SUMMARY

1. The unbroken line of bishops reaching back to the time of the Apostles and so to Our Lord himself is called the Apostolic Succession, and it is through this that the Apostolic Commission is given to the Church today.

2. The bishops, like the Apostles before them, are meant by Our Lord to govern the Church, to teach her Faith and to guard her Sacraments, and to hand them both safely on to the next generation.

References

1. Iranaeus of Lyons (died c 202 AD) Against heresies, Book III, chapter 3(1).  Available from: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103303.htm  (Accessed 14 August 2010) (Internet).

2. Iranaeus of Lyons (died c 202 AD) Against heresies, Book III, chapter 3(3).  Available from: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103303.htm  (Accessed 14 August 2010) (Internet).

3. Iranaeus of Lyons (died c 202 AD) Against heresies, Book III, chapter 3(4).  Available from: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103303.htm  (Accessed 14 August 2010) (Internet).

4. Iranaeus of Lyons (died c 202 AD) Against heresies, Book IV, chapter 26(2).  Available from: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103426.htm  (Accessed 14 August 2010) (Internet).