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at all. she might err in any point. The flock would
have no guarantee of the truth of any doctrine. The
condition of those bodies which at the time of the
Reformation forsook the Church affords us an object-
lesson in point. Divided into various sections and
parties, they are the scene of never-ending disputes;
and by the nature of the case they are cut off from all
hope of attaining to certainty. In regard also to the
moral law. the need of an infallible guide is hardly
less imperative. Though on a few broad principles
there may be some consensus of opinion as to what is
right and what is wrong, yet , in the application of these
principles to concrete facts, it is impossible to obtain
agreement. On matters of such practical moment as
are, for instance, the questions of private property,
marriage, and liberty, the most divergent views are
defended by thinkers of great ability. Amid all this
questioning the unerring voice of the Church gives
confidence to her children that they are following the
right course, and have not been led astray by some
specious fallacy. The various modes in which the
Church exercises this gift, and the prerogatives of
the Holy See in regard to infallibility, will be found
1 in the article dealing with that subject.
(2) Jurisdiction. — The Church's pastors govern and direct the flock committed to them in virtue of jurisdiction conferred upon them by Christ. The authority of jurisdiction differs essentially from the authority to teach. The two powers are con- cerned with different objects. The right to teach is concerned solely with the manifestation of the re- vealed doctrine; the object of the power of jurisdic- tion is to establish and enforce such laws and regu- ae are necessary to the well-being of the Church. Further, the right of the Church to teach extends to the whole world: The jurisdiction of her rulers extends to her members alone (I Cor., v, 12). Christ's \wrd- to St. Peter, " 1 will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven", distinctly express the gift of jurisdiction. Supreme authority over a body carries with it the right to govern and direct. The three elements which go to constitute jurisdiction — legislative power, judicial power, and coercive power — are, moreover, all implied in Christ's directions to the Apostles i Matt .. xviii). Not merely are they instructed to impose obligations and to settle disputes; but they may even inflict the extremest ecclesiastical penalty — that of exclusion from membership in Christ.
The jurisdiction exercised within the Church is partly of Divine right, and partly determined by ecclesiastical law. A supreme jurisdiction over the whole Church — clergy and laity alike — belongs by Divine appointment to the pope (Cone. Vat , Sess. IV, cap. ui). The government of the faithful by bishop- possessed of ordinary jurisdiction (i. e. a jurisdiction thai is not held by mere delegation, but is exercised in their own name) is likewise of Divine ordinance. But the system by which the Church is territorially divided into dioceses, within each of which a single bishop rules the faithful within that district, is an ecclesiastical arrangement capable of modification. The limits of dioceses may be changed by the Holy See. In England the old pre- Reformation diocesan divisions held good until 1850, though the Catholic hierarchy had become extinct in thi" reign of Queen Elizabeth. In that year the old divisions were annulled and a new diocesan system established. Similarly in France, a complete change was introduced after the Revolution. A bishop may - m roisi hi power on other than a terri- torial basis, rhus in the East there are different bishops for the faithful belonging to the different rites in communion with the Holy See. Besides bishops, in countries where the ecclesiastical system is fully developed, those of the lower clergy who are parish priests, in the proper sense of the term, have ordinary jurisdiction within their own parishes.
Internal jurisdiction is that which is exercised in
the tribunal of penance. It differs from the external
jurisdiction of which we have been speaking in that
its object is the welfare of the individual penitent,
while the object of external jurisdiction is the welfare
of the Church as a corporate body. To exercise this
internal jurisdiction, the power of orders is an essen-
tial condition: none but a priest can absolve. But
the power of orders itself is insufficient. The minister
of the sacrament must receive jurisdiction from one
competent to bestow it. Hence a priest cannot hear
confessions in any locality unless he has received
faculties from the ordinary of the place. On the
other hand, for the exercise of external jurisdiction
the power of orders is not necessary. A bishop duly
appointed to a see, but not yet consecrated, is in-
vested with external jurisdiction over his diocese as
soon as he has exhibited his letters of appointment
to the chapter.
IX. Members of the Church. — The foregoing account of the Church and of the principle of author- ity by which it is governed enables us to determine who are members of the Church and who are not. The membership of which we speak, is incorporation in the visible body of Christ. It has already been noted (VI) that a member of the Church may have forfeited the grace of God. In this case he is a withered branch of the true Vine ; but he has not been finally broken off from it. He still belongs to Christ. Three conditions are requisite for a man to be a member of the Church. (1) In the first place, he must profess the true Faith, and have received the Sacrament of Baptism. The essential necessity of this condition is apparent from the fact that the Church is the kingdom of truth, the society of those who accept the revelation of the Son of God. Every member of the Church must accept the whole revela- tion, either explicitly or implicitly, by profession of all that the Church teaches. He who refuses to re- ceive it, or who, having received it, falls away, thereby excludes himself from the kingdom i Titus, iii, 10 sq.j. The Sacrament of Baptism is rightly regarded as part of this condition. By it those who profess the Faith are formally adopted as children of God (Eph., i, 13), and an habitual faith is among the gifts be- stowed in it. Christ expressly connects the two, declaring that "he who belicvcth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark, xvi, 16; cf. Matt., xxviii, 19). (2) It is further necessary to acknowledge the au- thority of the Church and of her appointed rulers. Those who reject the jurisdiction established by Christ are no longer members of His kingdom. Thus St. Ignatius lays it down in his letter to the Church of Smyrna: "Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be; even as where Jesus may be there is the universal Church" (ad Smyrn., n. 8). In regard to this condition, the ultimate touchstone is to be found in communion with the Holy See. On Peter Christ founded his Church. Those who are not joined to that foundation cannot form part of the house of God. (3) The third condition lies in the canonical right to communion with the Church. In virtue of its coercive power the Church has authority to excommunicate notorious sinners. It may in- flict this punishment not merely on the ground of heresy or schism, but for other grave offences. Thus St. Paul pronounces sentence of excommunication on the incestuous Corinthian (I Cor., v, 3). This penalty is no mere external severance from the rights of common worship. It is a severance from the body of Christ, undoing to this extent the work of baptism, and placing the excommunicated man in the condition of the "heathen and the publican". It casts him out of God's kingdom; and the Apostle speaks of it as "delivering him over to Satan" (I Cor., v, 5; I Tim., i, 20).
Regarding each of these conditions, however,
