Hi Juaquin,

Thanks for the question.

You wrote:

• Is Jesus Christ the Sole Authority of the Church?

It depends on what you mean by this. Jesus Christ is The Ultimate Authority of the Church, but He delegates that authority with others, in particular, the pope and the bishops. Jesus gives Peter the task of feeding his sheep (John 21:17) and the Apostles the authority to loose and bind (Matthew 18:18) which means the authority to impose laws and exercise judgment over the faithful.

The comparison here is with the master who put his slave in charge of his household
(Matthew 24:45-51). While the master, Jesus, is away, he puts his servant, the Pope, in charge
of His Church.

You said:

• Where does the Bible fit in the Church's teaching?

The Bible is the inerrant and inspired Written Word of God (Catechism paragraph 105-107). Together with Sacred Tradition, the two make up one divine wellspring of Revelation.

"Hold fast to the traditions which you received, whether by word of mouth
or by letter."

(2 Thessalonians 2:15)

Sacred Tradition helps us to interpret Sacred Scripture and discern the author's intent.

"Earnestly contend for the faith once for all entrusted to the saints."

(Jude 1:3)

Therefore, we do not derive our certainty about doctrine from Sacred Scripture alone.

"Keep away from every brother who does not live according to the teaching you received from us." (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

Consider the story of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:31. Think of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture as two sides of the same coin or like our bodies with bones and flesh. The bones are hard and provide support, like Sacred Scripture; the flesh fills things out an provides flexibility.

You said:

• Do we worship the Gospel?

No! Although, as Jesus is the True Word of God, inasmuch as we worship Him (and we do)
we worship the Word of God as a Person. We do not worship the Bible or the written text.

Hope this helps,

Eric

Hi, Juaquin —

I just wanted to add to Eric's comments.

Jesus is ultimately the sole authority of the Church but the Church is the Body of Christ and possesses the mind of Christ as St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians.

So you really can't separate the authority of the Church from the authority of Christ.

Christ gave the Church the authority to bind and loose which is a Hebrew idiom for making decisions. When it comes to pronouncements about faith and morals, the Holy Spirit protects the Magisterium of the Church and, in particular, the Pope from teach error, hence in matters of faith and morals, it is infallible.

When it comes to matters of practice or discipline, the Holy Spirit guides or leads the Church in her decisions. While in matter of practice and discipline, the Church is not infallible, we still submit (even if we intellectually dissent and express that dissent) because the Church has the authority of Jesus and we must trust that the Holy Spirit will correct a problem if there is one.

In essence, we cannot separate the authority of Christ and His Church because the Christ,
the Head, and the Church, His mystical Body, are one.

Hope this helps,

John