The Pope

As Vicar of Jesus Christ, the Pope governs the Catholic Church as its supreme head. The Pope, as Bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor and shepherd of the whole Church. We believe that the Pope is the successor of Peter, and his bishops are successors of the Twelve Apostles.

It i s c lear through out that i t i s a que st io n of t he bish o ps act i ng in co n jun c tion with their head, n ever of the bishops ac ting indep e n d ently of the Pope. In the latter instance, without t he ac tion o f the h ea d , t h e bi sho p s ar e not ab le t o act as a Coll e ge : this i s clear from the c o nc e pt o f "Co l le g e. " T h i s h ie r ar ch ic a l c om mun i o n o f al l th e b ish o p s w i th t h e S upre me Po nti ff is certainly firmly es ta blished in Tr a dit i on . (Lumen Gentium, Note of Explan a tion)

 In the Acts of the Apostles, we come to know Peter is the head of the early church, When Peter is given the "keys to the kingdom," Christ is establishing the divine office of leadership over the church, The permanence of the office of the Pope is essential to the everlasting nature of the church,

" The R o man P on ti ff, h ead o f th e co l leg e o f bish ops, enj oys t h i s i nf al lib i lity i n vi rt u e o f h i s offi ce , when as su preme pa s tor and t ea c h er of a l l the fa i thful- w h o conf i rms his breth re n in t he faith - he pro c laims by a definitive act a doctrine pertain i ng to faith or m orals ... The in f all ib il ity pro m is e d t o th e Chu r c h is also p re s en t i n t he bo d y of bi sho p s w h en toge t h er w i t h Peter ' s s u cc e ssor, t h ey e xercise th e s u prem e M a gister i um," above all in a n E c ume nic a l Co u nc i l. Whe n t h e Chur c h through i ts s u p r e m e Magi s terium p ro poses a do c t r ine "fo r b el ief as being divin e ly r evealed , " an d as t he t eac h i n g of C h rist , the def i n i tions " m ust be adh er ed to w i t h the ob e di e nce of fa it h . "T h i s in fa llibili ty e xtend s a s fa r as the depo s it of d i v i n e Rev e lation itself «cc 891)

Div i ne assista n c e is a l so giv e n to the s uc c es so r s o f t h e apostles , t eachi n g i n commun i o n with th e s u c cessor o f P eter, and, i n a pa r ti cu l a r way, t o t h e bishop o f R om e, pasto r of t h e w h o le Chu r ch , whe n , wi t hout arriving at an infaffible definit i o n and witho u t pronouncing in a "d efi nit i ve mann e r, " they pr o pose in th e e xercise of t he ord i na ry M ag is te r i um a t e achin g tha t le a ds t o b ette r unde r s t a n d i ng of Re v el ation in matter s o f fa i th and m o ra l s, To th i s or di na r y teachi n g the fai t hf u l "are to ad here to it wi t h rel i gi o us ass ent" which , t houg h distinct from t h e assent of fai t h, is nonetheless a n ex t ension of it . «cc 892)

Christian Unity

Unity is essential for the followers of Jesus, John's gospel reminds us, "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me." (john 17:22-23)

The Catholic Church is united under the leadership of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, Historical breaks and schisms have left us fractured, with the Eastern Orthodox churches no longer in full unity with Roman Catholicism. Beginning ith John XXIII and continuing through the papacy of John Paul II and our current pope, the movement to come together in full Christian unity has been underway.