The sacramental ministry of Bishops is centred on the Eucharist and so they must promote priestly vocations and wise clergy distribution

At the General Audience Wednesday, 11 November, the Holy Father continued his discussion on the role of Bishops in the Church. In today's talk, the 43^rd in the catechetical series on the Church, he described the role of Bishops as stewards of grace. The following is the Pope's address, which he gave in Italian.

1. In speaking of the Bishop's functions, the Second Vatican Council attributes to the Bishop himself a beautiful title taken from the prayer of episcopal consecration in the Byzantine rite: "The Bishop, invested with the fullness of the sacrament of Orders, is 'the steward of the grace of the serene priesthood'" (Linen gentian, n. 26). Today's catechesis will treat this topic. It is related to that of the preceding catechesis on Bishops as heralds of the faith". Indeed, the service of proclaiming the Gospel is ordered to the service of grace in the Church's holy sacraments. As a minister of grace, the Bishop exercises in the sacraments the menus sanctificandi which is the aim of the munus docendi he fulfils among the People of God entrusted to him.

2. At the centre of this sacramental service of the Bishop is the Eucharist "which he himself offers or ensures that it is offered" (Lumen gentium, n. 26). The Council teaches: "Every legitimate celebration of the Eucharist is regulated by the Bishop, to whom is confided the duty of presenting to the divine majesty the worship of the Christian religion and of ordering it in accordance with the Lord's injunctions and the Church's regulations, as further defined for the Diocese by his particular decision" (Linen gentium, n. 26).

The Bishop thus appears to his people primarily as the man of the new and eternal worship of God that was instituted by Jesus Christ through the sacrifice of the cross and of the Last Supper; as the Sacerdos et Pontifex, in whom is seen the figure of Christ himself, the principal agent of the Eucharistic sacrifice, which the Bishop, and the priest with him, offer " in persona Christi" (cf. St Thomas, S.Th., III, q. 78, a. 1, q. 82, a. 1); as the Hierarch, concerned with celebrating the sacred mysteries of the altar, which he proclaims and explains in his preaching (cf. Dionysius Pseudo-Areop., De ecclesiastica hierarchia, p. III, 7; PG 3, 513; St Thomas, S. Th., 11-11, q. 184, a. 5).

Church shows her unity in celebrating Eucharist

3. In his function of celebrating the sacred mysteries, the Bishop builds the Church as a communion in Christ. The Eucharist is, in fact, the essential principle of life not only for the individual members of faithful, but also for the community in Christ itself. The faithful, gathered together by the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, form communities in which the Church of Christ is truly present, because they find and show forth their full unity in celebrating the Eucharistic sacrifice. We read in the Council: "In each altar community, under the sacred ministry of the Bishop, a manifest symbol is to be seen of that charity and 'unity of the Mystical Body, without which there can be no salvation' (cf. S. Th., III, q. 73, a. 3). In these communities, though they may often be small and poor, or existing in the diaspora, Christ is present through whose power and influence the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church is constituted. For 'the sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ has no other effect than to accomplish our transformation into that which we receive' (St Leo the Great, Serm. 63, 7; PL 54, 357C)" (Lumen gentium, n. 26).

4. Consequently, among the Bishop's basic tasks is that of providing the various communities of his Diocese with the celebration of the Eucharist, according to the circumstances of time and place, in recalling Jesus' statement: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Eucharistic celebration, which culminates in Communion. It is the Bishop's responsibility also to care for the sick and the disabled who can receive the Eucharist only at home or wherever they are being cared for. Among all the demands of the pastoral ministry, diligent concern for the celebration and for what we might call the "apostolate of the Eucharist" is the most compelling and important.

5. What we said in regard to the Holy Eucharist can also be said of the whole sacramental service and sacramental life of the Diocese. As we read in the Constitution Lumen gentium, the Bishops "control the conferring of Baptism, through which a sharing in the priesthood of Christ is granted. They are the original ministers of Confirmation; it is they who confer sacred Orders and regulate the discipline of Penance, and who diligently exhort and instruct their flocks to take the part that is theirs, in a spirit of faith and reverence, in the liturgy and above all in the holy sacrifice of the Mass" (Lumen gentium, n. 26).

Bishop is minister of Orders and Confirmation

6. This conciliar text makes a distinction between Baptism and Confirmation, two sacraments that are differentiated on the basis of the account in the Acts of the Apostles which says that the Twelve, still gathered together in Jerusalem, on hearing "that Samaria had accepted the word of God" sent them Peter and John, who "went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:14-17, cf. 1:5, 2:38).

The imposition of hands by the two Apostles for conferring the "gift of the the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you" (Jn 6:53).

We know the difficulties that are encountered in many regions of both the ancient and the new Christian Churches in satisfying this need, due to a shortage of priests and for other reasons. But this fact makes the Bishop who is aware of his own duty to organize worship in his Diocese, even more attentive to the problem of vocations and the wise distribution of available clergy. It is, in fact, necessary to enable the largest number of faithful to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Spirit", which Acts also calls the "gift of God" (Acts 8:20, cf. 2:38; 10:45; 11:17; cf. Lk 11;9-13), is the basis for the Western Church's tradition which preserves and reserves the ministerial role in Confirmation to the Bishop. As a successor of the Apostles, the Bishop is the ordinary minister of this sacrament and he is also its original minister, because chrism (the matter), which is an essential element of  the sacramental rite, can be consecrated only by a Bishop.

In regard to Baptism, which the Bishop usually does not administer personally, it should be remembered that this sacrament too comes under his effective direction.

7. Another duty of Bishops is to "confer sacred Orders and regulate the discipline of Penance", as the Council says in describing their pastoral responsibilities. According to this conciliar text, the Bishop confers Holy Orders in the sense that he has the power "to ordain". However, since this power is linked with the Bishop's pastoral mission, he consequently has the responsibility, as we said, of promoting the development of priestly vocations and of providing good discipline for candidates to the priesthood.

In regulating the discipline of Penance, the Bishop oversees the conditions for administering the sacrament of forgiveness. We mention particularly that he is supposed to enable the faithful to receive this sacrament by making confessors readily available.

8. Finally, the Council shows Bishops the need of being examples and models of Christian life: "By the example of their manner of life they should exercise a powerful influence for good on those over whom they are placed, by abstaining from all wrongdoing in their conduct, and, as far as they are able, with the help of the Lord, changing it for the better, so that together with the flock entrusted to them, they may attain to eternal life" (Lumen gentium, n. 26).

This example of life is guided completely by the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. It is a way of living and acting based on the power of divine grace: a contagious, attractive and persuasive model that truly corresponds to the recommendations in the First Letter of Peter: "Tend the flock of God in your midst, overseeing not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock" ( I Pt 5:2-3).

Bishops cannot fulfil mission without prayer

9. This last point is especially important in regard to selflessness, concern for the poor, total dedication to the good of souls and that of the Church. It is the example which, according to the Acts of the Apostles, was given by Paul, who said of himself: "In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (Acts 20:35). In the Second Letter to the Thessalonians he also wrote: "In toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us" (2 Thes 3:8-9). Lastly, he was able to urge the Corinthians: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Cor 11:1).

10. The Bishop's mission as a "steward of grace" is great, but arduous. He cannot fulfil it without prayer. We conclude then, by saying that the Bishop's life is made of prayer. He does not give merely a "witness of prayer", but of an interior life invigorated by the spirit of prayer as the source of all his ministry. No one is as aware as the Bishop of the meaning of Christ's words to the Apostles and through them to their successors: "Without me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5).