. . . . Now what was handed on by the Apostles includes everything which contributes toward the holiness of life and increase in faith of the peoples of God . . .This tradition . . . develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit. For there is a growth in the understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down. This happens through the contemplation and study made by believers, who treasure these things in their hearts (see Luke, 2:19, 51) through a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience, and through the preaching of those who have received through episcopal succession the sure gift of truth. . . . (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 8)

If therefore in the Church everyone does not proceed by the same path, nevertheless all are called to sanctity and have received an equal privilege of faith through the justice of God. And if by the will of Christ some are made teachers, pastors and dispensers of mysteries on behalf of others, yet all share a true equality with regard to the dignity and to the activity common to all the faithful for the building up of the Body of Christ. (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 32; emphases added)


GO BACK