Acts 20:17-19

New Catholic Bible

¹⁷Paul’s Farewell Speech at Miletus.^[a] From Miletus, he sent a message to Ephesus, summoning the elders of the Church. ¹⁸When they came to him, he addressed them as follows:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in the province of Asia. ¹⁹I served the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that befell me as a result of the intrigues of the Jews. Read full chapter

Footnotes

Acts 20:17 This farewell scene is especially important for the history of the Church as an institution. Those whom Paul summons are the “elders” (in Greek: presbyteroi, whence our “priests”), whom he describes (v. 28) as “shepherds” and “overseers” (Greek: episkopoi, whence our “bishops”; see 1 Pet 2:25), i.e., as responsible for the spiritual nourishment, guidance, and protection of the People of God. This authority they receive not from the assembly of the faithful but from the Spirit.
Here, in substance, is the ecclesial structure in which we live today (although only later would a distinction be made between “presbyters” and “bishops”).

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

Acts 20:17-19 New Catholic Bible

Footnotes

Acts 20:17-19

New Catholic Bible