A Roman Catholic bishop holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders, a theological claim distinguishing the episcopate from the priesthood as a difference of degree within one sacrament rather than a separate rite; only a bishop can validly ordain new priests and deacons or consecrate other bishops. Within his diocese, a bishop is described in canon law as its proper pastor, holding ordinary, proper and immediate authority for governing, teaching and sanctifying the local church, subject to the Pope's own universal authority and, on questions of doctrine, to the wider college of bishops acting in communion with him.
The Second Vatican Council, 1962 to 1965, placed particular emphasis on episcopal collegiality, the teaching that all bishops together, in union with and never apart from the Pope, share responsibility for the whole Church, a principle given institutional expression through instruments such as the Synod of Bishops and national bishops' conferences that did not exist in their modern form before the Council. A bishop is assisted in diocesan governance by a curia of appointed officials, and larger dioceses may have one or more auxiliary or coadjutor bishops sharing specific responsibilities or preparing to succeed the diocesan bishop directly.