Die Ordination zum Amt der Kirche und die apostolische Sukzession nach dem Zeugnis der Pastoralbriefe

According to the Pastoral Epistles, the verbi divini ministerium is conferred through ordination. In ordination, the laying on of hands - through which God grants the charisma to the one ordained, enabling that person to administer his office - functions constitutively. All ordained persons are part of the succession, whose essential feature is an obedient commitment to the Gospel as witnessed by the Apostles.