Why have Catholic Cardinals?

The task of leading

Father David Jones

Church Hierarchy

The Pope is the head of the church on earth. The Bishop is assigned to a certain area and heads that local church. Some Bishops or Archbishops are Cardinals.

As a Cardinal, he does not have more or super power in his diocese, but he does have responsibility for the whole church throughout the world, as does the Pope.

The Cardinal’s throughout the world make up the College of Cardinals. When the need arises, after death, the College of Cardinals convenes to elect the Pope. Once the Pope is elected, the order is restored and the Pope is back in charge of the mission of the Church throughout the world, including the Cardinals.

Cardinals, assigned throughout the world, assist the Pope with addressing the issues of the world. In a sense, they bring the Pope’s perspective to the ground where they are stationed as Bishop and take the issues from the ground where they are stationed to the Pope.

The Pope’s primary responsibility is to govern the whole church. He assigns Bishops to assist with that awesome task. The Bishop has the primary responsibility to govern the local church to which he is named.

As a Cardinal, one has the task of assisting the Pope to be more like Jesus. As a Bishop, who happens to also be a Cardinal, one has the task of leading us to be more like Jesus.