Structure and Nature of the Church

The theme of the body of Christ appears in the letters of Paul (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4–5; Colossians 1). In modern Roman Catholic theology, the term mystical has been added to body, doubtless with the intention of distinguishing the church as body from the juridical society. Pius XII, in the encyclical Mystici corporis Christi (1943; “Mystical Body of Christ”), identified the mystical body with the Roman Catholic Church. Most Roman Catholic theologians now take a less rigorous view, trying to find some way of affirming membership in the body for those who are not members of the Roman Catholic Church. The documents of the Second Vatican Council described the church as the “People of God” and as a “pilgrim church,” but no generally accepted statement of membership in this church has yet emerged. Vatican II also departed from established Roman Catholic theology since the Reformation by using the word church in connection with Protestant churches. This use has caused some confusion, but the trend now is to think of one church divided rather than of one true church and other false churches.

Apostolic succession

The claim of the Roman Catholic Church to be the one legitimate continuation of the community established by Jesus Christ is based on apostolic succession. The idea of apostolic succession first appears in AD 95 in a letter of Clement, bishop of Rome, who maintained that the bishops succeeded the Apostles. The teaching on apostolic succession received fuller expression in the works of the 2nd-century Church Father Irenaeus, whose writings against the Gnostics (dualistic sects that maintained that salvation is not from faith but from esoteric knowledge) urged that Catholic teaching was verified because a continuous succession of teachers, beginning with the Apostles, could be demonstrated. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, problems of schism within churches were resolved by appealing to the power of orders (i.e., the power a person has by reason of his ordination as deacon, priest, or bishop) transmitted by the imposition of hands through a chain from the Apostles. Orders in turn enabled the subject to receive the power of jurisdiction (i.e., the power an ordained person has by reason of his office). In disputes between Rome and the Eastern churches, the idea of apostolic succession was centered in the Roman pontiff, the successor of Peter. Apostolic authority is defined as the power to teach, to administer the sacraments, and to rule the church. Apostolic succession in the Roman Catholic understanding is validated only through recognition by the Roman pontiff, and the Roman Catholic Church understands the designation “apostolic” in the creed as referring to this threefold power under the primacy of the Roman pontiff.

The Roman Catholic Church has not entirely denied apostolic succession to non-Roman churches. Rome recognizes the validity of orders in the Orthodox churches; this means that it recognizes the sacramental power of the priesthood but does not recognize the government of these churches as legitimate. The orders of the Anglican and the Lutheran churches, on the contrary, are not recognized by Rome, though negotiations aimed at resolving the differences between the churches in this regard have been held since Vatican II. Oriental churches in union with Rome (Eastern Catholics) are recognized as being in full apostolic succession. Luther and Calvin affirmed that apostolic succession had been lost in the Roman Catholic Church by doctrinal and moral corruption and that the true church was found only where the gospel was rightly preached and the sacraments were rightly administered. Thus, Protestant churches generally have not accepted the necessity of apostolic succession.  To be continued…