The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1958-02-07
Archbishop,s Sermon At Farewell Mass, Jan. 29, 1868

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fold purpose. We wish to ack-
nowledge not only the signal
mark of confidence bestowed
ON Bishop IsSenmann by the
Holy Father. but to attest also the
honor conferred on the clergy OF
the Church Of Cincinnati. The choice
of one of our number for the re-
sponsible position of Bishop of Co
lumbus is a tribute of esteem to
the entire priesthood of the Arch
diocese.
II is an occasion also for Us to.
express publicly BUR thanks to
Bishop issenmann for his many
years Of faithful service here in
fhe Archdiocese IS secretary to
the Archbishop, seminary pro-
fessor, chancellor. pastor and
vicar general. Al fhe same time
we bid him godspeed as he takes
up his new duties as . resident
ial bishop.
Many changes have taken place
In the world and in the conditions
affecting the mission of the Church
since the days when Bishop ISsen-
mann was first ordained to the
priesthood. The mission of the
Church itself however and the
means by which it is TO be accom-
plisfed remain fundamentally the
same. There Is the same need to
preach the gospel as it was com
mitted to us by Christ, even
though the Interpretation of its
truths in relation to current prob
lens is somewhat different. There
is the same need of sanctifying
mankind by use of the divinely es-
tablished means, viz, sacrifice and
the sacraments, even though the
discipline of their use has some
what changed.
There is the same need for the
exercise of authority to maintain
and safeguard the integrity of faith
and order, even though the code of
canon law under which authority
is exercised has been partially mod
flied in the course of time.
Because the spiritual needs of
mankind remain substantially the
same from age to age, the struc-
ture and the function of the
Church once determined by Christ
do not change.
The function Of the Church,
briefly put, Is TO teach. to sane
fifty. and TO rule. II Is the fvnc-
tion whereby continuity Is given
to the mission Of Christ Himself.
There r other ways, no doubt.
by which God could have pro-
vided for the extension and per-
petvity Of His kingdom here on
earth. and the chief means which
He did ordsin was fhe establish
hent Of the apostolic hierarchy.
Hence Christ's first move in this
direction when He began TO
preach and to do. was TO choose
twelve apostles. These he train
ed for threu years by intimate
and daily association with Him
sell.
Having trained them in his own
school of spiritual formation, he
finally identified them with Him
self and invested them with His
own powers. In this way He pro-
vided for all future time. and built
the structure Of His church. The
circumstances under which we
meet to make these thoughts ap-
propriate for our consideration.
In this divine constitution Of the
Church the Bishop holds a key po-
sition. Just as the axiom, "Ubi
Petrus, hi Ecclesia, holds univer-
sal validity so within narrower
limits the dictum Of st. Ignatius
of Antioch also holds good: "Ubi
Episcopus, ibi communities (Cath-
Olica)."
The popular concept Of a bishop
Is unfortunately much less signifi-
cant than that--at least in the
common estimate Dlaced IN his