Visible Church and Holy Orders
The clergy leads
under the guidance of the Spirit
The visible Church is composed of the
clergy, the religious, and the lay
faithful. More than just Church buildings
and institutional systems, the Church is
all the baptized who live Christ's teaching
guided by the Holy Spirit through the
official leadership of its clergy.
The visible Church
The visible Church is not only the parishes and
the buildings of Catholic institutions that we
see all around us. More than this, the visible
Church are all the baptized: the clergy, the
religious and the lay faithful, who make up the
Body of Christ. The Church is composed of the
head of the Body of Christ, who is Christ Himself
and the visible body, which is all of us baptized.
There is also the mystical Body of the Church
which is totally composed of: the Church triumphant
[those who enjoy the beatific vision of God, the
saints and the angels]; the Church suffering [all
the holy souls of Purgatory undergoing purification];
and the Church militant [which is all of us who are
in the world engaging in a spiritual battle within
ourselves and against all evil that is around us.]
Holy Orders
One population of the visible Church are the
clergy who received the sacrament of holy orders.
They are those chosen by God to lead the Church
and to minister to her as Christ ministered and
loved the Church.
There are basically three types of clergy in
the hierarchy of our Catholic church system.
These are: the diaconate [deacons]; the
presbyterate [priests]; and the episcopate
[bishops]. In Greek, these terms are known
as diakonia, presbyteroi, and
episkopoi.
Although the highest level in the Church
hierarchy is the position of bishop,
there are titles and special positions
that are granted to those who need to minister
the Church at a higher level. And so, for the
ministry of the episcopate, we hear of titles
such as archbishops, cardinals, and popes.
Although these high-level positions have extra
responsibility in the Church, they still are
bishops in basic stature who also have a
diocesan see to minister too. It is in this
teaching, that we are taught that the Pope
is also the bishop of Rome.
The Kingdom of God is already but not yet
It is the visible Church under the leadership of
those who received holy orders and guided by the
Holy Spirit, who make the Kingdom of God present
in our world through the grace and power of the
Holy Spirit. Theology scholars speak of a reality
as regards God's Kingdom as a Kingdom that is
already in our midst, but not yet fully manifested
and fulfilled. Even Jesus in His preaching tells
us that the "kingdom of God is at hand". His life
ushered in the birth of the New Israel, the Kingdom
of God, which He ratified by His blood and death on
the cross - following the will of the Father. We,
who are all the baptized, and who are part of this
visible Church, make up the Kingdom of God in its
present form: already here, but not yet fully
created according to His will. It is the Spirit of
God which will help us make the Kingdom of God
come into full fruition. One passage in Scripture
which in a way describes how we are moving towards
the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God is found in
the Letter of Paul to the Romans 8:22-23; 26-27
We know that, even now, the whole creation is
still groaning in travail - and not only it, but
we, too, even though we have the first fruits of
the Spirit - we, too, groan within ourselves as
we await our adoption as children of God, and the
redemption of our bodies. But the Spirit helps us
in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray
for as we ought; but the Spirit prays on our
behalf with inexpressible sighs of longing. For
the Spirit, who looks deep into hearts, knows
what to ask for; for the Spirit prays for the
saints according to the will of God.