Sect. 11Organization of the Apostolate (Continued).—organization of the Teaching BodyOrganization of the Apostolate (Continued).—organization of the Teaching Body

On the basis of what has been laid down in the foregoing section, we now proceed to treat of the organization of the members of the Apostolate, the allotment among them of apostolic powers and privileges, and more especially of the gift of infallibility.

It is manifest that there exists for the purposes of the Apostolate a number of different organs adjusted together so as to form one well-ordered whole, the several members of which share, according to their rank, in the various powers and privileges of the Apostolate. Taken in a wide sense, this body embraces all the members of the Church Teaching who in any way co-operate in the attainment of the ends of the Apostolate. In a narrower sense, however, the Teaching Body is understood to consist only of the highest members of the Hierarchy of Orders, who are at the same time by Divine institution the ordinary members of the Hierarchy of Jurisdiction, viz. the Pope and the Bishops. In them the fulness of the Apostolate resides, whereas the lower members are only their auxiliaries. We shall treat first of the organization of the Teaching Body itself; then of its auxiliaries; and lastly of its connection with the body of the Faithful.

I. The principles which determine the composition of the Teaching Body are the following:—

1. The first object to be attained by means of the Apostolate is the universal diffusion of Revelation, paving the way for supernatural Faith. For this purpose a number of consecrated organs of the Holy Ghost are required, to be authentic witnesses and teachers. As representatives of Christ, they must be endowed with a doctrinal authority corresponding to their rank, and must have power to appoint auxiliaries and to superintend and direct the Faith of their subjects.

2. The second object of the Apostolate is to produce unity of Faith and doctrine. To accomplish this, one supreme representative of Christ is required, to preside over the whole organization, and to possess a universal and sovereign doctrinal power.

3. The unity resulting from this sovereign power is threefold: material unity of the Teaching Body, consisting in the juridical union of the members with their Head, in virtue of which they have and hold their functions—a unity resulting from the administrative power of their Head; harmonic and external unity in the activity of the members, arising from the power of superintendence; and formal and intrinsic unity of doctrine and Faith, produced by authoritative definition.

4. The unity of the Teaching Body is not that of a lifeless machine but of a living organism. Each member is formed to the likeness of the Head by God Himself, Who gives life to Head and members alike through the action of the Holy Ghost.

II. The original members of the Apostolate chosen by Christ Himself for the fundamental promulgation and propagation of the Gospel possessed the attributes of the Apostolate in an eminent degree. This was necessary in view of the objects they had to attain. Their superiority over their successors appears in the authenticity of the testimony of each of them taken individually, in the authoritative power to teach conferred upon all of them and not restricted to the chief Apostle, and lastly in the personal infallibility of every one of them. As they were the first witnesses of the doctrine of Christ they were not only the channels but also the sources of the Faith of every age, and therefore it was necessary that their testimony should be endowed with a special internal and external perfection. The internal perfection arose from the fact of their being eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses of the whole Revelation, and of their being so filled with the Holy Ghost that each of them possessed a complete and infallible knowledge of revealed doctrine; while the external perfection was the gift of miracles, by which they were enabled to confirm the authenticity of their testimony. Again, the Apostles were to give an efficient support to their Chief—who was to be the permanent foundation of the Church—in the original establishment of the kingdom of God upon earth, and particularly in the original promulgation of Christian truth. Each of them therefore received the same authority to teach as their Chief, although it was not purely and simply a sovereign authority. And, lastly, their infallibility was a necessary consequence of the authenticity of their testimony and the assistance of the Holy Ghost.

This view of the eminent character of the Apostolate as possessed by its original members is proved more by their conduct than by positive texts of Scripture. Besides, it is and always has been the view held by the whole Church.

III. As soon as the original and fundamental promulgation of the Gospel was complete there was no longer any necessity for the extraordinary Apostolate. Another object had now to be obtained: the conservation and consolidation of the apostolic doctrine in the Church. The place of the extraordinary Apostolate was taken by the Episcopate, i.e. the body of the ordinary members of the hierarchy established for the transmission of the grace and truth of Christ and the government of the Church. This Episcopal Apostolate is a continuation of the primitive Apostolate, and must therefore be derived from the Apostles; it must also in its nature and organization be homogeneous with the original, and yet at the same time must in some respects be different. The doctrinal and other personal and extraordinary powers of the Apostles ceased at their death. Their Head, in whom these powers were ordinary, alone transmitted them to his successors. In these, then, is invested the power of completing and perpetuating the Teaching Body by admitting into it new and duly authorized members. The Sovereign Pontiffs are the bond that unites the Bishops among themselves and connects them uninterruptedly with the primitive Apostolate. The Popes thus represent the original apostolic power in an eminent degree, wherefore their see is called emphatically the Apostolic See.

IV. The Apostolate has still, on the whole, the same objects as it originally had, and consequently must still be so constituted that it can give authentic and authoritative testimony; in other words, it must possess infallibility in doctrinal matters. Although this infallibility is no longer found in the individual members, nevertheless it can and ought to result from the unanimous testimony of the whole body. It ought, because otherwise universal Faith would be impossible; nay, universal heresy might take its place. It can, and as a matter of fact does, result, because the assistance of the Holy Ghost cannot be wanting to the Teaching Body as a whole, and the unanimous consent of all its members is a sure token that they reproduce the testimony of the Spirit of truth. Personal infallibility as a witness cannot be claimed even by the Chief of the Episcopate any more than by the subordinate members. Nevertheless when he pronounces a sovereign judgment in matters of Revelation, binding upon all, teachers as well as taught, he can and ought to be infallible. He ought, because otherwise the unity of Faith might turn into a unity of heresy. He can be, and in fact is infallible, because the Holy Ghost, the Guide of all Christ’s representatives, cannot abandon the highest representative precisely in that very act which is the most essential expression of His assistance, and which in case of error would lead the whole Church astray. And, à fortiori, when the Head and the members of the Teaching Body are unanimous, their testimony is infallible. However, taken apart from the testimony of their Head, the testimony of even all the Bishops would not constitute an obligatory doctrinal definition, but simply a strong presumption. The Sovereign Pontiff alone can pronounce such a definition by reason of his universal jurisdiction, and then only in that exercise of it which enforces the unity of Faith in the whole Church.

V. The two Apostolates, or rather the two forms of the Apostolate, must however have certain points of difference, as indeed may be gathered from what has just been said. The Bishops are not, as the Apostles were, immediately chosen by Christ, but are selected by members of the Church. In the case of the Chief Bishop the person is designated by the members and then receives, not indeed from them but directly and immediately from Christ, the powers inherent in his office; the other Bishops are appointed to a particular see by the Chief Bishop, and receive their jurisdiction from him. Besides, he alone inherits the fulness of the Apostolate. Moreover, if we consider the authenticity of the testimony of the Bishops we must hold that the office of witness is conferred upon them directly by Christ in the sacrament of Orders; their admission to the office by the Sovereign Pontiff is merely a condition required for its lawful exercise. Nevertheless they are not eye and ear witnesses of what they teach. They gather their knowledge from intermediate witnesses or from the written documents, and do not possess individually the gift of infallibility.

The infallibility of the Church assumes a twofold form, corresponding with the twofold action of the Holy Ghost as Lord and Life-giver. As Lord, He gives infallibility to the governing Chief: as Life-giver, He bestows it on the entire Body, Head and members. The infallibility of the Head is required to produce universal unity of Faith; the infallibility of the Body is required to prevent a disastrous conflict between the Body and its Head, and also to deliver the mass of the Faithful from the danger of being led astray by their ordinary teachers in cases where no decision has been given by the Holy See. The two forms, moreover, support and strengthen each other mutually, and prove the Apostolate to be a masterpiece of that Divine Wisdom “which reacheth from end to end mightily and disposeth all things sweetly” (Wisd. 8:1).