December 17, 2011 – Catechism 1187-1199

This may be something that is obvious, but I have never thought about it. The Catholic Church often says things like, Christ, with Mary, the mother of God, the Apostles, Martyrs and all the Saints, when it refers to Heaven, especially in the Mass. But when it mentions the Apostles, is it talking about Judas. He was an apostle, regardless of what he did. We consider Bishops to be the direct lines from the Apostles and can be traced back to the original 12. And they are bishops/apostles until death. And the office is not vacated after they die, but a new appointment is made. Matthias was named to replace Judas’ spot. So, a couple of questions. Was Matthias considered and apostle or a bishop. Paul says that he was an apostle, but I think that is because his mission was straight from Christ, like the original 12. If we are talking just about those select few being called “apostles”, it goes back to my original question, are we talking about Judas. Dante has Judas in hell, very close to Satan, but the Catholic Church has never announced that there is any specific person in hell. I was just curious about what is meant by the Apostles when we are talking about those at the Heavenly liturgy.