WISDOM OF Pope Leo XIV Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome! We will continue our catecheses on the Documents of the Second Vatican Council, commenting on the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium on the Church (LG). After presenting her as the People of God, today we will consider her hierarchical form. The Catholic Church is founded on the Apostles, whom Christ appointed as the living pillars of His mystical Body, and possesses a hierarchical structure that works in the service of the unity, mission and sanctification of all her members. This sacred Order is permanently founded on the Apostles (cf. Eph 2:20; Rev 21:14), as authoritative witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus (cf. Acts 1:22; 1 Cor 15:7) and sent by the Lord Himself on mission into the world (cf. Mk 16:15; Mt 28:19). Since the Apostles are called to faithfully preserve the Master’s salvific teaching (cf. 2 Tim 1:13–14), they hand on their ministry to men who, until Christ’s return, continue to sanctify, guide and instruct the Church “through their successors in pastoral office” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 857). This apostolic succession, founded on the Gospel and in the Tradition, is explored further in Chapter III of Lumen gentium, entitled “On the hierarchical structure of the Church and in particular on the Episcopate”. The Council teaches that the hierarchical structure is not a human construct, functional to the internal organization of the Church as a social body (cf. LG, 8), but a divine institution whose purpose is to perpetuate the mission given by Christ to the Apostles until the end of time. The fact that this theme is addressed in Chapter III, after the first two chapters have considered the very essence of the Church (cf. Acta Synodalia III/1, 209–210), does not imply that the hierarchical constitution is a subsequent element with respect to the People of God: as the Decree Ad gentes notes, “the Apostles were the first budding-forth of the New Israel, and at the same time the beginning of the sacred hierarchy” (no. 5), inasmuch as they were the community of those redeemed by Christ’s Paschal Mystery, established as a means of salvation for the world. GENERAL AUDIENCE St. Peter’s Square Wednesday, March 18, 2026 Continuing series of Catechesis by Pope Leo XIV dedicated to Vatican Council II and its documents to “rediscover the beauty and importance of this ecclesial event.” Quotation from General Audience January 7, 2026 Catechesis. The Documents of Vatican Council II. II. Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium. 5. On the foundation of the Apostles. The Church in her hierarchical dimension"
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==