Twenty-first of Year A - Authority in the church
August 2008
I spoke last weekend about exclusivity among religions; about the fallacy of thinking that only we are right, only we have access to truth - the ‘we are right, they are wrong’ syndrome.
I finished by saying that loyalty to ones religion or church must not be confused with sycophancy.
Having said this I must avoid the equally untenable position that it is I who decides what is right and what is wrong, it is I who decides what to believe and what to discard.
It is beyond dispute that from the very beginning of his public ministry Jesus formed around himself a group of followers. The nucleus of these followers - the Apostles - were personally chosen by name by Jesus himself. Jesus was undisputed leader and final authority among this group or Church. On many occasions He delegated tasks and authority to certain of his followers, especially to the Apostles.
He was always at pains to impress on his followers, by word and example, that their leadership must be one of service to his church community.
The New Testament shows that the Apostles were in positions of leadership and were expected to give guidance as to what was and was not the teaching of Christ. They also exercised an administrative role wherever they were.
Even St. Paul made a special journey to Jerusalem to make sure that he had the approval of Peter and the other church leaders regarding his work among the Gentiles.
In the same way as Jesus picked and appointed his Apostles by name, so too the Apostles picked and appointed by name certain people to carry on their work of leadership and administration.
There are cases where a church community put forward a certain person to be their leader but all these had to have the approval of and the laying on of hands by, existing church leadership.
Church leadership never came as a result of democratic election and if there was an election involved, the winner, to be valid, had to be authorised and appointed by existing church leadership.
In the case of papal elections the voting is not democratic but confined to a very small group of already appointed church leaders.
It is the teaching of our church that the Bishops inherit the authority of the Apostles and that the Pope inherits the authority of St. Peter.
We must keep in mind that our church leaders are human beings subject to the usual faults and failings of human nature. We must always make provision for this.
Also our Church leadership is often invested in rather elderly gentlemen who due to age and infirmity may not always be capable of their top speed.
There have been instances in the history of our Church when Church leaders have used this authority for political and personal ends. There can be a tendency for loyalty to the Church ‘Organisation’ to overshadow loyalty and service to the people of God. Since Christ gave this authority only to be used in the service of the church community and in leading them to God, this improper use of authority invalidates their authority in these particular instances.
Taking everything into account our church leadership is probably as good as one could hope for in this world and should receive our creative loyalty and obedience.