In a public session held Oct. 28, 1965, during the closing months of the Second Vatican Council, Pope St. Paul VI solemnly approved Christus Dominus, the decree “On the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church.” The decree was the fruit of painstaking reflection and careful deliberation by the Council Fathers, and it touches on several issues of great significance for the Church’s mission. 

The decree has its origin in two preparatory texts: one focused specifically on bishops and another that dealt with the care of souls more broadly. While the latter text was never formally discussed, a greatly revised draft for a document regarding the bishops was sent to the Council Fathers in the spring of 1963 and became the subject of debate that November. 

As the Italian Cardinal Paolo Marella explained when presenting this draft to the assembly, its purpose was not to expound upon the theological doctrine regarding the episcopate. Because of the way the Council’s work was structured, such theological aspects fell under the purview of the Theological Commission and were to be addressed in the document on the Church, now known as Lumen Gentium. Instead, this draft focused on the juridical and pastoral aspects of the episcopate, though Marella assured the assembly that it would later be aligned with the Council’s theological framework. 

This assurance did not prevent several Council Fathers from expressing their displeasure with the text for being too ‘juridical’ and not focused enough on the deeper supernatural meaning of the bishop’s ministry. Brazilian Archbishop Fernando Gomes dos Santos, speaking on behalf of 60 bishops from his country, criticized the initial draft for lacking a broader perspective of the meaning of the bishop’s role as a “successor to the apostles, a member of the [episcopal] college … a pastor, pontifex, teacher, father, judge, a cooperator of Christ’s Vicar” — notions that he asserted needed a more thorough treatment. 

Without neglecting the more juridical issues dealt with in the draft, Archbishop Gomes dos Santos, expressing a widely shared view, called on the Council to expand its vision of the episcopal ministry. “It is time, venerable Fathers,” he stated, “to completely leave behind the figure of the bishop as a mere administrator or governor, established as a ‘lord,’ like that of a king providing and governing from afar, separated from his sheep, separated and segregated from his own ‘presbyterate’ …”

To the contrary, he continued, instead of being served by all, the bishop himself “should stand in the midst of the people and serve all.”

The debate and subsequent revisions would lead to a greatly expanded vision of the bishops’ pastoral care for the universal Church, individually and collectively, and also as exercised by others called to collaborate in the Church’s pastoral ministry. In elaborating this conciliar teaching on the episcopate, the document incorporated the Church’s reflection on this subject in relation to the future Lumen Gentium, as well as the early draft regarding the care of souls.

Drawing from both of these sources, the revised text — and the final decree, Christus Dominus — offers a profound theological vision of the bishop within the Holy Trinity’s plan of salvation. As the decree states, the bishops have been “appointed by the Holy Spirit” and “are successors of the Apostles.” United with “the supreme pontiff and under his authority,” they share in the work of Christ, “the eternal pastor.” 

Through their special ministry, Christus Dominus affirms that bishops share in the “solicitude for all the Churches.” The exact nature of the bishop’s authority, however, was the subject of heated debate. While upholding the Church’s teaching on papal primacy, Portuguese bishop António Ferreira Gomes cautioned against a false notion of the Church as a monarchy where bishops are seen simply as deputies of the pope. To the contrary, he asserted, Christ himself willed both the primacy of the pope and the authority of the bishops. The Holy Spirit, he affirmed, guides the Church to maintain a proper balance between these two essential aspects of its identity.

The original draft was criticized by many Council Fathers for describing the ordinary powers of the bishops as if they were ‘faculties’ or powers that were conceded to the bishop by the pope, rather than being connected to the bishop’s identity received in ordination. The final text — in keeping with the teaching of Lumen Gentium — would do away with this conception of “faculties” and emphasize “the ordinary, proper, and immediate authority” that the bishop has to carry out his mission. At the same time, responding to the concerns of those who feared that such authority might undermine the traditional understanding of the pope’s role, the decree specifies that such authority “never in any way infringes upon the power which the Roman pontiff has …”

With this qualification in mind, the decree expands upon the proper role of the bishops and their role in “teaching, sanctifying, and governing.” In all these areas, each bishop is called to be a “witness of Christ,” as the text affirms, teaching the Gospel and fostering holiness among all. In articulating the governing role, while recognizing the bishops’ “divinely conferred authority,” the Council takes pains to situate such authority in a Gospel context. Bishops are called to act as “fathers” and “pastors” — “good shepherds who know their sheep and whose sheep know them.” 

With this theologically rich notion of the episcopate at the forefront, Christus Dominus offers a broad panorama of the bishop’s mission and the Church’s broader pastoral care — from the Roman Curia to pastors, parochial vicars and religious communities, each contributing to the building up of the Body of Christ in union with the bishop. On all of these different levels, the decree emphasizes the need for cooperation to effectively respond to the complex needs of the Church in the modern world. 

One notable manifestation of this spirit of solidarity is the Synod of Bishops. Earlier in the Council, Paul VI himself had expressed openness to a greater collaboration of the bishops in his work as universal pastor. During the conciliar debates, a great number of Council Fathers enthusiastically embraced the idea of the formation of a body of bishops who might more regularly assist the pope in his task of government. This body, named by Christus Dominus as the “Synod of Bishops,” would act in the name of “the entire Catholic episcopate” and serve as a special manifestation of the shared pastoral responsibility bishops hold for the universal Church. 

Christus Dominus addressed these and many other aspects of the pastoral ministry of bishops, while leaving numerous details to be clarified in the later Code of Canon Law. Through its teachings, the decree reflects a profoundly renewed awareness of the ministry of bishops and the many ways they are called to cooperate and collaborate for the good of the Church.

Revisiting Christus Dominus can help every member of the People of God to fulfill our specific vocation in union with Christ, the supreme and eternal pastor, and with the bishops who, as the decree proclaims, “continue throughout the ages the work of Christ.”