Apostolic Succession
and the Apostolic Activity of the Laity

"Apostolic Succession" has been handily defined in Fr. Peter Stravinskas' book "Catholic Dictionary" (OSV, 2002):

"Bishops of the Church, who form a collective body or college, are successors to the Apostles by ordination and divine right; as such they carry on the mission entrusted by Christ to the Apostles as guardians and teachers of the deposit of faith and as principal pastors and spiritual authorities of the faithful. The doctrine of Apostolic Succession is based on New Testament evidence and the constant teaching of the Church, reflected as early as the end of the first century in a letter of Pope Clement to the Corinthians. A significant facet of the doctrine is the role of the Pope as the successor of St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ and head of the college of bishops. The doctrine of Apostolic Succession means more than continuity of apostolic faith and doctrine; its basic requisite is ordination by the laying on of hands in apostolic succession".

The venerable Fr. John Hardon, S.J., perhaps the most distinguished American theologian of our time, wrote and lectured extensively to motivate the laity to undertake their proper role in the Church and society. He gave this definition of Apostolic Succession in his useful "Pocket Catholic Dictionary" (Image Books, 1985):

"The method by which the episcopacy has been derived from the Apostles to the present day. Succession means successive consecration by the laying on of hands, performing the function of the Apostles, receiving their commission in a lineal sequence from the Apostles, succession in episcopal sees traced back to the Apostles, and successive communion with the Apostolic See, i.e., the Bishop of Rome. The Eastern Orthodox and others share in the apostolic succession in having valid episcopal orders, although they are not in collegial union with the Catholic hierarchy".

Apostolic Succession is clearly an aspect of the property and mark of being "Apostolic" as professed in the immemorial Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 A.D.) recited/sung at Mass /Divine Liturgy: "I/We believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church". It should be observed that this One and Holy and Catholic Church which constituted a visible communion of believers also declared itself to be "Apostolic", that is to say, it is the Church which teaches all the truths contained in the "deposit of faith" transmitted to the Apostles by Christ the Lord. What this singularly One "Apostolic" Church teaches and what it will always teach is the exact doctrine taught by the Twelve Apostles chosen by Christ for the salvation of souls. The same doctrine, moreover, would be taught by those who succeeded the Apostles in their office of teaching, ruling, and sanctifying the faithful in the many churches they would establish until the Second Coming of Christ.

Thus, from the beginnings of the Catholic Church we see recorded in the New Testament and afterwards, that it was the bishops of the Church spread throughout the world headed by the Bishop of Rome who were regarded as the "successors of the Apostles" chosen to govern the Church. These bishops were distinguished from priests and deacons who would also be appointed by the Apostles to an official sacramental ministry in the Church. United to their head and visible center of Unity, the successor of Peter sitting in his Cathedra/Chair at Rome, the bishops of the Catholic communion received by ordination in an unbroken historical transmission the episcopal powers that set them off as the exclusive rulers of the Church of God.

In the writings of Clement of Rome writing to the church of Corinth (c. 96 A.D.) 30 years after the death of St. Paul, founder of that church and while the Apostle John was still alive, we see apostolic succession of bishops as rulers of the Church was an indisputable fact in the life of the Church. This is confirmed in the writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch (107 AD.), St. Irenaeus of Lyons (140-202), Tertullian, (+c. 220 A.D.) St. Cyprian (+2580 and Hippolytus (222 A.D.) who all regarded bishops as Christ's appointed guardians of the apostolic doctrine and the Church's doctrinal purity. St. Irenaeus had this magnificent testimony regarding the need to have recourse to the Apostolic tradition retained in the succession of bishops of the Catholic communion in order to refute the multiple heresies of the 3rd century confusing the faithful:

"Anyone who wishes to discern the truth may see in every church in the whole world the apostolic tradition clear and manifest... This Apostolic tradition has been brought down to us by a succession of bishops in the greatest, most ancient and well-known [Roman] church, founded by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul... For with this church, because of its more effective authority, all churches must agree, that is to say, the faithful of all places, because in it the Apostolic tradition has been always preserved."
(Adversus Haereses III, 3, 1 and 3)

In other words, it is the presence of the Apostolic Succession of Bishops united to their head and center of unity in the Church which guarantees that the Catholic Church of today is identical with the Church of the Apostles founded by Christ. The reality of Apostolic Succession assures the historical and doctrinal continuity of the present Catholic Church with the Church encountered in the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of St. Paul. Moreover, when Christ declared He was founding His Church on the Rock of Peter, He, in effect, identified His "One and only Church" as that unique communion of bishops united to their visible head, the Bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter and heir to Peter's prerogatives as read in the Gospels (Matt. 16: 18-19; Luke: 22: 31-32; Jn. 21: 15-17).

In addition, Our Lord was assuring that His Church would be both indefectible (i.e., ever secure in faith and incorruptible) and infallible (unerring) in teaching that faith by solemn definitions and doctrinal judgments. Though the various separated Eastern Churches have an appreciable measure of apostolicity since they retain the Sacrament of Holy Orders and have a valid Episcopate, possession of the fullness of Apostolic Succession is alone the heritage of the Catholic Church. This is because according to Christ's will, communion with the Apostolic See of Rome is a necessary element for the bishops of local churches to remain a part of the visible Unity of the Church.

Moreover, the indefectibility and Infallibility of the Church are intimately connected to the Petrine ministry of the Pope who serves as the visible head of the whole Church Militant. Those seeking truth and unchanging Orthodoxy of belief and doctrine amidst the trials and storms of history which will often see patriarchs and bishops at odds with one another, will find it where there is the Rock of the Papacy upholding the entire structure and belief of the visible Church. In the immortal words of St.Ambrose facing in the 4th century heretical Arian bishops and others besetting the Church, "Where Peter is, there is the Church." As Vatican II explained:

"[It was] in order that the episcopate might be one and undivided, Christ put Peter at the head of the other Apostles, and in him He set up a lasting visible source and foundation of the unity of faith and communion."

The documents of Vatican II are especially rich in its teaching on Apostolic Succession which serves as the indispensable Bond linking the Church of the present in dogmatic integrity to the Church of the Apostles (See Chapter II and III, Lumen Gentium, #18-22).

No Ecumenical Council in the history of the Church has treated the role of the Laity in Church and State in such great detail and expansiveness than did the 2nd Vatican Council (1962-65). It did so in such documents as its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium - Chaper IV), its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes, September 7, 1965), and Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People (Apostolicam Actuositatem, November 18, 1965). Blessed Pope Paul VI wrote on the distinctive character of the lay apostolate in his Evangelii Nuntiandi calling upon lay people to also evangelize.

Pope St. John Paul II did the same in his Christifideles Laici. The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes handily the place and role and duties of lay people in articles # 897-913. It noted the Mission of the Laity as having been called "to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of being the Church, that is to say, the community of the faithful on earth under the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and of the bishops in communion with him. They [all] are the Church."(#899)

Sharing in their own way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ, the laity possesses a Dual Mission of activity: 1) in the Church and 2) in the temporal order of the states and societies in which they live.

1. As members of the Church they must know Catholic doctrine and bear witness to it in their life and actions by a holy life, fearlessly professing the Faith and living lives of faith, hope, and charity. They are called by God to carry on the mission of the whole Church to the world, and help defend it from the attacks of unbelievers. Parents especially have the obligation to see to the Christian education of their children and to protect them from the moral evils of the day.

2. As citizens of their nation, "By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's will...It pertains to them in a special way so to illuminate and order all temporal things with which they are closely associated that these may always be effected and grow according to Christ and may be to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer."(#898) As a leavening agent, they are to permeate the social, political, economic, and cultural realities of their society with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. (#899)

3. The Church's Magisterium clearly teaches that lay people take on their own distinctive role, not to retreat from secular concerns which impact on life both in Church and society at large, but rather to Christianize the temporal order. Bringing the spirit of the Gospel into secular affairs is the apostolate specific to the laity.The 2nd Vatican Council could not be clearer:

"Laymen should also know that it is generally the function of heir well-formed Christian conscience to see that the divine law is inscribed in the life of the earthly city. From priests they may look for spiritual light and nourishment. Let the layman not imagine that his pastors are always such experts, that to every problem which arises, however complicated, they can readily give him a concrete solution, or even that such is their mission. Rather, enlightened by Christian wisdom and giving close attention to the teaching authority of the Church, let the layman take on his own distinctive role."

Laymen are not monks or cloistered religious who have their own vocations in the Church. The apostolate specific to the lay faithful is to give prophetic witness to the Social Reign of Christ the King. Christ as King wishes his laity to "build up the Body of Christ" (of which they are members) and to spread his Kingdom among men, that Kingdom which has its beginnings in the Church on earth and was commissioned by Christ to "make disciples of all nations". We laity, too, are called to evangelize for the good of souls and their salvation, always remembering that Christ's Kingdom is:

"A kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace. In this kingdom, creation itself will be delivered out of its slavery to corruption and into the freedom of the sons of God...the faithful, therefore, must learn the deepest meaning and the value of all creation, and how to relate it to the glory of God. They must assist one another to live holier lives even in their daily occupations. In this way the world is permeated by the spirit of Christ and more effectively achieves its purpose in justice, charity, and peace. The laity has the principal role in the universal fulfillment of this purpose."
(Lumen Gentium, no. 36)

As Vatican II insisted, "The Church can never be without the Lay Apostolate: it is something derived from the Layman's very vocation as a Christian." (AA, 1) and:

"Because their secular character is proper and peculiar to the laity, their task is to animate and influence the secular sphere of life, that is, family, work, leisure, trade, science, technology, politics, government, international relations, the world of art, architecture, literature, entertainment, media, and culture in general."

Every effort, therefore, is to be made to evangelize the secular order with whatever talents, abilities, and gifts God has granted lay people. It is an Ecumenical Council that warns us:

"...A member who does not work at the growth of the body [the Body of Christ] to the extent of his possibilities must be considered useless both to the Church and to himself".
(AA, 2)

In his individual capacity, a layman can do much to be useful to himself and the salvation of others in pursuing the holiness to which he is called by Our Lord. Participating devoutly in the worship of the Church and in the Sacraments of the Church, and in constant prayer and penance as called for by Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima to meet the many needs of the Holy Church, every layman can thereby manifest his love of the Church, and especially in this period of an unprecedented Crisis in the history of the Church and the Papacy. The lofty ideal of the layman and lay woman envisaged by that great servant of God, Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman is there to inspire us:

"I want laymen, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold; who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it; who know so much history that they can defend it. I want an intelligent, well-instructed laity... who understands the bases and principles of Catholicism."

Vatican II not only encouraged every Catholic to further the mission of the Church in society but also their formation in organized groups to promote the truths of the Natural and Revealed Law of God and the values which flow from them which preserve peace and order in society and protect the dignity of the human person. There are many such organized Catholic groups motivated by the teaching of Vatican II which are active today and engaged in apostolates ranging from pro-life work to the study of papal encyclicals , Holy Scripture and Catholic Social Doctrine, or the organizing of spiritual retreats , Adoration in parishes, or a thousand other activities so well summarized as "to support, defend and advance the efforts of the Teaching Church" by the founder of Catholics United for the Faith (CUF), Lyman H. Stebbins.

Catholic lay groups defended Paul VI's encyclical "Humanae Vitae" when it came under attack from the liberal Establishment taking its cue from dissenter theologians whose pernicious influence was also felt in Catechetics, Sex Education being promoted in both Catholic and government schools, and Liturgy (where abuses in the name of the bogus "spirit of Vatican II" would lead millions of Catholics to abandon the practice of the Faith). To the further consternation of parents, there occurred the collapse of the teaching of Catholic doctrine in Catholic Universities and colleges. Where Bishops, priests and academic theologians supported such infamous volumes as the "Dutch Catechism" and "Christ Among Us" for their heretical errors resulting in a disastrous revision of the Faith, it was lay people who urged the Holy See to withdraw their Imprimaturs. Time does not permit to list the post -Vatican II books, brochures, and pamphlets published by lay apologists to strengthen the faith of confused and troubled Catholics and to help them understand the nature of the dissent and disobedience that had become widespread in the Church. There were the countless letters by lay men and women to Bishops and to Catholic and secular newspapers defending and explaining authentic Catholic teaching.

Today's participation in religious education and teaching of the Faith embodied in the extensive activities of Catholic lay groups and associations continues to give voice to the "sensus fidelium" ["sense of the faithful"] or "Sensus Fidei" ["sense of the faith"] whereby the laity of the Church witness their adherence to the apostolic faith of the Church. As previously emphasized, the Church as Apostolic involves the whole body of the Church, hierarchy and laity together, always remaining faithful to the "deposit of faith" given to it. That "deposit of faith" necessary for belief and salvation is indefectibly safeguarded by the hierarchy of Pope and bishops in communion with him. The Bishop of Rome, as Peter's successor, and head of the College of Bishops, has the special help of the Holy Spirit in carrying out his part as the final criterion of unity, apostolicity, and orthodoxy.

But the lay faithful also have the help of the Holy Spirit to be faithful in adhering to the doctrines taught by Peter and his fellow Apostles. It is the faithful of the Church manifesting their obedience to the Magisterium of the Church who represent the "sensus fidei" and "sensus catholicum", and not the dissenting lay groups in the U.S., Latin America, and Europe, presently at odds with the Magisterium's teaching on contraception, abortion, same-sex-marriage, euthanasia, divorce-and-remarriage, the prohibition of Holy Communion to adulterers, and who have dared to deny or cast doubt on the articles of the Apostles' Creed.

In conclusion, it is a matter for profound meditation that when we declare our belief in the Church as One and Apostolic, we confess that the Apostolic Succession of Pope and Bishops keeps the Church unerringly faithful to the doctrine preached and taught by the Apostles. They alone teach the entire Faith with exclusive authority, but the faithful laity are also graced to transmit the apostolic tradition of faith and morals to their children and to all the men and women encountered in the pilgrimage of this life.

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