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Priests / Priesthood
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Priests (Topic Page)
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"My
covenant with him was one of life and peace; fear I put in him, and he
feared me, and stood in awe of my name. True doctrine was in his mouth,
and no dishonesty was found upon his lips; He walked with me in
integrity and in uprightness, and turned many away from evil. For the
lips of the priest are to keep knowledge, and instruction is to be
sought from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts."
(Mal. 2:5-7)
"Then
[Jesus] summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness."
(Mt. 10:1)
"Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." (Our Lord
Jesus Christ, Mt. 10:40)
"[Jesus] went up the mountain
and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) that they might be with him
and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out
demons" (Mk. 3:13-15)
"In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in
prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve,
whom he also named apostles" (Lk. 6:12-13)
"And
taking bread, [Jesus] gave thanks, and brake; and gave to them, saying:
This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of
me. In like manner the chalice also, after he had supped, saying: This
is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for
you." (Lk. 22:19-20) [DR Trans.]
"[Jesus
said,] 'And (behold) I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on
high.'" (Lk 24:49)
"Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me."
(Our Lord Jesus Christ, Jn. 13:20)
"On
the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked,
where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in
their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' When he had said
this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when
they saw the Lord. (Jesus) said to them again, 'Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.' And when he had said this, he
breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins
you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are
retained.'" (Jn. 20:19-23)
"And
when they had ordained to them priests in every church, and had prayed
with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they
believed." (Acts 14:23) [DR Trans.] [Note: for information on
the term 'church' see "A Note Regarding the Term 'Church'
"(Church Talk Section) (click
here)]
"And
God indeed hath set some in the church; first apostles, secondly
prophets, thirdly doctors; after that miracles; then the graces of
healings, helps, governments, kinds of tongues, interpretations of
speeches." (1 Cor. 12:28) [DR Trans.]
"This saying is trustworthy: whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task."
(1 Tm. 3:1)
"Do not neglect the gift you have, which was conferred on you through the prophetic word with the imposition of hands of the
presbyterate." (1 Tm. 4:14)
"So I exhort the
presbyters among you, as a fellow presbyter and witness to the sufferings of Christ and one who has a share in the glory to be revealed. Tend the flock of God in your midst, (overseeing) not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of
glory." (1 Pt. 5:1-4)
"Human words are insufficient to do justice
to the mystery which the priesthood involves." (Pope John
Paul II)
"Great is the dignity of priests."
(St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, c. 391 A.D.)
"If I saw an angel and a priest, I would
bend by knee first to the priest and then to the angel." (St.
Francis of Assisi)
"[P]riests have a infinite dignity that surpasses
all understanding, even surpasses the dignity of the angels!"
"Those men are received by the Church as
its rulers whom the Holy Ghost prepares" (Pope St. Leo I the
Great, Doctor of the Church, 5th
century A.D.)
"Can.
948 Ordination, by the institution of Christ, distinguishes
clerics from laity for the governance of the faithful and the
ministry of divine cult." (1917 Code of Canon Law)
"The priest receives from Christ the
treasures of salvation in order duly to distribute them...among the people to whom he is sent." (Pope John Paul II)
"To the carnal eye the priest looks like
other men, but to the eye of faith he is exalted above the angels,
because he exercises powers not given even to angels." (Gibbons)
"Now,
the powers conferred by the imposition of the bishop's hands on
the ministers of the Church are the most marvelous gift that is
known on earth, yea, in heaven itself." (Liturgical Year)
"Can. 2. If anyone says that besides the
priesthood there are in the Catholic Church no other orders, both
major and minor, by which as by certain grades, there is an
advance to the priesthood: let him be anathema." (Council of
Trent)
"There is one God, and Christ is one, and
there is one Church, and one chair founded upon Peter by the word
of the Lord. Another altar cannot be constituted nor a new
priesthood except the one altar and the one priesthood." (St.
Cyprian, 3rd century A.D.)
"Two there are…by which this world is
chiefly ruled, the sacred authority of the priesthood and the
royal power. Of these the responsibility of priests is more
weighty in so far as they will answer for the kings of men
themselves at the divine judgement." (Pope St. Gelasius I)
"Nor do we permit any of the laity to
perform any of the offices belonging to the priesthood; as, for
instance, neither the sacrifice, nor baptism, nor they laying of
hands, nor the blessing... For such sacred offices are conferred by
the laying on of hands of the bishop." ('Constitutions of the
Holy Apostles', 4th century A.D.)
"In all ages, priests have been held in the
highest honor; yet the priests of the New Testament far exceed all
others. For the power of consecrating and offering the Body and
Blood of our Lord and of forgiving sins, which has been conferred
on them, not only has nothing equal or like it on earth, but even
surpasses human reasoning and understanding." (Catechism of
the Council of Trent)
"Can. 1. If anyone says that there is not
in the New Testament a visible and external priesthood, or that
there is no power of consecrating and offering the true Body and
Blood of the Lord, and of forgiving and retaining sins, but only
the office and bare ministry of preaching the Gospel, or that
those who do not preach are not priests at all: let him be
anathema." (Council of Trent)
"The
Christian priesthood, being of a new order, can be understood only
in the light of the newness of Christ, the Supreme Pontiff and
eternal Priest, who instituted the priesthood of the ministry as a
real participation in His own unique priesthood. The minister of
Christ and dispenser of the mysteries of God, therefore, looks up
to Him directly as his model and supreme ideal." (Pope Paul
VI, 1967)
"Bishops and priests being, as they are,
God's interpreters and ambassadors, empowered in His name to teach
mankind the divine law and the rules of conduct, and holding, as
they do, His place on earth, it is evident that no nobler function
than theirs can be imagined...they exercise in our midst the power
and prerogatives of the immortal God." (Catechism of the
Council of Trent)
"Sacrifice and priesthood are so united by
the ordinance of God that both have existed in every law. Since,
therefore, in the New Testament the Catholic Church has received
from the institution of the Lord the holy, visible sacrifice of
the Eucharist, it must also be confessed that there is in this
Church a new visible and external priesthood, into which the old
has been translated [Heb. 7:12]. Moreover, that this was
instituted by that same Lord our Savior, and that to the apostles
and their successors in the priesthood was handed down the power
of consecrating, of offering and administering His Body and Blood,
and also of forgiving and retaining sins, the Sacred Scriptures
show and the tradition of the Catholic Church has always
taught." (Council of Trent)
"Jesus
appeared to his Apostles on the day of his Resurrection, and said
to them: As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. Now the
Father sent his son that he might be the Shepherd of men; and we
have heard Jesus bidding Peter to feed his lambs and his sheep.
The Father sent his Son that he might be the Teacher of men; and
we have seen Jesus entrusting to his Apostles the truths which
were to be proposed to us as the object of our faith. But the
Father sent the Son that he might also be the High Priest of men;
Jesus must, therefore, leave this same priesthood on earth, that
it may be continued among us to the end of time. Now what is a
priest? He is the mediator between heaven and earth; he reconciles
man to his God, by offering [the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass] that gives infinite honor
to God and atones for man's sin; he cleanses the sinner's
conscience, and makes him a just man; he, in a word, unites man to
his God by the mysteries of which he is the dispenser." (Gueranger)
"Moreover, since the ministry of this holy
priesthood is a divine thing, it was proper that it should be
exercised more worthily and with deeper veneration, that in the
most well ordered arrangement of the Church, there should be
different orders of ministers [Matt. 16:19; Luke 22:19; John 20:22
f.], who by virtue of their office should administer to the
priesthood, so distributed that those who already had the clerical
tonsure should ascend through the minor to the major orders. For
the Sacred Scriptures make distinct mention not only of the
priests, but also of the deacons [Acts 6:5; 1 Tim. 3:8 f.; Phil.
1:1], and teach in the most impressive words what is especially to
be observed in their ordination; and from the very beginning of
the Church the names of the following orders and the duties proper
to each one are known to have been in use, namely those of the
subdeacon, acolyte, exorcist, rector, and porter, though not of
equal rank; for the subdiaconate is classed among the major orders
by the Fathers and the sacred Councils, in which we also read very
frequently of other inferior orders." (Council of Trent)
"These august powers are conferred upon the
priest in a special Sacrament designed to this end: they are not
merely passing or temporary in the priest, but are stable and
perpetual, united as they are with the indelible character
imprinted on his soul whereby he becomes 'a priest forever';
whereby he becomes like unto Him in whose eternal priesthood he
has been made a sharer. Even the most lamentable downfall, which,
through human frailty, is possible to a priest, can never blot out
from his soul the priestly character. But along with this
character and these powers, the priest through the Sacrament of
Orders receives new and special grace with special helps. Thereby,
if only he will loyally further, by his free and personal
cooperation, the divinely powerful action of the grace itself, he
will be able worthily to fulfill all the duties, however arduous,
of his lofty calling. He will not be overborne, but will be able
to bear the tremendous responsibilities inherent to his priestly
duty; responsibilities which have made fearful even the stoutest
champions of the Christian priesthood, men like St. John
Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory the Great, St. Charles and
many others." (Pope Pius XI, "Ad Catholici Sacerdotii", 1935
A.D.)
"[T]he
priesthood is a great gift of the Divine Redeemer, Who, in order
to perpetuate the work of redemption of the human race which He
completed on the Cross, confided His powers to the Church which He
wished to be a participator in His unique and everlasting
Priesthood. The priest is like 'another Christ' because he is
marked with an indelible character making him, as it were, a
living image of our Savior. The priest represents Christ Who said
'As the Father has sent me, I also send you'; 'he who hears you,
hears me'. Admitted to this most sublime ministry by a call from
heaven, 'he is appointed for men in the things pertaining to God,
that he may offer gifts and sacrifices [e.g. the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass] for sins'. To him must come
anyone who wishes to live the life of the Divine Redeemer and who
desires to receive strength, comfort and nourishment for his soul;
from him the salutary medicine must be sought by anyone who wishes
to rise from sin and lead a good life. Hence all priests may apply
to themselves with full right the words of the Apostle of the
Gentiles: 'We are God's helpers'. This lofty dignity demands from
priests that they react to their exalted office with the strictest
fidelity. Since they are destined to promote the glory of God on
earth and to cherish and increase the Mystical Body of Christ,
they must be outstanding by the sanctity of their lives in order
that through them the 'fragrance of Christ' may be spread
everywhere." (Pope Pius XII, "Menti Nostrae", 1950
A.D.)
"The
Catholic priesthood - divine in its origin, supernatural in its
essence, immutable in its character, is not an institution that
can accommodate itself with ease to human systems and opinions. A
participation of the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ, it must
perpetuate even to the consummation of ages the same mission that
the Eternal Father confided to His Incarnate Word: 'Sicut misit me
Pater, et ego mitto vos.' To work the eternal salvation of souls
will always be the great commandment of which it must never fall
short, as to faithfully fulfil it, it must never cease to have
recourse to those supernatural aids and those divine rules of
thought and of action which Jesus Christ gave His Apostles when He
sent them throughout the whole world to convert the nations to the
Gospel. Therefore St. Paul in his letters reminds us that the
priest can never be anything but the legate, the minister of
Christ, the dispenser of His mysteries, and he represents Him to
us as dwelling in a high place, as a mediator between heaven and
earth, to treat with God, about the supreme interests of the human
race, which are those of everlasting life. The idea that holy
books give us of the Christian priesthood, is that it is a
supernatural institution superior to all those of earth, and as
far separated from them as the divine is from the human. This same
high idea is clearly brought out by the works of the Fathers, the
laws of the Roman Pontiffs, and the Bishops, by the decrees of the
Councils, and by the unanimous teaching of the Doctors and of the
Catholic schools. Above all, the tradition of the Church with one
voice proclaims that the priest is another Christ, and that the
priesthood though exercised on earth merits to be numbered among
the orders of heaven because it is given to them to administer
things that are wholly celestial and upon them is conferred a
power that God has not trusted even to the angels; a power and
ministry which regard the government of souls, and which is the
art of arts." (Pope Leo XIII, "Fin Dal Principio",
1902 A.D.)
"The
human race has always felt the need of a priesthood: of men, that
is, who have the official charge to be mediators between God and
humanity, men who should consecrate themselves entirely to this
mediation, as to the very purpose of their lives, men set aside to
offer to God public prayers and sacrifices in the name of human
society. For human society as such is bound to offer to God public
and social worship. It is bound to acknowledge in Him its Supreme
Lord and first beginning, and to strive toward Him as to its last
end, to give Him thanks and offer Him propitiation. In fact,
priests are to be found among all peoples whose customs are known,
except those compelled by violence to act against the most sacred
laws of human nature. They may, indeed, be in the service of false
divinities; but wherever religion is professed, wherever altars
are built, there also is a priesthood surrounded by particular
marks of honor and veneration. Yet in the splendor of Divine
Revelation the priest is seen invested with a dignity far greater
still. This dignity was foreshadowed of old by the venerable and
mysterious figure of Melchisedech, Priest and King, whom St. Paul
recalls as prefiguring the Person and Priesthood of Christ Our
Lord Himself. The priest, according to the magnificent definition
given by St. Paul is indeed a man Ex hominibus assumptus, 'taken
from amongst men,' yet pro hominibus constituitur in his quae sunt
ad Deum, 'ordained for men in the things that appertain to God':
his office is not for human things, and things that pass away,
however lofty and valuable these may seem; but for things divine
and enduring. These eternal things may, perhaps, through
ignorance, be scorned and contemned, or even attacked with
diabolical fury and malice, as sad experience has often proved,
and proves even today; but they always continue to hold the first
place in the aspirations, individual and social, of humanity,
because the human heart feels irresistibly it is made for God and
is restless till it rests in Him. The Old Law, inspired by God and
promulgated by Moses, set up a priesthood, which was, in this
manner, of divine institution; and determined for it every detail
of its duty, residence and rite. It would seem that God, in His
great care for them, wished to impress upon the still primitive
mind of the Jewish people one great central idea. This idea
throughout the history of the chosen people, was to shed its light
over all events, laws, ranks and offices: the idea of sacrifice
and priesthood. These were to become, through faith in the future
Messias, a source of hope, glory, power and spiritual liberation.
The temple of Solomon, astonishing in richness and splendor, was
still more wonderful in its rites and ordinances. Erected to the
one true God as a tabernacle of the divine Majesty upon earth, it
was also a sublime poem sung to that sacrifice and that
priesthood, which, though type and symbol, was still so august,
that the sacred figure of its High Priest moved the conqueror
Alexander the Great, to bow in reverence; and God Himself visited
His wrath upon the impious king Balthasar because he made revel
with the sacred vessels of the temple. Yet that ancient priesthood
derived its greatest majesty and glory from being a foretype of
the Christian priesthood; the priesthood of the New and eternal
Covenant sealed with the Blood of the Redeemer of the world, Jesus
Christ, true God and true Man. The Apostle of the Gentiles thus
perfectly sums up what may be said of the greatness, the dignity
and the duty of the Christian priesthood: Sic nos existimet homo
Ut ministros Christi et dispensatores mysteriorum Dei - 'Let a man
so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and the dispensers
of the mysteries of God.' The priest is the minister of Christ, an
instrument, that is to say, in the hands of the Divine Redeemer.
He continues the work of the redemption in all its world-embracing
universality and divine efficacy, that work that wrought so
marvelous a transformation in the world. Thus the priest, as is
said with good reason, is indeed 'another Christ'; for, in some
way, he is himself a continuation of Christ. 'As the Father hath
sent Me, I also send you,' is spoken to the priest, and hence the
priest, like Christ, continues to give 'glory to God in the
highest and on earth peace to men of good will.'" (Pope Pius XI, "Ad
Catholici Sacerdotii", 1935 A.D.)
"But since in the sacrament of orders, as
also in baptism and in confirmation, a sign is imprinted, which
can neither be effaced nor taken away, justly does the holy Synod
condemn the opinion of those who assert that the priests of the
New Testament have only a temporary power, and that those at one
time rightly ordained can again become laymen, if they do not
exercise the ministry of the word of God. But if anyone should
affirm that all Christians without distinction are priests of the
New Testament, or that they are all endowed among themselves with
an equal spiritual power, he seems to do nothing else than
disarrange the ecclesiastical hierarchy, which is 'as an army set
in array' [cf. Song. 6:3], just as if, contrary to the teaching of
blessed Paul, all were apostles, all prophets, all evangelists,
all pastors, all doctors [cf. 1 Cor. 12:29; Eph. 4:11].
Accordingly, the holy Synod declares that besides the other
ecclesiastical grades, the bishops who have succeeded the
Apostles, belong in a special way to this hierarchial order, and
have been 'placed (as the same Apostle says) by the Holy Spirit to
rule the Church of God' [Acts 20:29], and that they are superior
to priests, and administer the sacrament of confirmation, ordain
ministers of the Church, and can perform many other offices over
which those of an inferior order have no power [can. 7]. The holy
Synod teaches, furthermore, that in the ordination of bishops,
priests, and of other orders, the consent, or call, or authority
of the people, or of any secular power or magistrate is not so
required for the validity of the ordination; but rather it decrees
that those who are called and instituted only by the people, or by
the civil power or magistrate and proceed to exercise these
offices, and that those who by their own temerity take these
offices upon themselves, are not ministers of the Church, but are
to be regarded as 'thieves and robbers, who have not entered by
the door' [cf. John 10:1; can. 8]. These are the matters which in
general it seemed well to the sacred Council to teach to the
faithful of Christ regarding the sacrament of order. It has,
however, resolved to condemn the contrary in definite and
appropriate canons in the following manner, so that all, making
use of the rule of faith, with the assistance of Christ, may be
able to recognize more easily the Catholic truth in the midst of
the darkness of so many errors, and may adhere to it."
(Council of Trent)
"In a word, if you contemplate the depth of this
mystery, that a man composed of mere flesh and blood should thus
be able to draw near to that blessed and immortal nature, you will
be able to form some idea of the sovereign power the grace of the
Holy Spirit confers upon priests. It is by their hands that these
wonders, and others of equal importance, are wrought for our glory
and our salvation. Beings whose mortal condition and existence are
bound up with the earth have been commissioned to conduct the
affairs of heaven, have been invested with an authority that God
has given neither to angels nor archangels. Never has He said to
them: Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also he heaven
(Mt. 18:18). Temporal princes too have power to bind, but they may
bind bodies only, whereas the bonds spoken of here constrict the
very soul and forge the links in heaven. Thus everything the
priest does here below, God ratifies up above, and the Master
confirms the judgment of the servant. What else has God bestowed
on priests if not infinite authority in the very heavens? Whose
sins you shall forgive, the are forgiven them, He tells them, and
whose sins you shall retain, they are retained (Jn. 20:23). Could
any power be greater than that? The Father has given all judgment
to the Son (Jn 5:22); and I see the Son Himself transmit this
privilege in its entirety to His priests. As if they were already
raised to the ranks of the blessed, superior to mortal lot, and no
longer enslaved by human passions, they have been invested with
this tremendous authority. It would be transparent folly to treat
with disdain so great a power, for without it we cannot obtain
either salvation or the good things promised us. If, then, no man
can enter into the Kingdom of God unless he be born again of water
and the Spirit (Jn. 3:5), and if, again, he who does not eat the
Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood (Jn. 6:53) is excluded
from eternal life; if, I say, on consecrated hands - the hands of
the priest - enable us to fulfill the conditions, well, then,
without their help how can we escape the fire of hell or win the
crown prepared for us? To priests has been entrusted the spiritual
travail of bringing forth souls; yes, they have to give us birth
to grace by baptism; through them we put on Christ Jesus, we are
buried together with the Son of God, and we become members of our
divine Head. Consequently we should revere priests above princes
and kings, honor them even more than father and mother. Our
parents begot us by blood and the will of the flesh,
but priests make us children of God; blessed regeneration, true
freedom, and adoption according to grace." (St. John
Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)
Also
See:
Duties
& Responsibilities of Priests
Priests
& The Sacraments
Alter
Christus / In Persona Christi
Church
Hierarchy
Bishops
/ Episcopate
The
Priesthood is Not Derived From the Community
The
Hierarchical Priesthood Vs. the 'Common Priesthood of the
Faithful'
Holiness
/ Good Example [Pg.]
Knowledge
/ Learning
Proper
Dress
/ Comportment [Pg.]
Celibacy
/ Chastity
Good
/ Bad Priests [Pg.]
Obedience
Praise
/ Rewards / Benefits
Exhortations
Novelty
& The Clergy
Preachers
/ Preaching
Fostering
Vocations [Pg.]
Those
Who Govern Souls Must Render an Account
Holy
Orders (Sacraments Section Reflections)
Vatican
View Section
Sacraments
Section
Latin
Mass & Catholic Tradition Section
Misc.
Priests / Vocations Facts
Prayers
for Priests / Vocations
Holy
Orders (Topical Scripture)
Priests
(Topical Scripture)
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