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Encyclicals are letters of a more hortatory nature, addressed to all or to a majority of the higher officials of the Church. A motu proprio is a document prepared at the personal initiative of the pope, without previous petition to him, and issued with a partial avoidance of the otherwise customary forms of the chancery.
For ordination to diaconate or priesthood of a member of a religious institute, the major superior of the institute gives the letters, if the person to be ordained is a permanently professed member of the institute; all other members must obtain their dimissorial letters in the same way as the secular clergy do. [4]
In the Catholic Church, authority rests chiefly with bishops, [4] while priests and deacons serve as their assistants, co-workers or helpers. [5] Accordingly, "hierarchy of the Catholic Church" is also used to refer to the bishops alone. [6] The term "pope" was still used loosely until the sixth century, being at times assumed by other bishops. [7]
Choir dress of a cardinal, in scarlet Cardinals are senior members of the clergy of the Catholic Church who are titular clergy of the Diocese of Rome, thereby serving as the primary advisors to the Bishop of Rome. They are almost always bishops and generally hold important roles within the church, such as leading prominent archdioceses or heading dicasteries within the Roman Curia. Cardinals ...
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.28 to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2024. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 9 ] It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization .
In most episcopal church bodies, [clarification needed] clerics are often required to read out pastoral letters of superior bishops to their congregations. [citation needed] In the Catholic Church, such letters are also sent out regularly at particular ecclesiastical seasons, particularly at the beginning of fasts. [1]
Stewardship is a voluntary role. [3] Duties include greeting all those who attend church upon their arrival, assisting in the distribution of Holy Communion (in which they are known as communion stewards), counting the tithes and offerings given to the church, and ensuring that the local preacher is cared for when he or she arrives to preach at a church.
The International Theological Commission (ITC) is a body of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church; it advises the magisterium of the church, particularly the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), a dicastery of the Roman Curia.