Auctoritas episcopi w liturgii

Abstract

In this Artikel author undertakes the problem of showing the foundations of the power of the bishop in the area of the liturgy. Fundamental is the auctoritas of the liturgy itself. The law, which guides the liturgy, is first and foremost faithfulness to the intentions of Christ as revealed in the Gospels and the New Testament. The law of prayer dictated by the Scriptures, law received and developed through Tradition, the celebration of the liturgy. At the same time the liturgy in its nature is ecclesiastical, it is an ecclesiastical event par excellence. The first and unwavering law of the liturgy is complemented by external instances which aid in the fulfilment of the law in relation to the liturgy. The chapter about the People of God in “Lumen gentium” possesses a very decisive meaning and is placed before de sacra hierarchia. That format represents not so much an innovation however, as much as a renovation, a return to the beginnings. That kind of organization we find in the first Church communities. The whole – the community is presented as occupying the first place, within which are servants – minister – a word that means both servant and service. The next fundament of the auctoritas of the bishop is the principle of man as an individual. The Church is understood as a communio persona, a brotherly community, in which all parts are alive and active. It is a hierarchal community, structured on a sacramental base, a community of many talents, charismas, vocations, and varying degrees of coresponsibility. This principle ties into the council’s reference to anthropology in theology which has its backing in the mystery of the incarnation. To comprehend auctoritas implifies in consequence, responsibility for man, care for the development of the priesthood of the faithful through the preaching of the word of God and the celebration of the sacraments. The model of the auctoritas of the bishop is Christ the Beautiful Shepherd (Jn. 10,11).