'The apostolic succession of the bishops, that is, its 'hierarchical constitution,' is a constitutive element of the being and mission of the visible Church and guarantees her necessary historical identity with the Church of the Apostles.'
The following is the video and full text of Cardinal Gerhard Müller’s speech from the 2023 Rome Life Forum.
The Church of Christ in fidelity to the Apostolic succession
1. Without Christ – No Church
A Church that no longer believes in Jesus the Christ is no longer the Church of Jesus Christ. Bishops who betray their divine mission in order to avoid being accused of proselytism or of being rigorists for defending Christian morality have forgotten the meaning and reason of their existence. That relativism in doctrine does not make Christianity fit for the present, a fact which has been impressively brought to our attention by Pope Benedict XVI. And already in the 17th century the great mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal had warned the Jesuits …More