Hierarchy of the Catholic Church distinct from the general apostolate or ministry of the laity described above. The consultative leadership of the church, in both the diocese and the parish, usually comprises a Pastoral Council and a Finance Council, as well as several Commissions usually focusing on major aspects of the church's life and mission, such as Faith Formation or Christian Education, Liturgy, Social Justice, Ecumenism, or Stewardship. Religious—who can be either lay people or clergy—are members of religious institutes, societies in which the members take public vows and live a fraternal life in common. This is a form of consecrated life distinct from other
Hierarchy of the Catholic Church the Church of Rome, he is successor to the co-patrons of that local Church, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. As such, the Church of Rome, and its bishop, has always had a prominence in the Catholic communion and at least to some degree primacy among his peers, the other bishops, as Peter had a certain primacy among his peers, the other apostles. The exact nature of that primacy is one of the most significant ecumenical issues of the age, and has developed as a doctrine throughout the entire history of the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting the