Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church has an episcopate, with the Pope, who is the Bishop of Rome, at the top. The Catholic Church teaches that juridical oversight over the Church is not a power that derives from human ambition, but strictly from the authority of Christ which was given to his twelve apostles. The See of Rome, as the sole unbroken line of apostolic authority, descending from St. Peter (the "prince and head of the apostles"), is a visible sign and instrument of communion among the college of bishops and therefore also of the local churches around the world. In communion with the worldwide college of bishops the Pope has all legitimate juridical and teaching authority over the whole Church. This authority given by Christ to Peter and the apostles is transmitted from one generation to the next by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the laying on of hands, from the Apostles to the bishops, and from bishops to priests and deacons, in unbroken succession.
Read more about this topic: Episcopal Polity
Famous quotes containing the words catholic church, roman catholic, roman, catholic and/or church:
“It is time that the Protestant Church, the Church of the Son, should be one again with the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of the Father. It is time that man shall cease, first to live in the flesh, with joy, and then, unsatisfied, to renounce and to mortify the flesh.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“It is a dogma of the Roman Church that the existence of God can be proved by natural reason. Now this dogma would make it impossible for me to be a Roman Catholic. If I thought of God as another being like myself, outside myself, only infinitely more powerful, then I would regard it as my duty to defy him.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
“The Roman world is in collapse but we do not bend our neck.”
—Jerome (c. 340–420)
“Every country gets the circus it deserves. Spain gets bullfights. Italy gets the Catholic Church. America gets Hollywood.”
—Erica Jong (b. 1942)
“Is it possible that I am not alone in believing that in the dispute between Galileo and the Church, the Church was right and the centre of man’s universe is the earth?”
—Stephen Vizinczey (b. 1933)