ECCE SACERDOS MAGNUS
Ralph McInerny

It is altogether fitting that the Fathers of Vatican II, bishops all, should have devoted so much attention to their role in the Church. Christus Dominus, the Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops, is the formal treatment, but it can be supplemented by passages and allusions in almost all the other documents of the Council. “The bishops also have been designated by the Holy Spirit to take the place of the apostles as pastors of souls and, together with the supreme pontiff and subject to his authority, they are commissioned to perpetuate the work of Christ, the eternal Pastor.” Who says bishop, says pope. This issue is dedicated to bishops, as a topic and as persons, and includes a retrospect on the bishop of bishops, the bishop of Rome, John Paul II.

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