Whenever we recite the Apostles or Nicene Creed we profess our belief in the Four Marks of the Church: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. Our present focus on the election of a new successor to Peter, the first pope, highlights these fundamental characteristics of the Church that Jesus established, but most especially the apostolic quality which speaks to the papacy in a most noteworthy manner. Apostolicity thus will be the focus of the following reflections.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church declares plainly: "The Church is apostolic because she is founded on the apostles." Furthermore, "she continues to be taught, sanctified, and guided by the apostles until Christ’s return, through their successors in pastoral office… in union with the successor of Peter, the Church’s supreme pastor" (CCC 857).
While all of the bishops share in the ministry of teaching, sanctifying and governing God’s people, the pope, as Peter’s successor, has the particularly challenging task of effectively doing for the Church’s bishops what they are called to do for the priests, religious and laity. This duty brings to mind a seldom used title for the pope: Servant of the Servants of God. Just as Peter served his fellow Apostles, so also the pope serves, in so many ways, his fellow bishops throughout the world.
Many of the recent news stories have suggested that the new pope needs to be someone willing and able to reform the bureaucracy in the Vatican. Perhaps this improvement is needed. However, the essential role of the Supreme Pontiff must not be forgotten because of this or that particular need of the Church in our day.
As Peter’s successor, the pope holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven given to Peter by Christ as a sign of His authority and infallibility that safeguards the Deposit of Faith passed down from generation to generation through apostolic succession. The Church is able in effect to remain one, holy and catholic precisely because she is apostolic. The unity, sanctity and universality that Christ built into the Church that He established are enduring qualities because the Holy Spirit continues to influence and guide the apostles of our day—namely, the bishops in union with the pope.
The Catechism develops this notion further. "The whole Church is apostolic, in that she remains, through the successors of St. Peter and the other apostles, in communion of faith and life with her origin: and in that she is ‘sent out’ into the whole world. All members of the Church share in this mission, though in various ways" (CCC 863). At Pentecost, the Apostles, filled with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, preached to people of all nations, generating the fruit of countless new disciples of Jesus. We are effectively the successors of those early disciples and, like them, we are called to pass on the teachings of Christ to the next generation of potential believers. This duty to evangelize thus makes us all apostles—those sent out—who share in the mission of Jesus to proclaim the Good News to all nations.
The apostolic nature of the Church hence comes full circle. Each of us is expected to share in the apostolic activity of the Church’s present-day apostles, the bishops. Each of us must witness to the saving power of Jesus’ death and resurrection. And each of us is united to the office of Peter and of his successor, the pope, through respectful obedience and prayerful support. May we all be worthy members and building blocks of Christ’s Apostolic Church.
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