By Javier Arias (InfoVaticana), Inside the Vatican - In reality, in the sacrament of Holy Orders, Christ confers on the bishop (or priest) the authority to preach, sanctify and govern (even to administer justice). The Pope does not confer jurisdiction on a bishop, but only assigns a specific diocese to a bishop, who is not a representative of the papacy, but of Jesus Christ (Lumen Gentium 27). In an ecumenical council, consecrated bishops exercise their part in the jurisdiction of the universal episcopate not as delegates of the Pope, but by virtue of the authority conferred on them by Christ. The theory of the Pope as autocrat, taken from the Jesuit theology of the 19th century, not only contradicts the Second Vatican Council, but undermines the credibility of the Church with this caricature of the Petrine ministry.