Please explain Church Hierarchy

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Hello fellas,

First and foremost, again let me wish everybody a happy Independence day.
It has been raining all day here and almost all celebrations and fireworks have been postponed till tomorrow, so all day I’ve been sitting here posting and reading on here, lol.

I have a question for you all, and I’d like answers in your own words. I have the Catechism and Code of Canon Law in front of me, but I already know what they say on the issue.

I would like to know, from you the laity, what is your understanding of the Church hierarchy?

My current understanding, which is very dumbed down and ignorant, seeing as I am very dumb and ignorant, is the Church is organized thus:

At the top we have the Holy Father, Pope Francis.
With him (equally or second to him? we have the Holy Magisterium and Ecumenical Councils)

Next we have the College of Cardinals

Next we have the Archdiocese headed by the Cardinals/Archbishops/Patriarchs

Next we have the Diocese headed by the Bishop

Next we have the Parish’s headed by the Pastors

Is this a pretty accurate diagram of the Churches hierarchy? If not, can you please expound a little.

I know I can read up on this stuff but I want to hear it from everyday people and how they view the Church, I hope I’m articulating what I’m looking for correctly, and please forgive me for being so ignorant.

Pray for me please, a sinner who has never done a single good thing.

God bless
 
Very good.

Just a few details.

Don’t leave out “the People of God”. By your diagram they would come last. However I like to diagram the Church structure as an upside down triangle with the people at the top…closest to Heaven. They are supported by Priests, who are supported by Bishops, supported by Cardinals, with the pope at the bottom.

Since one of the Papal titles is: “The Servant of the Servants of God”…I think the Holy father has no problem being at the bottom.

Another title given to the pope is “Bishop of Rome”. This is a hint as to where the REAL power of the Church is. The Bishops.

Cardinals are the “Princes” of the Church. They dress well, live well, and give advice but they are only drones. Their only real function is to elect popes. Unless they are also a Bishop, they are required to live in Rome.
 
Thank you so much Zoltan, this is the exact type of reply I was looking for.

God bless
 
Because the Church has many “moving parts,” it’s hard to create one diagram to show the relationship between its various parts.

One example is the College of Cardinals. They are the pope’s close advisors, but they cannot command bishops to do anything on a whim.

Likewise, archbishops were previously given more authority over their suffragans (the bishops in their province), but they can no longer interfere in many matters of different suffragan dioceses.

For many circumstances, the hierarchy of the Church can be listed simply as:
God > the Pope > the local Bishop > the Pastor > the People of God.

The Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church, and the head of the Magisterium is the Pope. In a way, the Pope and the Magisterium are one in the same (but that oversimplifies it — many moving parts, again).

An Ecumenical Council speaks with the authority of the Magisterium, but a Council is only called at the will of the Pope.
 
Zoltan Cobalt #2
Don’t leave out “the People of God”. By your diagram they would come last. However I like to diagram the Church structure as an upside down triangle with the people at the top…closest to Heaven. They are supported by Priests, who are supported by Bishops, supported by Cardinals, with the pope at the bottom.
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As the revered Fr John A Hardon, S.J., points out re “the People of God”:
“They are faithful insofar as they are agreed on the truth….The truth interiorly possessed gives them consensus, and not the other way around, as though their consensus on some doctrine made it true!” The Catholic Catechism, Doubleday, 1975, p 226-7].
Since one of the Papal titles is: “The Servant of the Servants of God”…I think the Holy father has no problem being at the bottom.
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As Christ constituted His Church, the above is very misleading as St Peter as the first Pope was mandated by Christ to teach, sanctify and rule His Church as follows:
**All four promises to Peter alone: **
“You are Peter and on this rock I will build My Church.” (Mt 16:18)
“The gates of hell will not prevail against it.”(Mt 16:18)
“I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven." ( Mt 16:19)
“Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.” (Mt 16:19) [Later also to the Twelve].

**Sole authority: **
“Strengthen your brethren.” (Lk 22:32)
“Feed My sheep.”(Jn 21:17).
Another title given to the pope is “Bishop of Rome”. This is a hint as to where the REAL power of the Church is. The Bishops.
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On the contrary, therefore, Christ has given His Popes supreme power as the other Apostles were NOT given this supreme authority given to Christ’s Supreme Vicar.

The bishops succeed the Apostles – they do not have primacy. They have collegial infallibility when they are in union with the Pope in teaching dogma and doctrine definitively, and never can they teach anything contrary.
 
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body through which the Roman Pontiff conducts the business of the Catholic Church.
 
JasonLovesJesus said:
Hello fellas,

First and foremost, again let me wish everybody a happy Independence day.
It has been raining all day here and almost all celebrations and fireworks have been postponed till tomorrow, so all day I’ve been sitting here posting and reading on here, lol.

I have a question for you all, and I’d like answers in your own words. I have the Catechism and Code of Canon Law in front of me, but I already know what they say on the issue.

I would like to know, from you the laity, what is your understanding of the Church hierarchy?

My current understanding, which is very dumbed down and ignorant, seeing as I am very dumb and ignorant, is the Church is organized thus:

At the top we have the Holy Father, Pope Francis.
With him (equally or second to him? we have the Holy Magisterium and Ecumenical Councils)

Next we have the College of Cardinals

Next we have the Archdiocese headed by the Cardinals/Archbishops/Patriarchs

Next we have the Diocese headed by the Bishop

Next we have the Parish’s headed by the Pastors

Is this a pretty accurate diagram of the Churches hierarchy? If not, can you please expound a little.

I know I can read up on this stuff but I want to hear it from everyday people and how they view the Church, I hope I’m articulating what I’m looking for correctly, and please forgive me for being so ignorant.

Pray for me please, a sinner who has never done a single good thing.

God bless
Click to expand...
one more important term to understand in Church higherarchy and that is subsidiarity. Pretty much things should be dealt with at the lowest possible level that it can be done at efficiently. So what songs are played for mass, who witnesses a marriage, when confession is, etc. etc. etc. is done at a parish level by the pastor. Certain movable feasts, if a priest can lift certain excommunications, confirmation schedules, allowance of priests to do certain things, etc. etc. etc. is done by the bishop. What the policy is for a state or country on certain matters, certain liturgical exceptions for countries (like communion in the hand in the USA) is done by archbishops and bishop conferences. Lastly the rites, the laws that govern the sacraments, etc. etc. etc. are to only be done by the Vatican and those in charge there. Lastly statements on faith and morals which hold the highest authority is only done by the Pope. While not a human authority the ULTIMATE authority which can never be overridden by anything on earth and that is Christ. Christ is the head of the Church and the body. He has the ultimate authority on faith and morals. What he reveled to us in divine revelation is final and can’t be changed. The fact that Marriage is between a man and a women is set and can’t be changed. The fact that Jesus was God is set and can’t be changed, same with all of the sacraments and the graces they give, etc. etc. etc.

Most of the stuff that Catholics will interact on a daily basis is set by their pastors. Some of the rules pastors follow is set by their local ordinary (the bishop of a diocese) and some by bishop conferences or the voice of all of the bishops of a certain region, finally some rules set by the holy sea which with the exception of the Pope is the highest authority in the Church, than any rules or dogmatic statements the Pope will make and finally Christ himself. The higher you go in authority the less influence it has in the day to day workings of the pastor (except of course Christ). The Pope has very little influence on the day to day workings of the priest and what he does, but that doesn’t trump his authority.
 
Jason, you’re pretty close. Some corrections and clarifications:

The Magisterium is the pope and bishops in their capacity as teachers of the faith.

An ecumenical council is a gathering of bishops from around the world to exercise that magisterium in a special way.

The college of cardinals is the body of bishops who advise the pope and, if under 80, vote for the next one.

A **patriarch ** is a bishop who oversees a body of dioceses that make up a Ritual Church or Particular Church sui iuris (e.g. the Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch).

The term “pastor” may indeed coincide with a simple parish priest, but a bishop is also the pastor of a parish. It would be better to say “A simple priest oversees a parish.” (Note, however, that there are priests who do *not *oversee a parish, such as a Carthusian monk who is also a priest.)

There are also major archbishops, primates, and metropolitans, all of which are ranks of bishop, and then there’s the subdiaconate and minor orders, not to mention archpriests, archdeacons, monsignors, etc; but for most purposes it’s enough to know what a bishop, simple priest, and deacon are, and what the pope is. (A deacon does not offer the sacrifice, but like the Levites of the Old Law, he assists the priests.)

Note that the office of pope is neither part of the sacrament of Holy Orders, nor something instituted by the Church, but a divinely instituted office by which the occupant has supreme teaching and governing authority. Peter’s successors in the priesthood include bishops who are not pope, i.e. the Patriarchs of Antioch. But when we say “the successor of Peter” we usually mean successors in the office of pope.

Note also that the term “priest” in its more general sense encompasses both bishops and simple priests. Bishops alone have the fullness of the priesthood.
 
JasonLovesJesus said:
Hello fellas,

First and foremost, again let me wish everybody a happy Independence day.
It has been raining all day here and almost all celebrations and fireworks have been postponed till tomorrow, so all day I’ve been sitting here posting and reading on here, lol.

I have a question for you all, and I’d like answers in your own words. I have the Catechism and Code of Canon Law in front of me, but I already know what they say on the issue.

I would like to know, from you the laity, what is your understanding of the Church hierarchy?

My current understanding, which is very dumbed down and ignorant, seeing as I am very dumb and ignorant, is the Church is organized thus:

At the top we have the Holy Father, Pope Francis.
With him (equally or second to him? we have the Holy Magisterium and Ecumenical Councils)

Next we have the College of Cardinals

Next we have the Archdiocese headed by the Cardinals/Archbishops/Patriarchs

Next we have the Diocese headed by the Bishop

Next we have the Parish’s headed by the Pastors

Is this a pretty accurate diagram of the Churches hierarchy? If not, can you please expound a little.

I know I can read up on this stuff but I want to hear it from everyday people and how they view the Church, I hope I’m articulating what I’m looking for correctly, and please forgive me for being so ignorant.

Pray for me please, a sinner who has never done a single good thing.

God bless
Click to expand...
That’s basically accurate, with some minor changes. The College of Cardinals itself has no administrative capacity I’m aware of, its sole purpose is to elect a new Pope. Rather, the Pope is assisted in his administrative capacity by the Curia, which overlaps a lot with the College of Cardinals. The Curia is made up of various dicasteries and commissions that exercise authority on the Pope’s behalf in various matters, such as liturgy, doctrine, clerical discipline, etc.

Territorially, above archdioceses are ecclesiastical provinces, which are centered around archdioceses and also include some neighboring dioceses. The archdiocese exercises some limited oversight of those dioceses. For instance I believe the archdiocesan bishop can temporarily appoint a vicar general for a diocese if a bishop dies and a VG has not already bee appointed there.

Within a diocese, there are usually deaneries, headed by a dean appointed the bishop.
 
One group of persons that is mostly laity has specific authority, and that is parents. As the authority of parents is gradually eroded or ignored by the secular society, the Catholic authority of parents becomes even more important. It has not always been recognized, especially in the area of education - religious ed, sex ed, etc.

As the media misrepresents what Pope Francis is doing, keep in mind he, like St JP II and Paul VI before him, is not abolishing the authority of the Curia, but adapting it to changing times. He won’t be the last pope to do this.

A bishop in charge of a diocese is called the “Ordinary” of that diocese. There are also “ordinariates” such as the Anglican or military Ordinariates, wherein the ordinary might not be a bishop, but exercises similar authority.

National conferences of bishops, as a unit, are not part of the hierarchy. The president of the USCCB is only president of that organization - a few hundred bishops, a few hundred priests and laity. He isn’t president of some “American Catholic Church”. He doesn’t supervise any bishop. Even the priests and laity who work in that organization are under their own ordinary-bishop, not necessarily him. This point needs to be clarified, because in the recent past, and perhaps in the future, the media tried to portray this as kind of a national denomination.
 
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