Why every Catholic must be subject to Christ as Priest, Prophet, and King

(LifeSiteNews) — Below is Part II in a series on exploring issues of crucial importance for understanding the crisis in the Catholic Church and how to present it. Part I can be read here.

Membership of the Church, Part II: Authority

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The members of the Church 

• Members of the Church are those who (i) have received the sacrament of baptism, (ii) publicly profess the Catholic faith and, (iii) are subject to the lawful authority of the Church.

The relationship between membership and authority 

• Baptism incorporates a person as a member the Church. To understand why public heresy and schism cause a person to lose this membership, while other grave sins do not, it is necessary to understand the nature of authority in the Church. 
• Every society, wrote Aristotle, “is established with a view to some good; for mankind always acts in order to obtain that which they think good.”¹ 
• The Church was established for the common good of all mankind, with reference to man’s supernatural end. 
• Every society consists of (i) its members – the material element, and (ii) the union of their wills to a common end – the formal element.²  
• Without members, no society would exist. Equally, if members did not share a common end, they would not be a society but a disparate collection of individuals. 
• Authority is necessary to direct members of society towards their common end. Therefore, all members must obey the authority that governs their society.  

Authority: the formal element of membership of the Church   

• Jesus Christ, through the Roman Pontiff and the college of bishops, exercises a threefold ministry. As Priest he offers public worship, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and celebrates the other sacraments; as Prophet he teaches infallibly the true doctrine of the Church, and as King he exercises jurisdiction over the baptized in order to lead them to Heaven. 
• There is therefore a threefold authority in the Church – that of sanctifying, teaching, and governing.
• Members of the Church must be subject to this threefold authority of Jesus Christ in order to become, and remain, members of the Catholic Church. 
• This threefold submission consists of (i) receiving the sacrament of baptism, (ii) publicly professing the Catholic faith, and (iii) publicly submitting to the lawful authority of the Church. 
• Those who refuse this threefold submission are not members of the Catholic Church. 

FULL TEXT

Agreement and union of minds is the necessary foundation of this perfect concord amongst men, from which concurrence of wills and similarity of action are the natural results. Wherefore, in His divine wisdom, He ordained in His Church Unity of Faith; a virtue which is the first of those bonds which unite man to God, and whence we receive the name of the faithful - “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. iv., 5). That is, as there is one Lord and one baptism, so should all Christians, without exception, have but one faith.  – Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, No. 6. 

The members of the Church 

Members of the Church are those who:  

1. Have received the sacrament of baptism 
2. Publicly profess the Catholic faith 
3. Are subject to the lawful authority of the Church. 

The following are therefore not members of the Church:  

1. The non-baptized 
2. Public heretics 
3. Public schismatics or those subject to perfect excommunication. 

In his encyclical letter Mystici Corporis Christi, Pope Pius XII summarized this doctrine as follows: 

Actually, only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed.³ 

The Catechism of the Council of Trent expressed the same doctrine in these terms: 

Hence there are but three classes of persons excluded from the Church’s pale: infidels, heretics and schismatics, and excommunicated persons.  

Infidels are outside the Church because they never belonged to, and never knew the Church, and were never made partakers of any of her Sacraments.  

Heretics and schismatics are excluded from the Church, because they have separated from her and belong to her only as deserters belong to the army from which they have deserted. It is not, however, to be denied that they are still subject to the jurisdiction of the Church, inasmuch as they may be called before her tribunals, punished and anathematized.  

Finally, excommunicated persons are not members of the Church, because they have been cut off by her sentence from the number of her children and belong not to her communion until they repent.⁴ 

The nature and ends of a society 

The Catholic Church is: 

“The society of men who, by their profession of the same faith, and by their partaking of the same sacraments, make up, under the rule of apostolic pastors and their head, the kingdom of Christ on earth.”⁵  

It is baptism which, as the Council of Florence taught, “holds the first place among all the sacraments, for it is the gate of the spiritual life; through it we become members of Christ and of the body of the church.”⁶ 

Baptism incorporates a person as a member of the Church, but, as stated above, this membership can be lost by public heresy and public schism. In this paper we will consider the relationship between these conditions of membership and the nature of authority in the Church. Then, in the papers that follow, we will proceed to examine each of the conditions of membership in turn. 

To understand why public heresy and public schism separate a person from membership of the Church we must first ascertain the true nature of a society. This will provide us with the correct framework within which we can understand why public heresy and public schism are incompatible with membership of the Catholic Church, while other grave sins are not.  

Every society, wrote Aristotle, “is established with a view to some good; for mankind always acts in order to obtain that which they think good.”⁷ 

For example, the family has as its end the procreation and education of children; a hospital, the care of the sick; a seminary, the formation of priests; and so on.   

There are two, and only two, perfect societies, which possess all the means necessary to guide their members to their common end. These are the Church and the State.   

The State acts for the common good of its particular community, with reference to man’s natural end. The Church acts for the common good of all mankind, with reference to man’s supernatural end.  

Every society consists of (i) its members – the material element, and (ii) the union of their wills to a common end – the formal element.⁸  

Clearly without members, no society would have existence, but it should be equally clear that without a shared end members would not form one society together, rather they would be a disparate group of individuals. Therefore, no one who rejects the formal element – the common end of a society – can form part of the material element – i.e., be a member of that society. 

To achieve its purpose a society must be directed towards its common end by those in authority. Without authority to direct its common efforts a society would soon disintegrate into anarchy and chaos.  

Therefore, in all societies there is a division between those who exercise authority, and those who obey authority. And in all societies beyond the extremely simple there are those who both command inferiors while obeying their own superiors i.e. there is a hierarchy.  

It should be clear therefore that it is authority that directs the wills of the members (the material element) towards their common end (the formal element), therefore “practically speaking, authority is the formal element of every society since it is authority that preserves and strengthens all the bonds by which members are held together.”⁹  

Therefore, a member must submit to be directed towards the common end of a society by legitimate authority if they are to remain members of a given society.  

As theologian Father Sylvester Berry explained: 

Every member of a society must accept its end and aims according to his ability, and he must strive, at least in some degree, to realize those aims. He that rejects the purposes of a society thereby rejects the society itself; he can neither become a member, nor remain one if already received into the society.¹⁰ 

This can be applied to the perfect society that is the Catholic Church as follows: 

The members of the Church constitute its material cause; the authority by which their union into a society is preserved and directed, may be considered the formal cause. The material cause of a society is either proximate or remote: the former consists of those who actually compose the society; the latter, those eligible for membership. The whole human race constitutes the remote matter for the Church, since it was established for the salvation of all men, regardless of race, color or condition. The proximate matter of the Church consists of those who fulfil the necessary conditions of membership and thereby become constituent parts of her organization.¹¹ 

Authority: the formal element of membership of the Church  

In the section above it has been explained that authority is a necessary constituting element of the Catholic Church, in order that members of the Church can be directed towards their final end, which is the salvation of their souls.  

Since Pentecost Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Divine Head of the Church, has through His Vicar, the Roman Pontiff, and through the college of bishops in union with him, exercised the threefold ministry of Priest, Prophet, and King. As Priest he offers public worship, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and celebrates the other sacraments; as Prophet he teaches infallibly the true doctrine of the Church, and as King he exercises jurisdiction over the baptized in order to lead them to Heaven.  

Members of the Church must be subject to this threefold authority of Jesus Christ – exercised by the ecclesiastical hierarchy – in order to become, and remain, members of the Catholic Church. 

Dr. Ludwig Ott explained: 

According to [the encyclical letter Mystici Corporis Christi] three conditions are required for membership of the Church: a) The valid reception of the Sacrament of Baptism. b) The profession of the true Faith. c) Participation in the Communion of the Church. By the fulfilment of these three conditions one subjects oneself to the threefold office of the Church, the sacerdotal office (Baptism), the teaching office (Confession of Faith), and the pastoral office (obedience to Church authority).¹²  

He continued: 

As the three powers perpetuated in these offices… constitute the unity and the visibility of the Church, subjection to each and all of these powers, is a condition for membership of the Church.¹³ 

And with reference to the condition of profession of the true faith he stated:  

The Confession of the true Faith and the adherence to the communion of the Church are for adults the subjective conditions for the achievement and the unhindered perpetuation of their membership of the Church which is initiated by baptism.¹⁴ 

And he continues by affirming:  

That those who dissociate themselves from the Faith and from the communion of the Church, cease to be members of the Church, is the general conviction of Tradition.¹⁵ 

And in the same manner Fr. Berry writes: 

The practice of the Christian religion, which consists in the external profession of Christian faith, is the proximate end to be obtained in the Church. Therefore, external profession of faith is an essential condition for membership. Moreover, the Church must be one in the external profession of faith, consequently he that severs this bond of unity is separated from the body of the Church, i.e. he ceases to be a member.¹⁶  

This is because: 

The very existence of a society depends upon the subjection of its members to authority; therefore he that rejects the authority of a society, rejects the society itself and ceases to be a member. Neither can the end of a society be realized unless the members be directed by its authority in their common endeavors to that end. Therefore, rejecting the authority of a society is tantamount to rejecting its ends and aims, which is to reject the society itself. Consequently no one can be a member of any society unless he submits to its authority according to his ability. Furthermore, in regard to the Church, there must be unity in the external profession of the true faith, which Christ committed to the teaching office of the Church. Therefore, the profession of faith necessary for membership in the Church practically resolves itself into submission to her teaching authority.¹⁷  

In summary: 

1. The formal cause of membership of the Catholic Church is the authority of the ecclesiastical hierarchy 
2. There is a threefold authority in the Church – that of teaching, sanctifying, and governing 
3. Submission to this threefold teaching authority of the Church is a necessary condition for membership 
4. This threefold submission consists of (i) receiving the sacrament of baptism, (ii) publicly professing the Catholic faith, and (iii) publicly submitting to the lawful authority of the Church 
5. Those who refuse this threefold submission are not members of the Catholic Church. 

REFERENCES

1. Aristotle, Politics, Book I, Part I (trans. Benjamin Jowett). 

2. Rev E. Sylvester Berry, The Church of Christ: An Apologetic and Dogmatic Treatise, (Mount St Mary’s Seminary, 1955), p6. 

3. Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi, No. 22, (1943). 

4. Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part II, On Baptism. 

5. Mgr G. Van Noort, Dogmatic Theology Volume II: Christ’s Church, (6th edition, 1957, trans. Castelot & Murphy), p xxvi. 

6. Council of Florence, Bull of Union with the Armenians, Session 8, 22 November 1439. 

7. Aristotle, Politics, Book I, Part I (trans. Benjamin Jowett). 

8. Berry, Church of Christ, p6. 

9. Berry, Church of Christ, p6. 

10. Berry, Church of Christ, p125-26. 

11. Berry, Church of Christ, p120. 

12. Dr Ludwig Ott, The Fundamentals of the Catholic Dogma, p309-11. 

13. Ott,  Fundamentals, p309-11. 

14. Ott,  Fundamentals, p309-11. 

15. Ott,  Fundamentals, p309-11. 

16. Berry, Church of Christ, p126. 

17. Berry, Church of Christ, p126.