DOGMATIC
CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH
LUMEN
GENTIUM
SOLEMNLY PROMULGATED BY HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON NOVEMBER 21, 1964
...
CHAPTER
II
ON
THE PEOPLE OF GOD
...
10.
Christ the Lord, High Priest taken from among men,(100) made the new people
"a kingdom and priests to God the Father".(101) The baptized, by
regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated as a
spiritual house and a holy priesthood, in order that through all those works
which are those of the Christian man they may offer spiritual sacrifices and
proclaim the power of Him who has called them out of darkness into His
marvelous light.(102) Therefore all the disciples of Christ, persevering in
prayer and praising God,(103) should present themselves as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God.(104) Everywhere on earth they must bear witness to
Christ and give an answer to those who seek an account of that hope of eternal
life which is in them.(105)
Though
they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common
priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are
nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a
participation in the one priesthood of Christ.(2*) The ministerial priest, by
the sacred power he enjoys, teaches and rules the priestly people; acting in
the person of Christ, he makes present the eucharistic sacrifice, and offers it
to God in the name of all the people. But the faithful, in virtue of their
royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist.(3*) They likewise
exercise that priesthood in receiving the sacraments, in prayer and
thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and by self-denial and active
charity.
...
CHAPTER
III
ON
THE HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE OF THE CHURCH AND IN PARTICULAR ON THE EPISCOPATE
...
28.
Christ, whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, (176) has
through His apostles, made their successors, the bishops, partakers of His
consecration and His mission.(62*) They have legitimately handed on to different
individuals in the Church various degrees of participation in this ministry.
Thus the divinely established ecclesiastical ministry is exercised on different
levels by those who from antiquity have been called bishops, priests and
deacons.(63*) Priests, although they do not possess the highest degree of the
priesthood, and although they are dependent on the bishops in the exercise of
their power, nevertheless they are united with the bishops in sacerdotal
dignity.(64*) By the power of the sacrament of Orders,(65*) in the image of
Christ the eternal high Priest,(177) they are consecrated to preach the Gospel
and shepherd be faithful and to celebrate divine worship, so that they are true
priests of the New Testament.(66*) Partakers of the function of Christ the sole
Mediator,(178) on their level of ministry, they announce the divine word to
all. They exercise their sacred function especially in the eucharistic worship
or the celebration of the Mass by which acting in the person of Christ (67*)
and proclaiming His Mystery they unite the prayers of the faithful with the
sacrifice of their Head and renew and apply (68*) in the sacrifice of the Mass
until the coming of the Lord(179) the only sacrifice of the New Testament
namely that of Christ offering Himself once for all a spotless Victim to the
Father.(180) For the sick and the sinners among the faithful, they exercise the
ministry of alleviation and reconciliation and they present the needs and the
prayers of the faithful to God the Father.(181) Exercising within the limits of
their authority the function of Christ as Shepherd and Head,(69*) they gather
together God's family as a brotherhood all of one mind,(70*) and lead them in
the Spirit, through Christ, to God the Father. In the midst of the flock they adore
Him in spirit and in truth.(182) Finally, they labor in word and doctrine,(183)
believing what they have read and meditated upon in the law of God, teaching
what they have believed, and putting in practice in their own lives what they
have taught.(71*)
Priests,
prudent cooperators with the episcopal order,(72*) its aid and instrument,
called to serve the people of God, constitute one priesthood (73*) with their
bishop although bound by a diversity of duties. Associated with their bishop in
a spirit of trust and generosity, they make him present in a certain sense in
the individual local congregations, and take upon themselves, as far as they
are able, his duties and the burden of his care, and discharge them with a
daily interest. And as they sanctify and govern under the bishop's authority,
that part of the Lord's flock entrusted to them they make the universal Church
visible in their own locality and bring an efficacious assistance to the
building up of the whole body of Christ.(184) intent always upon the welfare of
God's children, they must strive to lend their effort to the pastoral work of
the whole diocese, and even of the entire Church. On account of this sharing in
their priesthood and mission, let priests sincerely look upon the bishop as
their father and reverently obey him. And let the bishop regard his priests as
his co-workers and as sons and friends, just as Christ called His disciples now
not servants but friends.(185) All priests, both diocesan and religious, by
reason of Orders and ministry, fit into this body of bishops and priests, and
serve the good of the whole Church according to their vocation and the grace
given to them.
In
virtue of their common sacred ordination and mission, all priests are bound
together in intimate brotherhood, which naturally and freely manifests itself
in mutual aid, spiritual as well as material, pastoral as well as personal, in
their meetings and in communion of life, of labor and charity.
Let
them, as fathers in Christ, take care of the faithful whom they have begotten
by baptism and their teaching.(186) Becoming from the heart a pattern to the
flock,(187) let them so lead and serve their local community that it may
worthily be called by that name, by which the one and entire people of God is
signed, namely, the Church of God.(188) Let them remember that by their daily
life and interests they are showing the face of a truly sacerdotal and pastoral
ministry to the faithful and the infidel, to Catholics and non-Catholics, and
that to all they bear witness to the truth and life, and as good shepherds go
after those also,(189) who though baptized in the Catholic Church have fallen
away from the use of the sacraments, or even from the faith.
Because
the human race today is joining more and more into a civic, economic and social
unity, it is that much the more necessary that priests, by combined effort and
aid, under the leadership of the bishops and the Supreme Pontiff, wipe out
every kind of separateness, so that the whole human race may be brought into
the unity of the family of God.
CHAPTER
IV
THE
LAITY
33.
The laity are gathered together in the People of God and make up the Body of
Christ under one head. Whoever they are they are called upon, as living
members, to expend all their energy for the growth of the Church and its
continuous sanctification, since this very energy is a gift of the Creator and
a blessing of the Redeemer.
The
lay apostolate, however, is a participation in the salvific mission of the
Church itself. Through their baptism and confirmation all are commissioned to
that apostolate by the Lord Himself. Moreover, by the sacraments, especially
holy Eucharist, that charity toward God and man which is the soul of the
apostolate is communicated and nourished. Now the laity are called in a special
way to make the Church present and operative in those places and circumstances
where only through them can it become the salt of the earth (2*). Thus every
layman, in virtue of the very gifts bestowed upon him, is at the same time a
witness and a living instrument of the mission of the Church itself
"according to the measure of Christ's bestowal".(197)
Besides
this apostolate which certainly pertains to all Christians, the laity can also
be called in various ways to a more direct form of cooperation in the apostolate
of the Hierarchy (3*). This was the way certain men and women assisted Paul the
Apostle in the Gospel, laboring much in the Lord.(198) Further, they have the
capacity to assume from the Hierarchy certain ecclesiastical functions, which
are to be performed for a spiritual purpose.
Upon
all the laity, therefore, rests the noble duty of working to extend the divine
plan of salvation to all men of each epoch and in every land. Consequently, may
every opportunity be given them so that, according to their abilities and the
needs of the times, they may zealously participate in the saving work of the
Church.
...
CHAPTER
V
THE
UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS IN THE CHURCH
...
41.
The classes and duties of life are many, but holiness is one-that sanctity
which is cultivated by all who are moved by the Spirit of God, and who obey the
voice of the Father and worship God the Father in spirit and in truth. These
people follow the poor Christ, the humble and cross-bearing Christ in order to
be worthy of being sharers in His glory. Every person must walk unhesitatingly
according to his own personal gifts and duties in the path of living faith,
which arouses hope and works through charity.
In
the first place, the shepherds of Christ's flock must holily and eagerly, humbly
and courageously carry out their ministry, in imitation of the eternal high
Priest, the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls. They ought to fulfill this duty
in such a way that it will be the principal means also of their own
sanctification. Those chosen for the fullness of the priesthood are granted the
ability of exercising the perfect duty of pastoral charity by the grace of the
sacrament of Orders. This perfect duty of pastoral charity (5*) is exercised in
every form of episcopal care and service, prayer, sacrifice and preaching. By
this same sacramental grace, they are given the courage necessary to lay down
their lives for their sheep, and the ability of promoting greater holiness in
the Church by their daily example, having become a pattern for their
flock.(224)
Priests,
who resemble bishops to a certain degree in their participation of the
sacrament of Orders, form the spiritual crown of the bishops.(6*) They
participate in the grace of their office and they should grow daily in their
love of God and their neighbor by the exercise of their office through Christ,
the eternal and unique Mediator. They should preserve the bond of priestly
communion, and they should abound in every spiritual good and thus present to
all men a living witness to God.(7*) All this they should do in emulation of
those priests who often, down through the course of the centuries, left an
outstanding example of the holiness of humble and hidden service. Their praise
lives on in the Church of God. By their very office of praying and offering
sacrifice for their own people and the entire people of God, they should rise
to greater holiness. Keeping in mind what they are doing and imitating what
they are handling,(8*) these priests, in their apostolic labors, rather than
being ensnared by perils and hardships, should rather rise to greater holiness
through these perils and hardships. They should ever nourish and strengthen
their action from an abundance of contemplation, doing all this for the comfort
of the entire Church of God. All priests, and especially those who are called
"diocesan priests," due to the special title of their ordination,
should keep continually before their minds the fact that their faithful loyalty
toward and their generous cooperation with their bishop is of the greatest
value in their growth in holiness.
Ministers
of lesser rank are also sharers in the mission and grace of the Supreme Priest.
In the first place among these ministers are deacons, who, in as much as they
are dispensers of Christ's mysteries and servants of the Church,(9*) should
keep themselves free from every vice and stand before men as personifications
of goodness and friends of God.(225) Clerics, who are called by the Lord and
are set aside as His portion in order to prepare themselves for the various
ministerial offices under the watchful eye of spiritual shepherds, are bound to
bring their hearts and minds into accord with this special election (which is
theirs). They will accomplish this by their constancy in prayer, by their
burning love, and by their unremitting recollection of whatever is true, just
and of good repute. They will accomplish all this for the glory and honor of
God. Besides these already named, there are also laymen, chosen of God and
called by the bishop. These laymen spend themselves completely in apostolic
labors, working the Lord's field with much success.(10*).
Furthermore,
married couples and Christian parents should follow their own proper path (to
holiness) by faithful love. They should sustain one another in grace throughout
the entire length of their lives. They should embue their offspring, lovingly
welcomed as God's gift, with Christian doctrine and the evangelical virtues. In
this manner, they offer all men the example of unwearying and generous love; in
this way they build up the brotherhood of charity; in so doing, they stand as
the witnesses and cooperators in the fruitfulness of Holy Mother Church; by
such lives, they are a sign and a participation in that very love, with which
Christ loved His Bride and for which He delivered Himself up for her.(11*) A
like example, but one given in a different way, is that offered by widows and
single people, who are able to make great contributions toward holiness and
apostolic endeavor in the Church. Finally, those who engage in labor-and
frequently it is of a heavy nature- should better themselves by their human
labors. They should be of aid to their fellow citizens. They should raise all
of society, and even creation itself, to a better mode of existence. Indeed,
they should imitate by their lively charity, in their joyous hope and by their
voluntary sharing of each others' burdens, the very Christ who plied His hands
with carpenter's tools and Who in union with His Father, is continually working
for the salvation of all men. In this, then, their daily work they should climb
to the heights of holiness and apostolic activity.
May
all those who are weighed down with poverty, infirmity and sickness, as well as
those who must bear various hardships or who suffer persecution for justice
sake-may they all know they are united with the suffering Christ in a special
way for the salvation of the world. The Lord called them blessed in His Gospel
and they are those whom "the God of all graces, who has called us unto His
eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself, after we have suffered a little
while, perfect, strengthen and establish".(226)
Finally
all Christ's faithful, whatever be the conditions, duties and circumstances of
their lives-and indeed through all these, will daily increase in holiness, if
they receive all things with faith from the hand of their heavenly Father and
if they cooperate with the divine will. In this temporal service, they will
manifest to all men the love with which God loved the world.