APOSTOLIC

“A general meaning of Apostolic is ‘missionary.’ The literal translation of the word ‘Apostle’ is ‘One who is sent,’ and a Christian apostle is one sent to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Thus the whole church is apostolic – sent to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the World.”

The term “apostolic” has two other important meanings.

• The church is apostolic – founded on the apostles – because it faithfully defends and proclaims the true teaching of the apostles.
• The church preserves and rightly exercises the authority that Jesus gave to the apostles, which the apostles conferred upon the elders that took their place. The church can trace its line of elders and their authority directly back to the apostles in an unbroken succession over nineteen centuries. (Catholic & Christian. Alan Schreck, p.71-72)

“From the beginning of his public life Jesus chose certain men, twelve in number, to be with him and to participate in his mission. (Mk 3:13-19) He gives the twelve a share in his authority and ‘sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal.’ (Lk 9:2)  They remain associated for ever with Christ’s kingdom, for through them he directs the Church: ‘As my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’ (Lk 22:29-30)” (Catholic Catechism 551)

“Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve; (Mk 3:16; 9:2; Lk 24:34; 1 Cor 15:5) Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Our Lord then declared to him: ‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.’ (Mt 16:18) Christ, the ‘living stone,’ (1 Pet 2:4) thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakeable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it. (Lk 22:32)” (CC 552)

“Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,’ (Mt 16:19) The ‘power of the keys’ designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles (Mt 18:18) and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom.”  (CC 553)

The apostles prepared other men to share in their ministry and to succeed them after they died. The early Christians were convinced that Jesus intended the ministry and the authority of the apostles to continue in the church, even after the apostles themselves died. 

“During those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place). He said, My brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry. . . And: ‘May another take his office.’ Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection. Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.” (Acts 1:15-17, 20-21, and 26)

Because of the Christian community’s rapid growth, the apostles had to appoint more leaders to help them. (Moses had to expand leadership in the same fashion while in the desert. Exod 18:17-23) Luke shows us in Acts how church leadership was passed on to a new kind of leader.

“So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Phillip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed an laid hands on them.” (Acts 6:2-6)

The church had a new set of authorities, Greek speaking Jews. The number twelve symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel and the number seven signified universality, since it was considered a “perfect number.”  The twelve rooted the church in Israel; the seven were a sign of the church’s outreach to the whole world through those who spoke the world language, Greek. They derive their authority from Jesus’ original apostles because they were ordained by them. (Collegeville Bible Commentary: The Acts of the Apostles, William S. Kurz, S.J. p38)

The church is Apostolic in origin because she has been built on “The foundation of the Apostles’”(Eph 2:20) Her teaching is the same as that of the Apostles. The structure of the Church is Apostolic in that she is taught, sanctified and guided until Christ returns by the apostles through their successors who are the Bishops in communion with the successor of Peter. (C Comp 174).

“Apostolic Succession” is the transmission by means of the Sacrament of Holy Orders of the mission and power of the Apostles to their successors, the Bishop. (C Comp 176) (More about Bishop Kicanas)

Apostolic Tradition: Transmission of the message of Christ, brought about from the very beginning of Christianity by means of preaching, bearing witness, institutions, worship and inspired writings. The

Apostles transmitted all they received from Christ and learned from the Holy Spirit to their successors, the Bishops and through all generations until the end of the world.

Occurs through:

• Living transmission of the Word of God (Tradition).
• Sacred Scripture – The same proclamation of salvation in written form.

Both communicate one with the other – bound together as one deposit of Faith, which the Church is sure about revelation.

Faith is entrusted to the Church: Interpretation of the deposit of faith is entrusted to the living teaching office of the church alone --- Successor of Peter and Bishops in Communion (The Magisterium)

Scripture ---------   |        All are closely united.
Tradition ---------    | à     All contribute to the
Magisterium -----     |        Salvation of Souls.

The Magisterium has the task of defining Dogmas, which are formulations of the truths contained in divine revelation, and extends its authority to those truths necessarily connected with revelation. (Catholic Compendium 12-17)

Relationship between Tradition and Scripture

Vatican II: Hence there exist a close connection and communication between sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture. Both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. For sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit. To the successors of the Apostles, sacred Tradition hands on in its full purity God’s word, which was entrusted to the Apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit.

Thus by the light of the Spirit of truth, these successors can in their preaching preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. Consequently it is not from sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore both sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same devotion and reverence. (Dei Verbum, 9).

The Pope

(C & C, p83-84)

The New Testament provides indisputable evidence that Simon Peter had a preeminent position among Jesus’ disciples and in the early church.

• In the gospels, Peter is usually the spokesman for the apostles, especially at climatic moments. (Mk 8:29; Mt 18:21; Lk 12:41; Jn 6:67ff).
• Peter is often the central figure relating to Jesus in dramatic gospel scenes such as walking on the water. (Mt 14:28-32; Lk 5:1ff; Mk 10:28; Mt 17:24f).
• In the synoptic gospels, Peter is always named first when the apostles are listed (Mk 3:16; Mt 10:1-4; Lk 6:12-16; Acts 1:13) In fact, sometimes the apostles are referred to as simply, “Peter and his companions” (Mk 1:36; Lk 9:32; Mk 16:7).
• In john’s gospel, John waits for Peter before entering Jesus’ tomb and allows him to go in first, a sign of honor and respect (Jn 20:3-8). Jesus also singled out Peter as a shepherd of God'’ people (Jn 21:15-17).
• Paul lists Peter as the first witness of Jesus’ resurrection (1 Cor 15:5), and calls him “Cephas” (rock). The name Jesus gave him (Gal 1:18; 2:7ff, 11, 14; 1 Cor 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5).
• In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter’s leadership is acknowledged in many ways:
• Peter is the first to proclaim the Gospel publicly (Acts 2:14-40).
• Peter gives many of the major speeches in Acts. (Acts 3:12-26; 4:8-12; 5:3-9, 29-32; 8:20-23; 10:34-43; 11:4-18; 15:7-11).
• The first healing miracle after Pentecost is reportedly worked through Peter’s command (Acts 3:6-7), and he apparently had a widely recognized gift of healing (Acts 9:34, 38-41; 5:15).
• Peter was the first to receive God’s revelation that the gospel was to go to the Gentiles (Acts 10:9-48), and he was the first to command the baptism of Gentiles (Acts 10:46-48).

NOTES:

Catholics do not find it necessary to measure the truth of creeds and dogmas by reference to Scripture, but they agree, of course, that nothing contrary to Scripture can belong to the deposit of faith. The deposit of faith first existed in the form of an unwritten tradition of which Scripture itself is a privileged distillation. The tradition continues to live on in the Church thanks to the ongoing assistance of the Holy Spirit. The study of Scripture alone does not yield a complete theory of apostolic succession. It wasn’t until the First Vatican Council that the rationale was expressed. It is necessary to look beyond the New Testament, which does not recount the history of Peter’s ministry in Rome or the events that followed his death. (Catholics & Evangelicals, Avery Dulles, p 110, 117)

Peter never had to be in Rome to be the first Pope. Whether Peter went to Rome and died there is inconsequential. His being in Rome would not in itself prove the existence of the papacy; it would be a false inference to say he must have been the first Pope since he was in Rome and later Popes ruled from Rome. With that logic, Paul would have an equal claim to the title of the first Pope, since he was an apostle and went to Rome. Even if Peter never made it to the capital, he still could have been the first pope, since one of his successors could have been the first holder of that office to settle there. The combination of historical and scientific evidence is such that no one willing to look at the facts with an open mind can doubt that Peter was in Rome. To deny that fact is to let prejudice override reason. (Catholicism & Fundamentalism, Karl Keating, pp. 198-9).

The Bible does not say that it is all we need for salvation, nor does it say the Bible is actually needed to believe in Christ. After all, the earliest Christians had no New Testament to appeal to: they learned from oral, not written, instruction. Until relatively recent times, the Bible was inaccessible to most people, either because the people could not read or because printing had not been invented. All these people learned from oral instruction, passed down, generation to generation, by the Church. (C & F, p.135)
John tells us that not everything concerning Christ’s work is in Scripture (Jn 21:25). Paul says that much Christian teaching is to be found in the tradition that is handed down by word of mouth (2 Tim 2:2). He instructs us to “Stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word or by your epistle (2 Th2:15). The truths handed down orally and entrusted to the Church are part of what is known as ‘T’radition to distinguish it from lower-case human traditions or customs. (C & F, p. 136)

Infallibility of the Pope: Through the guardianship of the Holy Spirit, the Pope is guaranteed not to teach error regarding faith or morals (presuming, of course, he intends to make an ex cathedra statement and is not speaking as a private scholar). But he cannot teach what is true unless he first knows what is true, and he learns the same way we do. Catholics do not believe the Pope cannot sin. Infallibility belongs to the body of bishops as a whole, when in moral unity, they teach a doctrine as true. “He who listens to you, listens to me.” (Lk 10:16); “all that you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven” (Mt 18:18). Infallibility belongs in a special way to the Pope as the head of the bishops (Mt 16:17-19; Jn 21:15-17).
          The Pope does not need to actually sit in the papal chair, the chair of St. Peter when he is speaking ex cathedra and speaking in his official capacity of the Church. From Vatican I: Speaking ex cathedra means in his position as chief teacher and shepherd of Catholic Christians. The Pope must clearly define the doctrine as being a truth of faith. It must be a definition concerning “faith or morals.” (Pastor Aeternus, chap 4, Vat I, p 63.) Only two of the Pope’s teachings in recent times have been considered infallible definitions of Christian faith: the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (1854) and the Assumption of Mary into Heaven (1950). Although Catholics consider very few of the Pope’s statements to be infallible, Catholics are expected to respect and obey all forms of the Pope’s teachings.