1. Articles 10 & 11 EARLY CHURCH LEADERSHIP & THE EDICT OF MILAN

2. Article 10 – Authority in the Church  Christ established and sustains the Church on earth as a community of faith, hope, and charity  When the people God calls to lead the Church respond with the help of the Holy Spirit, the Good News of Jesus spreads throughout the world  What are some examples of people God calls to lead the Church?

3. Saint Peter – The First Pope  When Peter and Paul were hard at work spreading the Gospel message to the Jews and Gentiles, the Gospels had not yet been written down  Even the Acts of the Apostles had not been written down because they were happening in real time  Therefore, Peter could not point to MT 16:18 to show that Jesus had chosen him to be the “Rock.” However, because of word of mouth, people understood that Jesus had indeed chosen Peter as the leader of all  As the Church’s structure began to formalize, Peter became the Bishop of Rome. Since the church in Rome had primacy over the other Churches, Peter had primacy over the other bishops and was head of the college of bishops – the first Pope

4. Timothy – early leader  We learn much about Timothy from the First and Second Letters to Timothy in the New Testament  By the time these letters were written to Timothy, the Church had an organizational structure that included bishops, presbyters (what we would call priests today), and deacons  Timothy was a presbyter. Since there were no seminaries to train priests, Timothy learned from his family and from teachers such as Paul  When he was judged ready, Paul made him a priest by laying his hands on him. Bishops, priests, and deacons are still ordained (receive Holy Orders) through the laying on of hands

5. Role of Bishops & Presbyters  Christ gave the Apostles a share in His own mission: proclaim the faith and plant the Kingdom of God on earth  The bishops, as successors to the Apostles, share in that mission too  The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church from Vatican 2 tells us that “Individual bishops are the visible source and foundation of unity in their own particular churches….It is in and from these that the one and unique catholic church exists.”  Presbyters (priests) and deacons share in this work but are not successors to the Apostles and do not have the authority of bishops

6. Article 11 – Edict of Milan  Despite the persecutions of early Christians, the Church spread into Africa, Asia, and Europe  In 306, Constantine was chosen as Roman Emperor. He was a pagan but would eventually convert to Christianity  The Church historian Eusebius states that before a major battle to defend Rome from invaders, Constantine had a dream. In that dream, he was told to put the Chi-Rho (the first 2 letters of Christ in Greek) on his soldiers shields and banners. He did so and won the battle, becoming emperor of the Western Roman Empire

7. The Edict of Milan  In 313, Constantine, along with Licinius (leader of the Eastern Roman Empire) issued the Edict of Milan  The Edict proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire  Christians could now, for the first time, worship freely  Clergy were exempt from taxes, taken Christian property was returned, and Constantine commissioned the building of churches in Rome and Palestine  Instead of having to have small worship gatherings in homes, Eucharistic celebrations were not taking place in Churches with large gatherings of people