The Christian Faithful

By DON FIER

For the past nine weeks, we have been unpacking the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) on the four identifying characteristics or properties that distinguish the Catholic Church from all other churches and ecclesial communities — that she is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. The last of these four marks, that she is apostolic, was shown last week to manifest itself in three principal ways:
The Church is apostolic in her origin because she is “built upon the foundation of the apostles” (Eph. 2:20) whom Christ Himself chose and commissioned to “preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15); in her teaching, which remains faithful to what was originally received by the apostles directly from Jesus; and in her structure insofar as she will continue to be taught, sanctified, and governed until the Second Coming of Jesus by the successors of the apostles, the bishops, in communion with the successor of St. Peter, the Roman Pontiff.
Apostle means “one who is sent.” Just as Jesus was sent by the Father, so He sent the apostles: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (John 20:21). They were to continue His mission until the end of time with the promise that He would remain with them always. Moreover, they were given the power to ordain successors.
Thus, the heritage of the bishops of the Church, by divine institution, can be traced to the original Twelve. Although “governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him” (CCC, n. 870), however, all the faithful “are entrusted by God with the apostolate” (CCC, n. 900). All have both the right and the duty to share in the apostolic mission so as to extend Christ’s reign to the entire world.
As the Catechism continues with its exposition of Article 9 of the Creed (“I believe . . . the holy Catholic Church”), it judiciously examines who belongs to the Christian faithful. It begins this task by referring to canon 204 §1 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law (CIC):
“The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been incorporated in Christ through baptism, have been constituted as the people of God. For this reason, made sharers in their own way in Christ’s priestly, prophetic, and royal function, they are called to exercise the mission which God has entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world, in accord with the condition proper to each” (as cited by CCC, n. 871; cf. Lumen Gentium [LG], n. 31). Much is conveyed by these words.
First of all, this canon points out that all who have been baptized form part of the Church and are members of the People of God and the Body of Christ. Moreover, “everything that was said about the Church and her essential qualities [her four marks],” explains Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, “applies to all members of the Church, is common to both priests and laymen” (Living the Catechism of the Catholic Church, vol. 1, p. 125).
As expressed by Russell Shaw, “Christ’s faithful, the Christifideles, are all the members of the Church: all the baptized — laity, clergy, and religious — from the pope to a tiny infant who has just been ‘christened’” (Understanding Your Rights [UYR], p. 63). It is without distinction that each member of Christ’s faithful is called to the fullness of sanctity (cf. LG, n. 39) and to the apostolate (cf. LG, n. 33).
A foundational principle that applies to all the Christian faithful is unmistakably evident in these statements, the principle of equality. The Code addresses this directly: “From their rebirth in Christ, there exists among all the Christian faithful a true equality regarding dignity and action by which they all cooperate in the building up of the Body of Christ according to each one’s own condition and function” (canon 208). In other words, each person, regardless of gifts or vocation, is equal in dignity and precious in the eyes of God by virtue of his or her baptismal rebirth.
There is, however, an important qualifier at the end of this canon: “. . . according to each one’s own condition and function.” This is indicative of a second important principle, the principle of diversity, or variety, which is also implicit in the closing words of canon 204 §1: “. . . in accord with the condition proper to each.” Though the baptismal condition acquired by each of the faithful is one and the same, it is equally important to understand that the Church has a hierarchical structure and there is complementarity in the roles and functions of her members.
The Code of Canon Law Annotated (CCLA) does an excellent job of articulating how these two principles complement one another: “If sanctity and the apostolate are equal for all regarding their substance and their ends, there is a great diversity in the methods and forms of attaining them, namely the states and conditions of life as well as particular or specific vocations (cf. LG, n. 32). This means that the varied and manifold forms of spirituality, conditions of life, and types of apostolate are not only legitimate phenomena, but a response to the will of Christ for the foundation of the Church and to the action of the Holy Spirit” (p. 163).
Indeed, this should come as no surprise, for just as God created the universe with such beautiful diversity, it is fitting that the members of the Body of Christ should be rich in diversity. The variety of gifts and calls received by the faithful are likened by St. Paul to the many parts of the body that all cohesively work together to make it function properly (cf. 1 Cor. 12). So too is it with the Church: her members have a “diversity of vocations, charisms, offices, and tasks required to accomplish the mission of restoring all things in Christ” (UYR, p. 64).
Canon 204 §1 also states that the Christian faithful have been “made sharers in their own way in Christ’s priestly, prophetic, and royal function.” What does this mean? It is important to first note that “the participation of the faithful in the triple mission of Christ . . . is not hierarchical” (CCLA, p. 164). Rather, “by divine institution, there are among the Christian faithful in the Church sacred ministers who in law are also called clerics [bishops, priests, and deacons]; the other members of the Christian faithful are called lay persons” (CIC, canon 207 §1). As taught by the Second Vatican Council Fathers in their Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, “Christ conferred on the Apostles and their successors the duty of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling in His name and power” (Apostolicam Actuositatem, n. 2 §3).
All the Christian faithful, however, possess a common priesthood that is interrelated to the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood. As the Council Fathers explain, “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. 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” (LG, n. 10 §2).

Hidden From The World

What about the prophetic and kingly functions of the lay faithful?
“In obedience to their prophetic mission, the faithful testify to the faith, in practicing non-hierarchical, personal apostolic work, and in defending and spreading the doctrine of the Church. In their kingly function, they sanctify all the worldly aspects of life, acting as leaven in the dough, synthesizing everything in Christ” (CCLA, p. 164).
The Catechism also calls our attention to those who have entered into the consecrated or religious state of life:
“There are members of the Christian faithful from both these groups [hierarchy and laity] who, through the profession of the evangelical counsels by means of vows or other sacred bonds recognized and sanctioned by the Church, are consecrated to God in their own special way and contribute to the salvific mission of the Church; although their state does not belong to the hierarchical structure of the Church, it nevertheless belongs to its life and holiness” (CIC, canon 207 §2).
Through lives of prayer and good works, in some cases hidden from the world (e.g., cloistered Carmelite monasteries), these souls render a service of enormous importance to the Church.
One can see in this short discussion of the Church’s makeup the wisdom of an observation made by Russell Shaw:
“There is no hint here of a top-down pyramid version of the Church in which the clergy dominate and the role of the laypeople is to ‘pay, pray, and obey’. . . . There is a hierarchical structure, yes — the service of divinely commissioned leadership is indispensable and willed by God; but also a fundamental, baptismal equality in dignity as God’s children and complementary roles in carrying on the Church’s work” (UYR, p. 68).

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(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is doing research for writing a definitive biography of Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)