1

TO THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS,
BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE.

Venerable Brothers,
Greetings and The Apostolic Benediction.

1. To Peter the Prince of the Apostles, the divine Founder of the Church allotted the gifts of inerrancy [¹] in matters of faith and of union with God. This relationship is similar to that of a "Choir Director of the Choir of the Apostles."[²] He is the common teacher and rector [³] of all, so that he might feed the flock of Him who established His Church [⁴] on the authority of Peter himself and his successors. And on this mystical rock the foundation [⁶] of the entire ecclesiastical structure stands firm as on a hinge. From it rises the unity of Christian charity as well as our Christian faith.