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Lesson 11

The Visible Structure of the Church

The visible structure of the Church is a hierarchical communion: the pope is the successor to St. Peter and the Vicar of Christ, and bishops are the successors to the Apostles.

Catechism Connections

Lesson Topics
Church Structure Marriage Religious Life Vocation
Essential Lessons

N/A

Lesson Vocabulary

  • Hierarchical Communion
    :
    (n.): A term that describes the visible leadership structure of the Church: the pope, bishops, priests, and deacons who are all united by faith, love, and the unity of Christ in the Sacraments. It is the task of those at every rank in the hierarchy to serve those below them for the good of the Church.
  • Apostolic See
    :
    (n.): The seat of authority of the entire Roman Catholic Church that continues the Apostolic leadership of St. Peter in and through the pope.
  • College of Bishops
    :
    (n.): A phrase used to describe all the world’s bishops who are in communion with the pope.
  • Diocese
    :
    (n.): A community of the faithful, usually within a geographic area but sometimes constituted as a group of people of the same rite or language, who are led by a bishop ordained in apostolic succession; A particular church.
  • Parish
    :
    (n.): A community of the faithful within a diocese under the pastoral care of a pastor or priest under the authority of his bishop; A local church.
  • Domestic Church
    :
    (n.): A phrase that describes the Christian family, the original cell of society where we first learn the Faith.
  • Holy Orders
    :
    (n.): The Sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to His Apostles continues to be carried out in the Church until the end of time. This Sacrament has three distinct degrees, or “orders”: deacon, priest, and bishop.
  • In Persona Christi Capitis
    :
    (adv.): Latin phrase describing how bishops and priests are ordained to act “in the person of Christ the head” when they perform their priestly functions. Priests do not preach, sanctify, and govern by their own authority, but by the authority given them by Christ, the head of the Church, to act in His person.
  • Consecrated Life
    :
    (n.): The permanent vocation characterized by the public profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience in a stable state of life recognized by the Church.
  • Evangelical Counsels
    :
    (n.): The vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience made by those who enter consecrated life.
  • Charism
    :
    (n.): A grace of the Holy Spirit which builds up the Church for the good of her members and the world.
  • Secular Institute
    :
    (n.): A form of consecrated life where members live out the evangelical counsels in their ordinary lives, but they do not necessarily live in community. Pope Pius XII described secular institutes as working “for the sanctification of the world from within.”
  • Society of Apostolic Life
    :
    (n.): A group whose purpose is to build the Kingdom of God and who live in community but do not make religious vows.
  • Holy Matrimony
    :
    (n.): The Sacrament that joins one man and one woman in a free, faithful, fruitful, and indissoluble union.
  • Catholic Laity
    :
    (n.): Baptized Catholics who are not members of the clergy.

    • Plan

    Vocabulary Review
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    Vocabulary Review Answer Key
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