"One body and, as parts of it, we belong to each other"
(Rm 12:5; cf. l Cor 12:13)

2. In the mystery of the Church, unity in Christ involves a mutual communion of life among her members. God, in fact, "willed to make men holy and save them, not as individuals without any bond or link between them, but rather to make them into a people" (LG 9). The very life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit (cf. LG 7) builds up organic cohesion in Christ: indeed, He unifies the Church "in communion and in the works of ministry, He bestows upon her varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her; and He adorns her with His fruits" (LG 4; cf. Eph 4:11-12; 1 Cor 12:4; Gal 5:22).

The elements, then, which differentiate the various members among themselves, the gifts, that is, the offices and the various duties, constitute substantially a kind of mutual complement and are actually ordered to the one communion and mission of the self-same Body (cf. LG 7; AA 3). Consequently, the fact that in the Church there are pastors, laymen or religious does not indicate inequality in regard to the common dignity of the members; rather it expresses the articulation of the joints and the functions of a living organism.