Where do bishops come from? The divinely appointed overseer

This last year, the world watched as the cardinals gathered in Rome for the election of a new pope, the 267th bishop of Rome. New York recently received a new archbishop, and Denver is preparing for one as well.

We are witnessing apostolic succession in action, extending an unbroken chain of bishops back to the apostles, who were appointed directly by Our Lord. Jesus established the Church, literally the “assembly,” as a relational network to draw the nations to himself.

But his Church, founded on the rock of Peter, like a good family, must maintain order, with a father, dubbed an “overseer,” placed over each local church. The role of bishop, which is how the Greek word for “overseer,” episkopos, came into English, is not equivalent to a secular manager or corporate head, because it is a divinely appointed office, given a share in Christ’s own authority over his Church.

Jesus, who worked as a builder with his adoptive father Joseph, clearly built a Church with a visible structure and leadership. He formed twelve apostles as the heads of twelve tribes that would constitute a new Israel gathered from throughout the nations. He gave his own authority to the twelve, as we see in a number of passages from the Gospel:

“And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases” (Luke 9:1).

“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me. … Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you” (Luke 10:16, 19).

“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. … If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:21, 23).

Although a bishop needs skills for governance, the leadership of the Church depends first and foremost upon the grace of Christ poured out on those he has chosen to lead his Church.

It would make no sense for Jesus to establish order in his Church for one generation, only to let it slide into chaos later. If we pay attention, we can witness apostolic succession in action right within the New Testament.

In the first chapter of Acts of the Apostles, Peter, the head of the twelve, directs the raising up of a successor to take the place of Judas, saying that one who was with them from the beginning “must become with us a witness to his resurrection” (Acts 1:22). Although Jesus himself called Paul to become an apostle, he still “went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas,” that is Peter, and later had his mission to the Gentiles approved by the pillars of Peter, James and John (Galatians 1:18, 2:9).

Paul, in turn, shows us how he appointed Timothy as an overseer of Ephesus and Titus in Crete, a role which he describes as “God’s steward” (Titus 1:7). Paul writes to Timothy, reminding him “to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,” which is the way one receives the authority to act as bishop (2 Timothy 1:6). He gave them instructions for appointing other overseers and elders (the Greek word used by the Church for “priest”), showing the Lord’s plan for continuing the governance of his Church.

As a link in the great chain stretching from Christ to today, the bishop, as steward, must receive all that has been handed down in the Church and pass it on faithfully. Paul states that “he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9). The bishop preserves order, ensuring that the faithful live in communion with Christ and do not go astray through erroneous beliefs or immoral actions.

One of the oldest Christian documents we possess, the Didache, bears witness to the dangers posed by false teachers and the need to maintain order within the Church, following the roles of bishop, priest, and deacon. Around the year 108, St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of St. John the Apostle, offered a strong exposition of the necessity of the office of the overseer, repeatedly stating that Christians should do nothing apart from their bishop. The bishop is the bond of unity in faith and charity, who assures that the faithful of the “Catholic Church” adhere in communion with Christ.

Therefore, we must “run together in accordance with the will of [the] bishop” and “be careful, then, not to set ourselves in opposition to the bishop, in order that we may be subject to God,” he wrote.

The modern world bristles at such authority. Immanuel Kant, for instance, in his essay “What Is Enlightenment?”, accused believers of immaturely placing themselves under the care of guardians who prohibited them from the free use of reason. The modern world has created a counter-structure to the Church, not one unified by faith and charity but a democratic collection of individuals bent on fulfilling their own whims. The visible communion of the Church, the rock built on Peter, necessarily checks our freedom so that we cannot simply build our own church based on our own thoughts and desires, a church of one.

We do not obey the bishop because we like him, or because he’s always right in his decisions, but because he is the one who has received the care of the Church and acts on behalf of Christ in our diocese. To obey God, we must obey all those placed in lawful authority over us. The communion of the Church continues in the world because God has placed a head over it, maintaining its integrity through its teaching, sacraments, and governance.

To those who abide in this communion, who observe all that Christ has commanded, he gives the assurance: “Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).