributes the bishop’s success to being called by Christ to the vocation of Church ministry. Saint Ignatius then exhorts the Philadelphians to remain united with their bishop and to obey him in love.

Footnote 13 in LG20 once again quotes from Saint Clement of Rome, who in turn shows that Sacred Scripture has been interpreted by the early Church to show Christ’s intention that the role of the apostles should continue through the bishops.

The same footnote continues with the letter from Saint Ignatius to the church in Smyrna in which Saint Ignatius exhorts the Smyrnans to follow the bishops and priests (presbytery) faithfully as they would the apostles.

Saint Ignatius tells the Magnesians that the authority of their bishop does not come from his age or experience, but from God.

And Saint Ignatius to the Trallians, in which he writes a warning against being drawn in by heretics and separating themselves from the bishops, priests, and deacons, and thus from the apostles.

There is just a smattering of the evidence presented by the early Fathers of the Church that the apostles formed the hierarchical structure of the Church according to Christ’s intentions.

Why a Hierarchy?

Why would Christ choose to form His Church around such a hierarchical power structure?” Some of the answers to this question come from Lumen Gentium, but some are from my own ponderings or from other sources. Nowhere does the Council document explicitly argue answers to this question, but answers are nonetheless provided throughout the chapter.

The first reason for organizing the Church into a hierarchy comes from my own ponderings. Christ organized the Church with a hierarchical structure in order to reveal our participation in part of God’s nature. God is the supreme rational being. All of Creation reveals this about Him. Creation is ordered to beauty, it is ordered by laws of nature, and it is ordered by states of perfection. Saint Thomas Aquinas, among others, tell us how the heavenly spiritual beings are ordered by level of perfection, descending from the seraphim and cherubim down to archangels and angels. Continuing what is often called the “Great Chain of Being,” human beings are next in the order of perfection, since we are both material and spiritual beings. Under us come the non-rational animals, who are living creatures with great faculties but that exist only as material beings. Next come the plants, which are purely material living things that lack complex faculties (powers). Finally come non-living things, which are purely material and even lack life. This order is even found in the animal world. There are obvious levels of complexity and perfection between a porpoise, for example, and a snail. Order is everywhere in Creation. The same order is found within the human person. We are created with physical and spiritual dimensions. Our spiritual faculties, the intellect and the will, are more perfect and more important for us to develop than our physical faculties. The key to understanding such structure is to focus on the running theme in Lumen Gentium, “unity in diversity.” Recall Saint Paul’s words about the body in 1 Corinthians 12:

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single organ, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, 25 that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together

“ Each part, even the “most lowly” plays an important role to the whole. Together, the parts of the system work together to achieve the perfection of the whole. Why should it surprise us that such sublime (I love that word) order exists also in the Body of Christ, the Church?

Of course, in addition to theological reasons for the hierarchical structure of the Church, there are many functional purposes as well. The hierarchy exists to protect the mysteries of God. The Holy Spirit has been given to the Church as a whole to lead us to all truth, according to Christ’s promise (John 16:12). While each member of the Church participates in the Spirit’s work (as we saw in article 12 from Chapter 2), it is the special role of the bishops to judge when an interpretation of Revelation is true. We can readily imagine the chaos if Christ had not given bishops this function. Any group that got together could interpret the Bible for themselves and claim to be led by the Spirit. Contradicting claims of authentic interpretations could easily lead to schism, and would certainly lead to confusion. Christ gave a clear voice through which the Holy Spirit may speak: the bishops in union with the Supreme Pontiff in Rome. As an expression of this purpose for the hierarchy, bishops and the priests who assist them are to be “teachers for doctrine.” They are to “strive to inquire properly into that revelation and to give apt expression of its contents.” They “instruct the faithful to love for the whole mystical body of Christ.” Finally, they are to teach by modeling and illustrating the faith. The laity, by their obedience of mind and heart and by their inquiries into matters of faith, come to know and live the truth in their own lives.

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