Why are the pope and the bishops so important to the church?

Answer 1

Because I don't play Chess.

Answer 2

A bishop:

• Is the chief priest of a diocese

• Is a member of the hierarchy of the Church

• Has received the highest of the sacred orders

• Has jurisdiction over a diocese

• Is a successor of the Apostles. This is one reason why the Catholic Church is Apostolic. A Bishop is responsible for the pastoral care of his diocese. In addition, he has a responsibility to act in council with the pope and other bishops to guide the Church. Special types of bishop are archbishop, cardinal, and pope (who leads the whole Church).

Answer 3

In the Catholic Church a Diocesan Bishop confirms, ordains Priests, administers a diocese, preaches the Holy Gospel, performs visitations of monasteries, convents, and seminaries, instructs the faithful in sound doctrine, and performs other Priestly duties as well.

An auxiliary Bishop of a diocese does whatever work he is instructed to do by his diocesan ordinary (the Bishop of the Diocese).

Bishops directly in the service of the Holy See serve in the offices of the Roman Curia, oversee certain Apostolic works, or can be employed in diplomatic service, such as Nuncios of the Holy See to various countries.

Answer 4

Of course, the pope's popularity can be explained in simple terms-he is the spiritual leader of over 600 million Catholics around the world, so that in almost any country where there are Catholics he is sure to get a good audience. But that would be an oversimplification of the phenomenon. What, then, are the factors that explain the pope's popularity at this moment in history?

Today every worshiper who claims to have a god is challenged to act as witness for his god. In fact, all the gods, that is to say, all those who are called "gods" and who are worshiped as gods are challenged to produce their witnesses to prove that they are gods or are the one living and true God. Today, therefore, the question is hurled into the face of each worshiper, Of which God are you a witness? As a witness, what can you say and what evidence can you bring forward to prove that your god, the one whom you describe as the object of your worship, is a reality, a true, living, historical, active god deserving of worship? What do you know of your god? Can you prove satisfactorily even to your own self that he is God or a god? Or are you ashamed to be a witness of your God?

Every reasonable person will agree that there is no use in worshiping and serving a false god. No lasting good is gained from worshiping a god that does not exist. A worshiper is only deceiving himself or letting himself be deceived by other religionists, and in the end there is only disappointment. We should not want to go by emotion and religious sentimentality. We should act like sensible persons in the matter of religion as well as in the secular matters. It does us no good to hide from ourselves the evidence concerning a God that is a true, living, powerful reality. If gods, our own or those of others, are false, then we should want to know it. If, among all the numberless gods worshiped today, there is the one living and true God, then we should call for the evidence and seriously consider it. By his very own evidence and by the evidence produced by his witnesses on earth the true God should be able to prove before the court of the universe that he is the God, the divine Being, worthy of the worship of everybody.

Answer 5

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Catholic AnswerThere really is no way to overestimate the importance of the Bishops. A bishop is a successor of the Apostles, and carries the fullness of Christ's priesthood. There would still be a Church if there were no priests or deacons.

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from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 1994... In the beautiful expression of St. Ignatius of Antioch, the bishop is typos tou Patros: he is like the living image of God the Father. (St. Ignatius of Antioh, Ad Trall. 3, 1: Sources Chretiennes {Paris: 1942-} 10, 96; cf. Ad Magn. 6, 1: Sources Chretiennes {Paris: 1942-} 10, 82-84)

And as Bishop, he has authority to make particular judgments, he consecrates the Sacred Chrism, he governs his diocese entrusted to him (has care of the particular Church), he is minister of Confirmation and Holy Orders, he administers reconciliation, presides at the Eucharistic celebration, he is *always* responsible for the celebration of the Eucharist in his diocese, even if a priest presides, he mentions the bishop's name to signify his presidency over the particular Church. The Bishop is "the steward of the grace of the supreme priesthood, (Lumen Gentium 26) especially in the Eucharist which he offers personally or whose offering he assures through the priests, his co-workers. He sanctifies his Church by his example, "not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock." (1 Pet 5:3 Thus, "together with the flock entrusted to them, they may attain to eternal life." (Lumen Gentium 26, section 3).