Resumen:
This article focuses on the collaboration of priests and laity with the bishop in the tasks of pastoral government as reflected in the canonical tradition represented by Gratian¿s Decretum. Gratian arrange his sources not in a merely cumulative way, but according to the scholastic method of seeking concord among apparently discordant texts. From the study of these texts some conclusions can be drawn. The first of these is the clear capital function of the bishop in his diocese, a function balanced with the accent placed by various sources on the unity, harmony and communion that should exist among the different degrees of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The second one is the concern existing in the canonical tradition of the first millennium for the greatest possible participation of the People of God in some of the most solemn moments of ecclesial
life, such as in the processes of election of bishops, in episcopal and presbyteral consecrations and in the celebration of synods or councils. The third one is the relevance shown in the canonical sources of the proper interrelation of the bishop with his clerics, especially with the priests, for the diocesan government.
