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Offices
(218 words)

The word “offices,” derived from Lat. officium (office, duty), is used in two main senses in the Roman Catholic Church.

1. “Office” denotes an ecclesiastical office (Ministry, Ministerial Offices). The reference is to a divinely or ecclesiastically ordained ministry and the acceptance of a spiritual mission (see 1983 CIC 145.1). In the broad sense the whole of the Christian way of faith constitutes the ministry, all believers being called “to exercise the mission which God entrusted to the Church” (can. 204.1) and pledged to participation in it (cans. 208–23).

In the Roman curia, the …

Cite this page
Grote, Heiner, “Offices”, in: Encyclopedia of Christianity Online. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2211-2685_eco_O57>
First published online: 2011
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004169678, 20080512



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