Pope Leo, The Great

We learn from the New Testament Scriptures, that, in the apostolic church, thus in the beginning, the bishop in the church was a common minister of the gospel. But he did not long remain this. At the close of the second century we find every Christian local church, including the ministers of the gospel and the elders, and also, of course, the deacons, ruled by a new dignitary, who alone bore the title of bishop. It means that the bishop was now an office bearer in the church vested with legal...