The understanding of the office of a bishop according to the Secound vatican council

Abstract

Tema kojom se želimo baviti u ovome radu jest kako Drugi vatikanski sabor razumije ulogu i poslanje biskupa u Crkvi. Ova tema dotiče mnoga područja, no mi ćemo joj pristupiti ponajprije iz ekleziološkog kuta povezujući je s ostalim teološkim granama. Kao temeljni izvor našeg rada uzeli smo dva saborska dokumenta koja se na sustavan način bave biskupskom službom: dogmatsku konstituciju o Crkvi Lumen Gentium i dekret o pastirskoj službi biskupa u Crkvi Christus Dominus. Rad je podijeljen u sedam poglavlja, a započeli smo ga s govorom o biblijskim temeljima biskupske službe u Crkvi i njezinom značenju za prve kršćanske zajednice. Drugo poglavlje našega rada donosi razvoj ekleziologije s obzirom na službu biskupa počevši od apostolskih i crkvenih otaca kojoj su joj isti dali čvrste temelje, preko srednjovjekovne teologije i na koncu promišljanja teologa u vrijeme Prvog vatikanskog sabora. Na taj smo način dali potreban uvod u daljnja poglavlja koja se na sustavan način bave biskupskom službom kako ju je razumio Drugi vatikanski sabor. Tako se treće poglavlje osvrće na temeljne novosti Sabora, a četvrto nastoji iznijeti saborski nauk po pitanju biskupskog posvećenja. Peto poglavlje želi sagledati biskupa u odnosu na mjesnu Crkvu i s obzirom na to donosi saborsko tumačenje njegova udjela u trostrukoj službi Crkve. Nakon što smo prikazali ulogu biskupa s obzirom na mjesnu Crkvu, šesto i sedmo poglavlje žele pojasniti biskupovo poslanje da vrši brigu i za opću Crkvu. Stoga, ćemo prvo progovoriti o biskupskom zboru te na kraju o sinodi biskupa. Time dolazimo do zaključka našega rada.The main theme we want to adress in this thesis is the way the Second Vatican Council recognizes the role and the mission of a bishop of the Church. This topic is actual in various theological sub-disciplines, but we will adress it mainly form the ecclesiological aspect, while also taking into account other theological aspects. The basis of this thesis are the two of the council documents that sistematically approach the role and the mission of the bishops of the Church. Those documents are the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church – Lumen Gentium, and the Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church – Christus Dominus. The thesis is divided into seven chapters, and it begins with biblical approach and biblical fundamentals of the office of a bishop, so as with the role it had in the first christian communities. The second chapter adresses the development of ecclesiology with regards to the office of a bishop, beginning from the apostolic and the fathers of the church who established it, through medieval theology, all the way to the theological thoughts of the council fathers of the First Vatican Council. This type of approach gave the needed introduction of the following chapters that deal sistematically with the office of a bishop in the way the Second Vatican Council understands it. The third chapter brings the new views of the Second Vatican Council, while the fourth chapter elaborates the Second Vatican Council's teaching on the consecration of a bishop. The fifth chapter analyses the relation of a bishop to his local Church, and in that respect brings the Second Vatican Council's interpretation of his triple role in the Church. After the exposition of the role a bishop has in his local Church, the sixth and seventh chapter explain the bishop's role in the universal Church. Therefore, this thesis also deals with the College of Bishops of the Catholic Church and in the end with the Synod of Bishops in the Catholic Church. This concludes the thesis