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11. A diocese is a portion of the people of God which is entrusted
to a bishop to be shepherded by him with the cooperation of the
presbytery. Thus by adhering to its pastor and gathered together by
him through the Gospel and the Eucharist in the Holy Spirit, it
constitutes a particular church in which the one, holy, catholic, and
apostolic Church of Christ is truly present and operative.
Individual bishops who have been entrusted with the care of a
particular church-under the authority of the supreme pontiff-feed
their sheep in the name of the Lord as their own, ordinary, and
immediate pastors, performing for them the office of teaching,
sanctifying, and governing. Nevertheless, they should recognize the
rights which legitimately belong to patriarchs or other hierarchical
authorities.[16]
Bishops should dedicate themselves to their apostolic office as witness
of Christ before all men. They should not only look after those who
already follow the Prince of Pastors but should also wholeheartedly
devote themselves to those who have strayed in any way from the path of
truth or are ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and His saving mercy
until finally all men walk "in all goodness and justice and truth"
(Eph. 5:9).
12. In exercising their duty of teaching-which is conspicuous among
the principal duties of bishops[17]-they should announce the Gospel
of Christ to men, calling them to a faith in the power of the Spirit
or confirming them in a living faith. They should expound the whole
mystery of Christ to them, namely, those truths the ignorance of
which is ignorance of Christ. At the same time they should point out
the divinely revealed way to give glory to God and thereby to attain to
eternal happiness.[18]
They should show, moreover, that earthly goods and human institutions
according to the plan of God the Creator are also disposed for man's
salvation and therefore can contribute much to the building up of the
body of Christ.
Therefore, they should teach, according to the doctrine of the
Church, the great value of these things: the human person with his
freedom and bodily life, the family and its unity and stability, the
procreation and education of children, civil society with its laws and
professions, labor and leisure, the arts and technical inventions,
poverty and affluence. Finally, they should set forth the ways by
which are to be answered the most serious questions concerning the
ownership, increase, and just distribution of material goods, peace
and war, and brotherly relations among all countries.[19]
13. The bishops should present Christian doctrine in a manner
adapted to the needs of the times, that is to say, in a manner that
will respond to the difficulties and questions by which people are
especially burdened and troubled. They should also guard that
doctrine, teaching the faithful to defend and propagate it. In
propounding this doctrine they should manifest the maternal solicitude
of the Church toward all men whether they be believers or not. With a
special affection they should attend upon the poor and the lower classes
to whom the Lord sent them to preach the Gospel.
Since it is the mission of the Church to converse with the human
society in which it lives,[20] it is especially the duty of bishops
to seek out men and both request and promote dialogue with them. These
conversations on salvation ought to be noted for clarity of speech as
well as humility and mildness in order that at all times truth may be
joined to charity and understanding with love. Likewise they should be
noted for due prudence joined with trust, which fosters friendship and
thus is capable of bringing about a union of minds.[21]
They should also strive to make use of the various media at hand
nowadays for proclaiming Christian doctrine, namely, first of all,
preaching and catechetical instruction which always hold the first
place, then the presentation of this doctrine in schools, academies,
conferences, and meetings of every kind, and finally its dissemination
through public statements at times of outstanding events as well as by
the press and various other media of communication, which by all means
ought to be used in proclaiming the Gospel of Christ.[22]
14. Bishops should take pains that catechetical instruction-which
is intended to make the faith, as illumined by teaching, a vital,
explicit and effective force in the lives of men-be given with sedulous
care to both children and adolescents, youths and adults. In this
instruction a suitable arrangement should be observed as well as a
method suited to the matter that is being treated and to the character,
ability, age, and circumstances of the life of the students.
Finally, they should see to it that this instruction is based on
Sacred Scripture, tradition, the liturgy, magisterium, and life of
the Church.
Moreover, they should take care that catechists be properly trained
for their function so that they will be thoroughly acquainted with the
doctrine of the Church and will have both a theoretical and a practical
knowledge of the laws of psychology and of pedagogical methods.
Bishops should also strive to renew or at least adapt in a better way
the instruction of adult catechumens.
15. In exercising their office of sanctifying, bishops should be
mindful that they have been taken from among men and appointed their
representative before God in order to offer gifts and sacrifices for
sins. Bishops enjoy the fullness of the sacrament of orders and both
presbyters and deacons are dependent upon them in the exercise of their
authority. For the presbyters are the prudent fellow workers of the
episcopal order and are themselves consecrated as true priests of the
New Testament, just as deacons are ordained for the ministry and
serve the people of God in communion with the bishop and his
presbytery. Therefore bishops are the principal dispensers of the
mysteries of God, as well as being the governors, promoters, and
guardians of the entire liturgical life in the church committed to
them.[23]
They should, therefore, constantly exert themselves to have the
faithful know and live the paschal mystery more deeply through the
Eucharist and thus become a firmly-knit body in the unity of the
charity of Christ.[24] "Intent upon prayer and the ministry of the
word" (Acts 6:4), they should devote their labor to this end
that all those committed to their care may be of one mind in
prayer[25] and through the reception of the sacraments may grow in
grace and be faithful witnesses to the Lord.
As those who lead others to perfection, bishops should be diligent in
fostering holiness among their clerics, religious, and laity according
to the special vocation of each.[26] They should also be mindful
of their obligation to give an example of holiness in charity,
humility, and simplicity of life. Let them so hallow the churches
entrusted to them that the feeling of the universal Church of Christ
may shine forth fully in them. For that reason they should foster
priestly and religious vocations as much as possible, and should take a
special interest in missionary vocations.
16. In exercising their office of father and pastor, bishops should
stand in the midst of their people as those who serve.[27] Let
them be good shepherds who know their sheep and whose sheep know them.
Let them be true fathers who excel in the spirit of love and solicitude
for all and to whose divinely conferred authority all gratefully submit
themselves. Let them so gather and mold the whole family of their
flock that everyone, conscious of his own duties, may live and work in
the communion of love.
In order effectively to accomplish these things, bishops, "ready for
every good work" (2 Tim. 2:21) and "enduring all things for
the sake of the chosen ones" (2 Tim. 2:10), should arrange
their life in such a way as to accommodate it to the needs of our
times.
Bishops should always embrace priests with a special love since the
latter to the best of their ability assume the bishops' anxieties and
carry them on day by day so zealously. They should regard the priests
as sons and friends[28] and be ready to listen to them. Through
their trusting familiarity with their priests they should strive to
promote the whole pastoral work of the entire diocese.
They should be solicitous for the spiritual, intellectual and material
welfare of the priests so that the latter can live holy and pious lives
and fulfill their ministry faithfully and fruitfully. Therefore, they
should encourage institutes and hold special meetings in which priests
might gather from time to time both for the performance of longer
exercises and the renewal of their spiritual life and for the
acquisition of deeper subjects, especially Sacred Scripture and
theology, the more important social questions, and the new methods of
pastoral activity.
With active mercy bishops should pursue priests who are involved in any
danger or who have failed in certain respects.
In order to be able to look more closely to the welfare of the faithful
according to the condition of each one, bishops should strive to become
duly acquainted with their needs in the social circumstances in which
they live. Therefore, they ought to employ suitable methods,
especially social research. They should manifest their concern for
everyone, no matter what their age, condition, or nationality, be
they natives, strangers, or foreigners. In exercising this pastoral
care they should preserve for their faithful the share proper to them in
Church affairs; they should also respect their duty and right of
actively collaborating in the building up of the Mystical Body of
Christ.
They should deal lovingly with the separated brethren, urging the
faithful also to conduct themselves with great kindness and charity in
their regard and fostering ecumenism as it is understood by the
Church.[29] They should also have a place in their hearts for the
non-baptized so that upon them too there may shine the charity of
Christ Jesus, to whom the bishops are witnesses before all men.
17. Various forms of the apostolate should be encouraged, and in
the whole diocese or in any particular areas of it the coordination and
close connection of all apostolic works should be fostered under the
direction of the bishop. Thus all undertakings and organizations, be
they catechetical, missionary, charitable, social, familial,
educational, or anything else pursuing a pastoral aim, should be
directed toward harmonious action. Thus at the same time the unity of
the diocese will also be made more evident.
The faithful should be earnestly urged to assume their duty of carrying
on the apostolate, each according to his state in life and ability.
They should be admonished to participate in and give aid to the various
works of the apostolate of the laity, especially Catholic Action.
Those associations should also be promoted and supported which either
directly or indirectly pursue a supernatural objective, that is,
either the attaining of a more perfect life, the spreading of the
Gospel of Christ to all men, and the promoting of Christian doctrine
or the increase of public worship, or the pursuing of social aims or
the performing of works of piety and charity.
The forms of the apostolate should be properly adapted to the needs of
the present day with regard not only for man's spiritual and moral
circumstances but also for his social, demographic, and economic
conditions. Religious and social research, through offices of
pastoral sociology, contributes much to the efficacious and fruitful
attainment of that goal, and it is highly recommended.
18. Special concern should be shown for those among the faithful
who, on account of their way of life, cannot sufficiently make use of
the common and ordinary pastoral care of parish priests or are quite cut
off from it. Among this group are the majority of migrants, exiles
and refugees, seafarers, air-travelers, gypsies, and others of this
kind. Suitable pastoral methods should also be promoted to sustain the
spiritual life of those who go to other lands for a time for the sake of
recreation.
Episcopal conferences, especially national ones, should pay special
attention to the very pressing problems concerning the above-mentioned
groups. Through voluntary agreement and united efforts, they should
look to and promote their spiritual care by means of suitable methods
and institutions. They should also bear in mind the special rules
either already laid down or to be laid down by the Apostolic
See[30] which can be wisely adapted to the circumstances of time,
place, and persons.
19. In discharging their apostolic office, which concerns the
salvation of souls, bishops per se enjoy full and perfect freedom and
independence from any civil authority. Hence, the exercise of their
ecclesiastical office may not be hindered, directly or indirectly, nor
may they be forbidden to communicate freely with the Apostolic See,
or ecclesiastical authorities, or their subjects.
Assuredly, while sacred pastors devote themselves to the spiritual
care of their flock, they also in fact have regard for their social and
civil progress and prosperity. According to the nature of their office
and as behooves bishops, they collaborate actively with public
authorities for this purpose and advocate obedience to just laws and
reverence for legitimately constituted authorities.
20. Since the apostolic office of bishops was instituted by Christ
the Lord and pursues a spiritual and supernatural purpose, this sacred
ecumenical synod declares that the right of nominating and appointing
bishops belongs properly, peculiarly, and per se exclusively to the
competent ecclesiastical authority.
Therefore, for the purpose of duly protecting the freedom of the
Church and of promoting more conveniently and efficiently the welfare
of the faithful, this holy council desires that in future no more
rights or privileges of election, nomination, presentation, or
designation for the office of bishop be granted to civil authorities.
The civil authorities, on the other hand, whose favorable attitude
toward the Church the sacred synod gratefully acknowledges and highly
appreciates, are most kindly requested voluntarily to renounce the
above-mentioned rights and privileges which they presently enjoy by
reason of a treaty or custom, after discussing the matter with the
Apostolic See.
21. Since the pastoral office of bishops is so important and
weighty, diocesan bishops and others regarded in law as their equals,
who have become less capable of fulfilling their duties properly because
of the increasing burden of age or some other serious reason, are
earnestly requested to offer their resignation from office either at
their own initiative or upon the invitation of the competent authority.
If the competent authority should accept the resignation, it will make
provision both for the suitable support of those who have resigned and
for special rights to be accorded them.
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