A Simplified Representation of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy of Authority
Look here for a brief summary of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. In many ways the Church hierarchy is to the Catholic Church what Parliament and the Courts are to civil society. They provide a means of establishing and enforcing norms. There have been various symbolic conceptions of the Catholic Church expressed over time but the practice of a hierarchical authority structure of some kind is not widely disputed. Most debate seems centred on the most appropriate scope and power of various ‘layers’ of the hierarchy, not on whether or not they should exist at all.
Often people talk of “the Vatican”, “the Catholic Church”, “the bishops” and “the hierarchy”. At times it is clear from the context of a claim what particular person or people the speaker is referring to but at other times the terms end up as a vague sort of place-holder, a generalisation that is far too broad for descriptive purposes.
Related Posts
- Diversity in Roman Catholicism
- American Catholicism Test
- Crimen sollicitationis
- Recent Doyle Article
- Reverend Thomas Patrick Doyle
Comments
Leave a Reply
