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Qualities of Public Worship and Church Leaders[a]

Chapter 2

Prayer for Those in Authority.[b] I urge then, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all those who hold positions of authority, so that we may be able to lead a tranquil and quiet life with all possible devotion and dignity. To do so is right and acceptable to God our Savior,

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Timothy 2:1 This section instructs Timothy about the public worship of the community and lists some qualifications that bishops and deacons must possess. In the process, it bestows on the Church two time-hallowed titles: “the Church of the living God” and “the pillar and bulwark of the truth.”
    It then concludes by stressing the universality of Jesus’ role in his Resurrection visitation to angels as well as humans and in his enthronement as Lord of the Church. Hence, the belief in Christ’s Paschal Mystery is shown to be one of the basic aspects of the faith of the Church.
  2. 1 Timothy 2:1 Nero was in power, and Paul perhaps had a presentiment of a dark future for Christians. He therefore urges them to include all human beings in their intercession. Liturgical prayer must be universal prayer, for it is carried along by a conviction: God has sent his Son to bear witness that the Father wills the salvation of the whole world. It is the mission of Paul and ultimately of the Church to make this truth well known.