39. What is the Magisterium and who makes it up?

The Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church.  It is made up of the college of bishops united with the Pope.

38. How does the Pope relate to the college of Bishops?

He is the head of the college of Bishops.

37. What is the Pope?

The Bishop of Rome.  He is the successor to Peter, who was given the keys to the kingdom and was placed in authority.  The Pope has primacy over the other bishops.  His ministry includes ministry to the local church, leadership of the apostles (the college of bishops), and leadership of the Church as a whole.  He is the Vicar of Christ.

36. What is the college of Bishops?

The bishops in union with the Pope that together teach to the whole of the universal Church.  One body who speaks.

35. What do we call the successors of the apostles today?

Bishops; “Your Eminence”

34. What were the three ministries of the bishop according to St. Robert Bellarmine?

To teach, to govern and to sanctify

33. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the Tradition?

The Holy Spirit enlightens the college of Bishops, the successors of the Apostles, so that they may faithfully preserve, expound, and spread the Truth abroad by their preaching.

32. How was Constantine a blessing to the Church? How was he in some ways a curse?

Constantine as a blessing: 

• Legal protection under the law
• Legal status for clergy
• Built a number of basilicas (Lateran palace was given to the Bishop of Rome)
• Supported the growth of many churches
• Supported episcopal and papal decisions with the legitimacy of the law
• Made huge social and moral strides in laws of the Empire
• Provided political stability for the spread of the Gospel
• Christianity is now not only tolerable but mainstream, although not necessarily the sole state religion.
• Christians have freedom and even favored status in the Empire.

Constantine as a curse:

• Ushered in an era of the Church which focused on the status of the Church in political life, which was at times helpful and at times distracting.  (Distracted away from the Gospel to politics and power, but could we have evangelized as well without being a political entity?)
• Frequently participated in (meddled) in councils, doctrinal disputes, the election of bishops, etc.  He was not neutral.  Constantine did many things which should have been in the realm of the Holy Father, and this as an unbaptized “Christian”
• Was not ardent in his own faith — he was baptized on his deathbed.
• Even the state-encouraged Christianity (mass baptisms and conversions) were more political nad superficial than genuine.
• Neither for the Empire as a whole, not for the Christian communities, was he able to address the polarizing dynamic shift from west to east, and the acrimony which followed
• Fostered a growing distance between Pope and Emperor which would continue to deteriorate in successive generations

31. Be able to explain the story of Constantine and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Maxentius drowned in the Tiber during the battle.

According to chroniclers such as Eusebius of Caesarea and Lactantius, the battle marked the beginning of Constantine’s conversion to Christianity. Lactantius recounts that Constantine and his soldiers had a vision that God promised victory if they daubed the sign of the cross on their shields. The Arch of Constantine, erected in celebration of the victory, certainly attributes Constantine’s success to divine intervention.  (Thank you, Wikipedia)

During the battle, he was outnumbered 2 to 1.  The sign of the cross that he saw in his vision is commonly held to be the Chi-Rho, or the Greek initials of Jesus Christ, along with the words, “in hoc signo vinces” (“in this sign, conquer”).

30. What did St. Jerome say about the ignorance of scripture?

Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ. When he made this statement, it was in reference to Isaiah.