Catechism of the Catholic Church
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION TWO
871 "The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been
incorporated in Christ through Baptism, have been constituted as the
people of God; for this reason, since they have become sharers in Christ's
priestly, prophetic, and royal office in their own manner, they are called
to exercise the mission which God has entrusted to the Church to fulfill
in the world, in accord with the condition proper to each one."[385]
872 "In virtue of their rebirth in Christ there exists among all the
Christian faithful a true equality with regard to dignity and the activity
whereby all cooperate in the building up of the Body of Christ in accord
with each one's own condition and function."[386]
873 The very differences which the Lord has willed to put between the
members of his body serve its unity and mission. For "in the Church there
is diversity of ministry but unity of mission. To the apostles and their
successors Christ has entrusted the office of teaching, sanctifying and
governing in his name and by his power. But the laity are made to share in
the priestly, prophetical, and kingly office of Christ; they have
therefore, in the Church and in the world, their own assignment in the
mission of the whole People of God."[387] Finally, "from both groups
[hierarchy and laity] there exist Christian faithful who are consecrated
to God in their own special manner and serve the salvific mission of the
Church through the profession of the evangelical counsels."[388]
Why the ecclesial ministry?
874 Christ is himself the source of ministry in the Church. He instituted
the Church. He gave her authority and mission, orientation and goal:
In order to shepherd the People of God and to increase its numbers without
cease, Christ the Lord set up in his Church a variety of offices which aim
at the good of the whole body. The holders of office, who are invested
with a sacred power, are, in fact, dedicated to promoting the interests of
their brethren, so that all who belong to the People of God . . . may
attain to salvation.[389]
875 "How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how
are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they
are sent?"[390] No one - no individual and no community - can proclaim the
Gospel to himself: "Faith comes from what is heard."[391] No one can give
himself the mandate and the mission to proclaim the Gospel. The one sent
by the Lord does not speak and act on his own authority, but by virtue of
Christ's authority; not as a member of the community, but speaking to it
in the name of Christ. No one can bestow grace on himself; it must be
given and offered. This fact presupposes ministers of grace, authorized
and empowered by Christ. From him, they receive the mission and faculty
("the sacred power") to act in persona Christi Capitis. The ministry in
which Christ's emissaries do and give by God's grace what they cannot do
and give by their own powers, is called a "sacrament" by the Church's
tradition. Indeed, the ministry of the Church is conferred by a special
sacrament.
876 Intrinsically linked to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry
is its character as service. Entirely dependent on Christ who gives
mission and authority, ministers are truly "slaves of Christ,"[392] in the
image of him who freely took "the form of a slave" for us.[393] Because
the word and grace of which they are ministers are not their own, but are
given to them by Christ for the sake of others, they must freely become
the slaves of all.[394]
877 Likewise, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry
that it have a collegial character. In fact, from the beginning of his
ministry, the Lord Jesus instituted the Twelve as "the seeds of the new
Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy."[395] Chosen together,
they were also sent out together, and their fraternal unity would be at
the service of the fraternal communion of all the faithful: they would
reflect and witness to the communion of the divine persons.[396] For this
reason every bishop exercises his ministry from within the episcopal
college, in communion with the bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter
and head of the college. So also priests exercise their ministry from
within the presbyterium of the diocese, under the direction of their
bishop.
878 Finally, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry
that it have a personal character. Although Chnst's ministers act in
communion with one another, they also always act in a personal way. Each
one is called personally: "You, follow me"[397] in order to be a personal
witness within the common mission, to bear personal responsibility before
him who gives the mission, acting "in his person" and for other persons:
"I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit ..."; "I absolve you...."
879 Sacramental ministry in the Church, then, is at once a collegial and a
personal service, exercised in the name of Christ. This is evidenced by
the bonds between the episcopal college and its head, the successor of St.
Peter, and in the relationship between the bishop's pastoral
responsibility for his particular church and the common solicitude of the
episcopal college for the universal Church.
The episcopal college and its head, the Pope
880 When Christ instituted the Twelve, "he constituted [them] in the form
of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter,
chosen from among them."[398] Just as "by the Lord's institution, St.
Peter and the rest of the apostles constitute a single apostolic college,
so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the bishops,
the successors of the apostles, are related with and united to one
another."[399]
881 The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his
Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of
the whole flock.[400] "The office of binding and loosing which was given
to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its
head."[401] This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs
to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the
primacy of the Pope.
882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and
visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the
whole company of the faithful."[402] "For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of
his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has
full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he
can always exercise unhindered."[403]
883 "The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with
the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its head." As such, this college
has "supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power
cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff."[404]
884 "The college of bishops exercises power over the universal Church in a
solemn manner in an ecumenical council."[405] But "there never is an
ecumenical council which is not confirmed or at least recognized as such
by Peter's successor."[406]
885 "This college, in so far as it is composed of many members, is the
expression of the variety and universality of the People of God; and of
the unity of the flock of Christ, in so far as it is assembled under one
head."[407]
886 "The individual bishops are the visible source and foundation of unity
in their own particular Churches."[408] As such, they "exercise their
pastoral office over the portion of the People of God assigned to
them,"[409] assisted by priests and deacons. But, as a member of the
episcopal college, each bishop shares in the concern for all the
Churches.[410] The bishops exercise this care first "by ruling well their
own Churches as portions of the universal Church," and so contributing "to
the welfare of the whole Mystical Body, which, from another point of view,
is a corporate body of Churches."[411] They extend it especially to the
poor,[412] to those persecuted for the faith, as well as to missionaries
who are working throughout the world.
887 Neighboring particular Churches who share the same culture form
ecclesiastical provinces or larger groupings called patriarchates or
regions.[413] The bishops of these groupings can meet in synods or
provincial councils. "In a like fashion, the episcopal conferences at the
present time are in a position to contribute in many and fruitful ways to
the concrete realization of the collegiate spirit."[414]
The teaching office
888 Bishops, with priests as co-workers, have as their first task "to
preach the Gospel of God to all men," in keeping with the Lord's
command.[415] They are "heralds of faith, who draw new disciples to
Christ; they are authentic teachers" of the apostolic faith "endowed with
the authority of Christ."[416]
889 In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on
by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share
in his own infallibility. By a "supernatural sense of faith" the People of
God, under the guidance of the Church's living Magisterium, "unfailingly
adheres to this faith."[417]
890 The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of
the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this
Magisterium's task to preserve God's people from deviations and defections
and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true
faith without error. Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed
at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates.
To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the
charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. The exercise of
this charism takes several forms:
891 "The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this
infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher
of all the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims
by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals.... The
infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of
bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme
Magisterium," above all in an Ecumenical Council.[418] When the Church
through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine "for belief as being
divinely revealed,"[419] and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions
"must be adhered to with the obedience of faith."[420] This infallibility
extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself.[421]
892 Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles,
teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular
way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without
arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a
"definitive manner," they propose in the exercise of the ordinary
Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in
matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful "are
to adhere to it with religious assent"[422] which, though distinct from
the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it.
The sanctifying office
893 The bishop is "the steward of the grace of the supreme
priesthood,"[423] especially in the Eucharist which he offers personally
or whose offering he assures through the priests, his co-workers. The
Eucharist is the center of the life of the particular Church. The bishop
and priests sanctify the Church by their prayer and work, by their
ministry of the word and of the sacraments. They sanctify her by their
example, "not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples
to the flock."[424] Thus, "together with the flock entrusted to them, they
may attain to eternal life."[425]
The governing office
894 "The bishops, as vicars and legates of Christ, govern the particular
Churches assigned to them by their counsels, exhortations, and example,
but over and above that also by the authority and sacred power" which
indeed they ought to exercise so as to edify, in the spirit of service
which is that of their Master.[426]
895 "The power which they exercise personally in the name of Christ, is
proper, ordinary, and immediate, although its exercise is ultimately
controlled by the supreme authority of the Church."[427] But the bishops
should not be thought of as vicars of the Pope. His ordinary and immediate
authority over the whole Church does not annul, but on the contrary
confirms and defends that of the bishops. Their authority must be
exercised in communion with the whole Church under the guidance of the
Pope.
896 The Good Shepherd ought to be the model and "form" of the bishop's
pastoral office. Conscious of his own weaknesses, "the bishop . . . can
have compassion for those who are ignorant and erring. He should not
refuse to listen to his subjects whose welfare he promotes as of his very
own children.... The faithful ... should be closely attached to the bishop
as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to the
Father":[428]
Let all follow the bishop, as Jesus Christ follows his Father, and the
college of presbyters as the apostles; respect the deacons as you do God's
law. Let no one do anything concerning the Church in separation from the
bishop.[429]
897 "The term 'laity' is here understood to mean all the faithful except
those in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by
the Church. That is, the faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into
Christ and integrated into the People of God, are made sharers in their
particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ,
and have their own part to play in the mission of the whole Christian
people in the Church and in the World."[430]
The vocation of lay people
898 "By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek
the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them
according to God's will.... It pertains to them in a special way so to
illuminate and order all temporal things with which they are closely
associated that these may always be effected and grow according to Christ
and maybe to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer."[431]
899 The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the
matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social,
political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine
and life. This initiative is a normal element of the life of the Church:
Lay believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the Church is
the animating principle of human society. Therefore, they in particular
ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the
Church, but of being the Church, that is to say, the community of the
faithful on earth under the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and
of the bishops in communion with him. They are the Church.[432]
900 Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with
the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the
right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that
the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men
throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only
through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. Their activity
in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the
apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it.[433]
The participation of lay people in Christ's priestly office
901 "Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the
Holy Spirit, are marvellously called and prepared so that even richer
fruits of the Spirit maybe produced in them. For all their works, prayers,
and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work,
relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit -
indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born - all these become
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the
celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the
Father along with the body of the Lord. And so, worshipping everywhere by
their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God,
everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives."[434]
902 In a very special way, parents share in the office of sanctifying "by
leading a conjugal life in the Christian spirit and by seeing to the
Christian education of their children."[435]
903 Lay people who possess the required qualities can be admitted
permanently to the ministries of lector and acolyte.[436] When the
necessity of the Church warrants it and when ministers are lacking, lay
persons, even if they are not lectors or acolytes, can also supply for
certain of their offices, namely, to exercise the ministry of the word, to
preside over liturgical prayers, to confer Baptism, and to distribute Holy
Communion in accord with the prescriptions of law."[437]
Participation in Christ's prophetic office
904 "Christ . . . fulfills this prophetic office, not only by the
hierarchy . . . but also by the laity. He accordingly both establishes
them as witnesses and provides them with the sense of the faith [sensus
fidei] and the grace of the word"[438]
To teach in order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher
and of each believer.[439]
905 Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization,
"that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life."
For lay people, "this evangelization . . . acquires a specific property
and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary
circumstances of the world."[440]
This witness of life, however, is not the sole element in the apostolate;
the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by
word, either to unbelievers . . . or to the faithful.[441]
906 Lay people who are capable and trained may also collaborate in
catechetical formation, in teaching the sacred sciences, and in use of the
communications media.[442]
907 "In accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence which they
possess, [lay people] have the right and even at times a duty to manifest
to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good
of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the
other Christian faithful, with due regard to the integrity of faith and
morals and reverence toward their pastors, and with consideration for the
common good and the dignity of persons."[443]
Participation in Christ's kingly office
908 By his obedience unto death,[444] Christ communicated to his disciples
the gift of royal freedom, so that they might "by the self-abnegation of a
holy life, overcome the reign of sin in themselves":[445]
That man is rightly called a king who makes his own body an obedient
subject and, by governing himself with suitable rigor, refuses to let his
passions breed rebellion in his soul, for he exercises a kind of royal
power over himself. And because he knows how to rule his own person as
king, so too does he sit as its judge. He will not let himself be
imprisoned by sin, or thrown headlong into wickedness.[446]
909 "Moreover, by uniting their forces let the laity so remedy the
institutions and conditions of the world when the latter are an inducement
to sin, that these may be conformed to the norms of justice, favoring
rather than hindering the practice of virtue. By so doing they will
impregnate culture and human works with a moral value."[447]
910 "The laity can also feel called, or be in fact called, to cooperate
with their pastors in the service of the ecclesial community, for the sake
of its growth and life. This can be done through the exercise of different
kinds of ministries according to the grace and charisms which the Lord has
been pleased to bestow on them."[448]
911 In the Church, "lay members of the Christian faithful can cooperate in
the exercise of this power [of governance] in accord with the norm of
law."[449] And so the Church provides for their presence at particular
councils, diocesan synods, pastoral councils; the exercise in solidum of
the pastoral care of a parish, collaboration in finance committees, and
participation in ecclesiastical tribunals, etc.[450]
912 The faithful should "distinguish carefully between the rights and the
duties which they have as belonging to the Church and those which fall to
them as members of the human society. They will strive to unite the two
harmoniously, remembering that in every temporal affair they are to be
guided by a Christian conscience, since no human activity, even of the
temporal order, can be withdrawn from God's dominion."[451]
913 "Thus, every person, through these gifts given to him, is at once the
witness and the living instrument of the mission of the Church itself
'according to the measure of Christ's bestowal."'[452]
914 "The state of life which is constituted by the profession of the
evangelical counsels, while not entering into the hierarchical structure
of the Church, belongs undeniably to her life and holiness."[453]
Evangelical counsels, consecrated life
915 Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to
every disciple. The perfection of charity, to which all the faithful are
called, entails for those who freely follow the call to consecrated life
the obligation of practicing chastity in celibacy for the sake of the
Kingdom, poverty and obedience. It is the profession of these counsels,
within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, that
characterizes the life consecrated to God.[454]
916 The religious state is thus one way of experiencing a "more intimate"
consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God.[455] In the
consecrated life, Christ's faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to
follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above
all and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom,
to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come.[456]
One great tree, with many branches
917 "From the God-given seed of the counsels a wonderful and
wide-spreading tree has grown up in the field of the Lord, branching out
into various forms of the religious life lived in solitude or in
community. Different religious families have come into existence in which
spiritual resources are multiplied for the progress in holiness of their
members and for the good of the entire Body of Christ."[457]
918 From the very beginning of the Church there were men and women who set
out to follow Christ with greater liberty, and to imitate him more
closely, by practicing the evangelical counsels. They led lives dedicated
to God, each in his own way. Many of them, under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, became hermits or founded religious families. These the
Church, by virtue of her authority, gladly accepted and approved.[458]
919 Bishops will always strive to discern new gifts of consecrated life
granted to the Church by the Holy Spirit; the approval of new forms of
consecrated life is reserved to the Apostolic See.[459]
The eremitic life
920 Without always professing the three evangelical counsels publicly,
hermits "devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world
through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and
assiduous prayer and penance."[460]
921 They manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the
Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of
men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he
has surrendered his life simply because he is everything to him. Here is a
particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle,
the glory of the Crucified One.
Consecrated virgins
922 From apostolic times Christian virgins, called by the Lord to cling
only to him with greater freedom of heart, body, and spirit, have decided
with the Church's approval to live in a state of virginity "for the sake
of the Kingdom of heaven."[461]
923 "Virgins who, committed to the holy plan of following Christ more
closely, are consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop according to the
approved liturgical rite, are betrothed mystically to Christ, the Son of
God, and are dedicated to the service of the Church."[462] By this solemn
rite (Consecratio virginum), the virgin is "constituted . . . a sacred
person, a transcendent sign of the Church's love for Christ, and an
eschatological image of this heavenly Bride of Christ and of the life to
come."[463]
924 "As with other forms of consecrated life," the order of virgins
establishes the woman living in the world (or the nun) in prayer, penance,
service of her brethren, and apostolic activity, according to the state of
life and spiritual gifts given to her.[464] Consecrated virgins can form
themselves into associations to observe their commitment more
faithfully.[465]
Religious life
925 Religious life was born in the East during the first centuries of
Christianity. Lived within institutes canonically erected by the Church,
it is distinguished from other forms of consecrated life by its liturgical
character, public profession of the evangelical counsels, fraternal life
led in common, and witness given to the union of Christ with the
Church.[466]
926 Religious life derives from the mystery of the Church. It is a gift
she has received from her Lord, a gift she offers as a stable way of life
to the faithful called by God to profess the counsels. Thus, the Church
can both show forth Christ and acknowledge herself to be the Savior's
bride. Religious life in its various forms is called to signify the very
charity of God in the language of our time.
927 All religious, whether exempt or not, take their place among the
collaborators of the diocesan bishop in his pastoral duty.[467] From the
outset of the work of evangelization, the missionary "planting" and
expansion of the Church require the presence of the religious life in all
its forms.[468] "History witnesses to the outstanding service rendered by
religious families in the propagation of the faith and in the formation of
new Churches: from the ancient monastic institutions to the medieval
orders, all the way to the more recent congregations."[469]
Secular institutes
928 "A secular institute is an institute of consecrated life in which the
Christian faithful living in the world strive for the perfection of
charity and work for the sanctification of the world especially from
within."[470]
929 By a "life perfectly and entirely consecrated to [such]
sanctification," the members of these institutes share in the Church's
task of evangelization, "in the world and from within the world," where
their presence acts as "leaven in the world."[471] "Their witness of a
Christian life" aims "to order temporal things according to God and inform
the world with the power of the gospel." They commit themselves to the
evangelical counsels by sacred bonds and observe among themselves the
communion and fellowship appropriate to their "particular secular way of
life."[472]
Societies of apostolic life
930 Alongside the different forms of consecrated life are "societies of
apostolic life whose members without religious vows pursue the particular
apostolic purpose of their society, and lead a life as brothers or sisters
in common according to a particular manner of life, strive for the
perfection of charity through the observance of the constitutions. Among
these there are societies in which the members embrace the evangelical
counsels" according to their constitutions.[473]
Consecration and mission: proclaiming the King who is corning
931 Already dedicated to him through Baptism, the person who surrenders
himself to the God he loves above all else thereby consecrates himself
more intimately to God's service and to the good of the Church. By this
state of life consecrated to God, the Church manifests Christ and shows us
how the Holy Spirit acts so wonderfully in her. And so the first mission
of those who profess the evangelical counsels is to live out their
consecration. Moreover, "since members of institutes of consecrated life
dedicate themselves through their consecration to the service of the
Church they are obliged in a special manner to engage in missionary work,
in accord with the character of the institute."[474]
932 In the Church, which is like the sacrament- the sign and instrument -
of God's own life, the consecrated life is seen as a special sign of the
mystery of redemption. To follow and imitate Christ more nearly and to
manifest more clearly his self- emptying is to be more deeply present to
one's contemporaries, in the heart of Christ. For those who are on this
"narrower" path encourage their brethren by their example, and bear
striking witness "that the world cannot be transfigured and offered to God
without the spirit of the beatitudes."[475]
933 Whether their witness is public, as in the religious state, or less
public, or even secret, Christ's coming remains for all those consecrated
both the origin and rising sun of their life:
For the People of God has here no lasting city, . . . [and this state]
reveals more clearly to all believers the heavenly goods which are already
present in this age, witnessing to the new and eternal life which we have
acquired through the redemptive work of Christ and preluding our future
resurrection and the glory of the heavenly kingdom.[476]
IN BRIEF
934 "Among the Christian faithful by divine institution there exist in the
Church sacred ministers, who are also called clerics in law, and other
Christian faithful who are also called laity." In both groups there are
those Christian faithful who, professing the evangelical counsels, are
consecrated to God and so serve the Church's saving mission (cf. CIC, can.
207 # 1, 2).
935 To proclaim the faith and to plant his reign, Christ sends his
apostles and their successors. He gives them a share in his own mission.
From him they receive the power to act in his person.
936 The Lord made St. Peter the visible foundation of his Church. He
entrusted the keys of the Church to him. The bishop of the Church of Rome,
successor to St. Peter, is "head of the college of bishops, the Vicar of
Christ and Pastor of the universal Church on earth" (CIC, can. 331).
937 The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, "supreme, full, immediate, and
universal power in the care of souls" (CD 2).
938 The Bishops, established by the Holy Spirit, succeed the apostles.
They are "the visible source and foundation of unity in their own
particular Churches" (LG 23).
939 Helped by the priests, their co-workers, and by the deacons, the
bishops have the duty of authentically teaching the faith, celebrating
divine worship, above all the Eucharist, and guiding their Churches as
true pastors. Their responsibility also includes concern for all the
Churches, with and under the Pope.
940 "The characteristic of the lay state being a life led in the midst of
the world and of secular affairs, lay people are called by God to make of
their apostolate, through the vigor of their Christian spirit, a leaven in
the world" (AA 2 # 2).
941 Lay people share in Christ's priesthood: ever more united with him,
they exhibit the grace of Baptism and Confirmation in all dimensions of
their personal family, social and ecclesial lives, and so fulfill the call
to holiness addressed to all the baptized.
942 By virtue of their prophetic mission, lay people "are called . . . to
be witnesses to Christ in all circumstances and at the very heart of the
community of mankind" (GS 43 # 4).
943 By virtue of their kingly mission, lay people have the power to uproot
the rule of sin within themselves and in the world, by their self-denial
and holiness of life (cf. LG 36).
944 The life consecrated to God is characterized by the public profession
of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, in a
stable state of life recognized by the Church.
945 Already destined for him through Baptism, the person who surrenders
himself to the God he loves above all else thereby consecrates himself
more intimately to God's service and to the good of the whole Church.
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