Who belongs to the Church?

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Who belongs to the Church?

• 19

PERUGINO, Pietro Christ Handing the Keys to St
Peter 1481-82 Fresco, 335 x 550 cm Cappella
Sistina, Vatican
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Compendium of the Catechism

• 177. Who are the faithful?
• 871-872
• The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as
  they have been incorporated in Christ through
  Baptism, have been constituted as the people of
  God for this reason, since they have become
  sharers in Christs priestly, prophetic and royal
  office in their own manner, they are called to
  exercise the mission which God has entrusted to
  the Church. There exists a true equality among
  them in their dignity as children of God.

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Introduction

• Saint Paul compares the Church the Body of
  Christ with the human body, that is, a single
  body with different parts all together.
• In the body of the Church, the Head is Jesus
  Christ and the different parts, the Christians on
  earth, in Purgatory and in Heaven. This singular
  composition of the Church is called the Mystical
  Body of Christ.
• The mission that corresponds to each one differs
  according to his or her function in the Church.
  All of them have their own responsibility.

BRAMANTINO The Risen Christ c. 1490 Oil on panel,
109 x 75 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
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Main ideas
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1. The Church is governed by the Pope and the
Bishops

• The Pope and the bishops make up the Hierarchy,
  which rules the People of God helped by the
  priests and the deacons. We should love and obey
  the Hierarchy.
• Its mission is
• to teach the doctrine of Jesus Christ
• to sanctify with the sacraments
• to govern the Church declaring laws that bind us
  in conscience, judging and punishing if
  necessary.

GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico Calling of the
Apostles 1481 Fresco, 349 x 570 cm Cappella
Sistina, Vatican
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2. The Pope

• The Roman Pontiff is the successor of Peter, the
  Vicar of Christ on earth and visible head of the
  whole Church, with supreme power over each and
  every shepherd and faithful.
• Moreover, by divine will, the Pope is infallible
  and, as supreme teacher of the whole Church,
  cannot err when teaching about a doctrine
  pertaining to faith or morals.

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3. The bishops

• By divine institution, Bishops are the successors
  of the Apostles.
• A bishop to whom a particular Church has been
  entrusted governs that Church with the authority
  of his own sacred power. This power is ordinary,
  immediate and exercised in the name of Christ,
  the Good Shepherd, in communion with the entire
  Church and under the guidance of the successor of
  Peter.
• they do proclaim infallibly the doctrine of
  Christ () when () 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 (Lumen
  gentium 25)

UNKNOWN MASTER, Catalan Christ and the Twelve
Apostles c. 1100 Wood, 103 x 130 cm Museu
Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona
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4. The presbiters or priests of the second order
and the deacons

• Priests are Christs ministers who, under the
  bishops authority,
• collaborate with him preaching the Gospel,
• sanctifying the faithful and leading Christian
  people to salvation,
• mainly through the Sacraments of Penance and the
  Eucharist.
• Deacons have received an inferior degree of the
  Sacrament of the Holy Order. They are not
  priests.
• They receive ordination in order to serve Gods
  People, in union with the bishop and all the
  priests of his diocese, in the ministry of
  liturgy, in preaching and in charity.

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5. The laity

• The greatest part of the People of God consists
  of the laity. Lay people are those faithful
  Christians besides clergy and religious who,
  incorporated to Christ by baptism, form the
  People of God.
• They participate, in their own particular way, in
  the priestly, prophetic and royal functions of
  Christ.
• They have to be witnesses of Christ wherever they
  live, and are called to be holy, the same as the
  other members of the Church.

BASSANO, Jacopo Adoration of the
Shepherds 1544-45 Oil on canvas, 139,5 x 219
cm Royal Collection, Windsor
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6. The religious

• Religious are those faithful who live apart from
  the cares of this world in order to profess the
  evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and
  obedience.
• Thus, they give admirable testimony that the
  world can neither be transformed nor offered to
  God without the spirit of the beatitudes.
• In this way, they contribute to the good of the
  entire Church and to the fulfilment of her
  salvific mission.

MAGNASCO, Alessandro Prayer of the Penitent
Monks Oil on canvas, 57 x 43 cm Private collection
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Resolutions for Christian life
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Resolutions to move forward

• Think about the task that Christ gave us of
  fulfilling the mission of the Church, and draw
  conclusions.
• Pray frequently for the Pope and the bishops,
  especially for the bishop of your diocese. This
  can be done during Holy Mass.