Kamiński, Ryszard (Wydawnictwo Towarzystwa Naukowego Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego, 2005)
According to the Council teaching the pastoral office of the Church is a service (CC 24) that in the Holy Scripture is significantly called “ministry” (Acts, 1, 17, 25; Rom. 11, 13). Fulfilling the pastoral function belongs to the Church’s important tasks. It is based on the example of Christ who assumed the shape of a servant (see Phil 2, 6) and came in order to serve Him (see Luke 22, 26). The pastoral function of the diocese and the parish consists – besides the serving character of the offices in those religious communities – also of an apostolic attitude assumed by all the members of God's People, of their sensitivity and care of efficient realization of the Church today and in the future as well as of charity work. Fulfilling the pastoral function is also connected with forming a genuine Christian community.
