ABSTRACT
The history of the Catholic Church since Vatican II has demonstrated the unsuitability of an ecclesial model produced by the struggles against the Reformation. One of the demands of the Reformation had been the restoration to the people of the interpretation of scripture. Since everyone receives the Spirit, it was argued, it is intolerable that a few should reserve to themselves the authorised interpretation of scripture. In this form the scriptural principle has a democratising effect: it makes hierarchy empty or reduces it to a subordinate, managerial
three centuries and in particular in the nineteenth century, developed a more elaborate theory of the place of the hierarchy, based on the sacrament of order. As a result hierarchical power can no longer be shared.
