Bishops in the Catholic Church

Halden at Inhabitatio Dei has been pounding away at the episcopal structure of the Catholic Church. As usual, he raises challenging questions that are difficult to address in an intellectual way. The typical Catholic response (mine included) is to answer presuppositionally: if you accept my presuppositions, then you'll accept my conclusions. These answers are inadequate because it's precisely the presuppositions that are in question. And as Balthasar told Ratzinger on a postcard: "Do not presuppose the faith but propose it!" (Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism, p 23).

So, let's look first of all at how the Catholic Church defines the term 'church':

«833 The phrase "particular Church," which is first of all the diocese (or eparchy), refers to a community of the Christian faithful in communion of faith and sacraments with their bishop ordained in apostolic succession. These particular Churches "are constituted after the model of the universal Church; it is in these and formed out of them that the one and unique Catholic Church exists."» (see also Lumen Gentium 23)

A church is the communion of the people with their bishop. So what? What does this mean to me?

It means that I cannot think of myself as a Christian without thinking of the bishops. I think of the bishop who confirmed me, the bishop whose choir I sang in, the archbishop of New York who invited me and other teachers to a Mass with him - it was thanks to the same bishop that I received a ticket to see Pope John Paul II in Central Park. I remember the bishop who ordained my friend Bill. And I remember the bishops who enrolled my wife and stepson in the RCIA and confirmed them. When I or my loved ones have been anointed by priests, it has been with oil that the bishop has blessed on Holy Thursday.

Bishop and people are more than an ecclesial structure, even an essential one. Bishop and people are a relationship. The bishop preaches the Gospel to us, and he has been given to us by Christ and His Church as a point of unity and faithfulness. To think that I could start a 'church' with a few friends and a storefront would be as unthinkable to me as cutting off my leg. I need the bishops and the Pope.

Some have suggested that the Catholic Church would do well to apply the term church to Protestant communities (among these are included Catholic priests and theologians: see Halden's blog for examples). If the Church permitted me, I'd have no problem doing so. However, the repeated insistence of the Church on this point has caused me to reflect a bit more on the word 'church.'

What do I mean when I casually refer to Protestant churches? I mean the broad collection of sociological entities which claim the term. I mean groups of lay people that have set times for worship and other churchly activities. These individuals are certainly part of the universal church through the sacrament of Baptism, but the groups themselves do not form a particular communion similar to what I've experienced in the Catholic Church - a communion with a person who is an authority, who embodies tradition.

This confusion of terms cuts both ways. A friendly congregationalist looking at the Catholic Church would likely think of each parish as a church; and there are many who are part of denominations that see the Catholic Church as a whole as a denomination of church.

We live in an age that is exceedingly sensitive to names and exceedingly insensitive to truth. But if Christian dialogue is to make any progress, we must not be afraid to call a spade a spade. We must start with what is and not simply conceal it beneath innocuous names.

And if anybody has questions about bishops, they should come see them in the flesh. Come and see - we won't call the Spanish Inquisition on you!

[edited to clarify and eliminate idiotic repetition]