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by Jesus as apostles. Hence the Church is called apostolic because her faith is
founded on the confession of the apostles as a whole, which would later be re-
ferred to as ‘the canon or rule of faith’. The apostles’ faith and mission are
handed down through the generations in the Church. As new bishops are con-
secrated into the episcopal colleges, they are considered as the successors of
the apostles. So bishops in historic succession are the sign and guarantee of the
apostolicity of the Church as a whole. 31
16. Apostolic succession is inseparable from the activity or operation
(ἐνέργεια) of the Holy Spirit. From earliest times, the Spirit appointed minis-
32
33
34
ters, and spoke through the prophets and the disciples. The Spirit directed
36
the mission of the Church, giving the disciples power to witness. The Holy
35
Spirit continues to transmit afresh to each generation the permanent charac-
teristics of the Church of the apostles in Scripture and Sacraments; in witness
and ministerial responsibilities; in communion expressed in prayer, love, joy,
and suffering; in the proclamation of the Gospel; in service to those in need of
grace and goodness; and in unity among churches locally and universally.
Conclusion

17. Holy Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit as movement in vivid imagery of
water, fire, and wind. The Holy Spirit speaks in the Church and moves her
from the area of internal comfort to the arena of external engagement. The
Holy Spirit acts as the dynamic force within a redemptive understanding of
memory as found in a historical past and leading to future responsibility in a
changing world.
18. In a world of enforced displacement and fearful arrival; in a world of accel-
erated movement; in a world of war-torn fragmentation and courageous mar-
tyrdom; the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, transcends time and space and yet in-
habits both. The same Spirit is sent to commission and empower the weak to

31 ‘Those who wish to see the truth can observe in every Church the tradition of the Apostles made
manifest in the world … This tradition the Church holds from the Apostles, and this faith has been
proclaimed to all, and has come down to our own day through the succession of bishops’ (Irenaeus,
Adv. Haer. 3.3.1-2).
32 Cf. Acts 13.2, 4.
33 Cf. Ezekiel 2.2; Mark 12.36; 2 Peter 1.21.
34 Cf. Mark 13.11; Acts 2.4.
35 Acts 15.28.
36 Cf. Acts 1.8.

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