Title: The History of Holy Orders The New Testament The presen
1The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- The present state of scholarship demands great
caution in our speaking about ordination, its
meaning or its rites in the NT. - The words ordain and ordination are not found
there - There is considerable disagreement about the
extent to which this later Christian use may
coincide with the categories of the NT - With its pattern, or varied patterns, of
understanding, vocabulary and practice.
2The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- The evidence suggests that the church had both
unity and differentiation from the beginning. - There is equality based on baptism
- This equality nevertheless requires authority,
leadership - That is structured and maintained as a unity
through special ministers. - Ministry rather than order or status is the
predominant emphasis - a mission to be accomplished
- a task to be done
- Rather than a class to be entered or a status to
be attained.
3The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- These differences should not be exaggerated
- ministry may well involve position
- a mission may carry with it or may require a
certain personal status - ministers may be grouped together because of the
nature of their function. - Ministry does not however arise merely out of
sociological pressure - its necessity is found at a deeper level in the
person and mission of Jesus Christ.
4The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- The entire ministry is ultimately the work of God
- (1 Cor 126),
- the gift of Christ
- (Eph 4712)
- and of the Holy Spirit
- (1 Cor 12411 cf. Acts 2028)
- in and through and for the church,
- the body of Christ.
5The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- The most important forms of ministry can be
characterized as those of leadership - Preaching the gospel and founding new churches,
- Supervising and nurturing the growth of the young
churches, - Leading the communities as they become
established. - This ministry of leadership manifests itself in a
variety of activities - Instruction, encouragement, reproof, visitation,
appointment and supervision of some ministries,
and so on - Aall that is demanded by the task of building up
the body of Christ.
6The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- Scholars are not agreed about the manner in which
such Christian leaders came into being in the
early church. - The recent trend has been towards the view that
leaders emerged or were appointed in different
ways in different communities with different
church orders. - Is there any evidence of a rite associated with
this? - Rather than discuss the question simply as a NT
issue, it seems best to look at it with an eye to
subsequent developments.
7The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- The NT mentions the laying-on of hands on four
main occasions that could be important for our
consideration of the sacrament of orders - (Acts 66 133 1 Tim 414 2 Tim 16 and cf. 1
Tim 522). - Scholars do not agree on the background to this
Christian action, - whether it was borrowed from a supposed Jewish
rite of ordination - or was derived from more general OT influences
- or was primarily a Christian introduction.
- Nor is there agreement that in these instances
the function and the meaning of the gesture are
the same.
8The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- In Acts 66 the seven are chosen in Jerusalem by
the whole body of disciples for appointment by
the apostles, who pray and lay their hands upon
them. - In Acts 1313 Barnabas and Saul are set apart in
the church at Antioch for a mission in obedience
to a command of the Holy Spirit. - After fasting and prayer they (the prophets and
teachers? others?) lay hands on Barnabas and Saul
and send them on their mission. - They are understood to be sent out by the Holy
Spirit (134). - In neither of these cases do scholars agree about
the function or the meaning of this imposition of
hands.
9The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- The second especially may have been no more than
a blessing or the acknowledgment of a mandate - (cf. Acts 1426, which may interpret this rite
in saying that they were commended to the grace
of God for this work). - One other text from Acts makes an interesting
parallel. - According to 1423, Paul and Barnabas appointed
elders in every church with prayer and fasting. - The mention of prayer and fasting and the absence
of reference to the laying-on of hands are worth
noting, though it could well be that the latter
is presupposed.
10The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- There is also disagreement as to the meaning of
the imposition of hands in the two instances from
the pastoral epistles - (1 Tim 414 2 Tim 16),
- But there is a firmer consensus that it is part
of what may be called with greater confidence an
ordination rite. - The choice of Timothy may have been made by
prophetic utterance - (1 Tim 118 414 cf. Acts 132)
- The core of the rite by which he was commissioned
is presented as the laying-on of hands done by
the body of presbyters and by Paul - (1 Tim 414 2 Tim 16).
- Probably this was done in public
- (cf. 2 Tim 22 before many witnesses).
11The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- In or through this rite a spiritual gift,
- a gift of God,
- has been conferred.
- This gift is at the service of the word,
- strengthening Timothy to bear public witness to
the gospel - (2 Tim 1814).
- He is warned not to neglect
- he is to rekindle this gift of God that he has
received and - in fact the last two chapters of I Timothy
envisage a broad range of responsibility for the
apostolate and the community.
12The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- It is a power that enables him to carry out his
ministry, - a charism for the office that he has received.
- Here we have the makings of a later explicitly
sacramental understanding of such a rite. - No doubt these texts, partial as they are,
represent different situations of time and place.
- They may not simply be collated in the
expectation that the ensemble will provide the
ordination rite of the early church or of St
Paul. - Scholars maintain that the pattern of ministry,
- its understanding and its mode of appointment or
recognition, - may be more varied than has been acknowledged in
the past.
13The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- The precise influences that led to the Christian
use of the laying-on of hands are unclear - and so the meaning of this action, and in some
cases its role, are also unclear. - It is not evident that some such form was always
and everywhere used during the NT period or
indeed for some time after it, - Nor is there any probability that all these
elements were present on all occasions. - But neither can it be proved from the evidence of
the NT that such a form was exceptional. - Elements do undoubtedly emerge from the church of
the NT that will influence all later generations
and that will in fact endure.
14The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- Subject to all the qualifications that have been
made, the following may serve as a summary of
some of the points from the NT that will be
prominent also in the subsequent tradition. - In the appointment of ministers to positions of
leadership the whole local body of the church and
yet also particular ministers or groups of
ministers have an important role. - The context of worship, of prayer and fasting is
mentioned, suggesting a liturgical setting and
referring the ministry and appointment to it to
God. - Hands are laid on the candidate by a group within
the church and/or by such individuals as Paul and
Timothy.
15The History of Holy Orders
- The New Testament
- What the church does through its corporate action
or through its leaders is regarded as inspired by
the Holy Spirit - Through the churchs choice and the liturgical
action, - God provides for the church and gives a spiritual
gift that in some way endures. - This inter-working of God-whole church-special
ministers in the appointment of ministers is to
be noted, - as is the religious form of prayer-fasting-liturgi
cal rite that is part of it.
16The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- During the 2nd century,
- Episcopacy, presbyterate and diaconate
- emerge almost everywhere as the most important
ministries and form what will be the universal
pattern. - From the letter of Clement onwards,
correspondences are noted between the Jewish
structure of authority and the Christian. - Ignatius of Antioch already presents the bishop
as an image of the Father - Here and elsewhere bishop, presbyter and deacon
are related in a variety of ways to God and to
Jesus Christ.
17The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- These comparisons manifest the conviction that
the existence and the pattern of this ministry in
the church are willed by God and mediate the
authority and the power of God. - Between God and the church is Jesus Christ,
- who came from God and from whom the power and the
authority of the church originated historically.
18The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- In the 2nd and 3rd centuries a consensus may not
yet have emerged as to the way in which the
church commissions these ministers. - Order, Ordain, Ordination.
- Clement of Rome and Irenaeus had employed the
language of structure and function with regard to
the church, - But Tertullian is the first that we know to use
the Latin words ordo-ordinare-ordinatio as part
of the Christian terminology. - The meaning the words have in his writings is
that of the common usage of the time, - He extends this to certain Christian realities
and actions, giving them a new application.
19The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- He is followed closely by his fellow North
African, Cyprian, and some of Cyprians
contemporaries. - The terminology is still fluid at this stage and
the words are not yet the technical terms that
they will become later. - Ordo for Tertullian generally denotes a certain
group or class in the church - With the adjectives ecclesiasticus or
sacerdotalis, denotes at least the combined
episcopacy, presbyterate and diaconate, - Which are distinguished from the plebs or laici.
- This ordo is marked by authority and function in
the church. - The word is thus strongly institutional.
20The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- The verb ordinare and its noun ordinatio are used
in a similar way. - To ordain is to designate someone to some
function, to install in a charge, to give a
mandate. - It is a juridical word, suggesting a legal act
carried out by authority - It fits well into an understanding of the church
as structured in different groups distinguished
by different responsibilities and powers. - It conveys a markedly functional understanding of
the act and its effects.
21The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- In broader usage the ordination could include the
preparatory stages - But in a more formal sense it was distinguished
from the election of the candidate by the
community. - By ordination the minister is invested with his
charge and with all the powers that it requires.
22The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- There is strong and widespread evidence for the
laying-on of hands, at least in the ordination of
bishops - It cannot be proved that this took place in every
instance. - It seems more plausible to hold that it was used
also for the presbyterate and the diaconate. - It may have been regarded as a sign, but not an
essential one, of the intention to ordain the
candidate to the particular charge.
23The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- In some places the ordination of a bishop
required the approval of neighboring bishops or
provincial synods - This showed concern for such ecclesial realities
as - The apostolic succession
- The unity and communion of the churches in the
universal church - The personal and ecclesial standing of the new
bishop.
24The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Though this cluster of words conveys a primarily
juridical understanding of the reality they refer
to - there is also a spiritual side that is important.
- There is emphasis
- on the qualities of holiness demanded in the
person to be ordained, - on the acts of sanctification for which
ordination grants authority and power - and on the priestly nature of the order to which
it gives access.
25The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- The churchs act of ordination is grounded on the
will of God and the authority of Christ. - God ordains and the church ordains, and these are
in direct relation. - The sanctifying mission of the church that has
its origin in God and is derived through Christ
is engaged - Through the act of the qualified leaders of the
church the candidate is divinely empowered to
sanctify. - Thus while the early terminology of order and
ordination is primarily juridical, - from the beginning it is also spiritual and has
clearly sacramental elements.
26The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Ordination Rites.
- A picture that is different in some respects
emerges from the Apostolic Tradition (written in
Greek at Rome about 215 by Hippolytus). - There bishop, presbyter and deacon are ordained
- Hippolytus uses the word by the bishop in a
liturgical rite which has as its core the
imposition of hands accompanied by prayer. - The bishop certainly and probably the other
ministers were chosen by the whole community. - The prayers provide a context of understanding
for the ordination by referring to deeds of God
in the OT or in the event of Christ - All pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the
candidate, indicating the tasks that the ministry
involves.
27The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Thus, by imposition of hands and prayer the
bishop - the qualified minister of ordination
- accompanied by other bishops or other ministers
and by the people, - gives the churchs commission.
- Through this ordination a gift of the Holy Spirit
is communicated, - A gift that is the ground of the ministry in
question and that empowers the candidate for its
exercise. - This represents an understanding of ministry and
commissioning for it - for which there is evidence in the NT
- and which had been growing in confidence during
the 2nd century.
28The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- The pattern of ordination so plainly given in
Hippolytus will be followed in the later Roman
rituals. - The prayers will have the same general character
- They will be strong in OT typology
- They will continue to be addressed to the Father
and to have a clearly trinitarian structure - They will have a petition for the gift of the
Spirit and will set it in some relation to the
tasks of the ministry and requisite qualities in
the minister.
29The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- From all this there emerges the conviction that
the ministry of leadership in its threefold form
is a gift of God for the church, - A gift foretold and prefigured in the OT,
- A gift that had its historical origin and was
supremely manifest in Jesus Christ, - A gift that God continues to make to the church
through the Holy Spirit in each ordination. - This is a gift to be acknowledged and proclaimed
in a prayer that has a certain eucharistic
quality, - a gift to be prayed for humbly over the
candidates.
30The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- When the community of the church chooses its
candidates, - this is understood to be the expression or
announcement of Gods choice, - as the rite of ordination is the act of the
church through which God operates. - In other words, no opposition is thought to exist
between God and the church in the process and the
rite of ordination. - God announces and accomplishes the divine will
through the churchs election and its ordination
- The churchs action makes known and realizes
Gods provident gift.
31The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Through the churchs act of ordination
- the gift of the Holy Spirit is communicated to
the candidate, - conveying the ministry or function together with
the spiritual empowerment required for its
fulfillment. - These are elements that later theologians will
bring together in speaking of the sacrament of
ordination.
32The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Ordination rites will grow in importance and be
acknowledged as the ground of these ministries. - Whereas in the first two to three centuries it
seems that one presided at the liturgy because of
ones position as leader of the community, - Subsequently one is understood to preside and so
to lead the community - because one has been ordained.
33The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Five important qualities of ordination and of the
ordained ministry should be noted from this
period. - Christological
- Pneumatological
- Ecclesial
- Priestly
- Personal
34The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Christological.
- Jesus, coming from God, is the historical origin
of this authoritative ministry in the church,
which therefore must always be related back to
him. - In his life he gave the supreme example of
authentic ministry, and so he remains always the
model. - What he taught and preached must be passed on
faithfully, so that the churchs ministers must
at all times be faithful to Christs gospel. - As the risen Lord he is active in the church
through his Spirit and the Spirits gifts. - In carrying out his responsibility the minister
is serving Jesus Christ, who is thus in a sense
the goal of the ministry.
35The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Christological.
- This characteristic of ministers and ministry can
be summed up in the phrases, - servants of Jesus Christ,
- the service of Jesus Christ,
- understood in all their virtualities.
- It is much of this that is implied in the word
increasingly used from the second century,
apostolic. - The apostolic character of the ministry declared
its authentic relationship to its historical
origin in Jesus Christ, and so grounded its
fidelity to him.
36The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Pneumatological.
- There is recurring reference to the role of the
Holy Spirit in the provision of ministry - And regular petition for the appropriate gift of
the Spirit in the various rites of ordination.
37The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Ecclesial.
- The ecclesial character of ministry and
ordination is particularly evident in these early
centuries. - Ministers are of the church and represent it,
public figures of leadership in and for the
community - In many cases chosen by the whole people
- Ordained by the qualified minister of the church,
the bishop, in the presence of all - And perhaps confirmed by neighboring churches.
- Public service in the church is the summary of
the ministry.
38The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Priestly.
- While the NT uses priestly terms both of Jesus
and of the whole church, it does not do so of any
Christian minister. - It is only about the turn of the 2nd century that
such an extension of sacerdotal vocabulary begins
to be common - First of all and primarily with reference to the
bishop - Then more slowly and in a subordinate way of the
presbyter - (notably so in the Roman tradition).
39The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Priestly.
- By the Carolingian era in the West there will be
a change - it will become more and more the practice to
speak of the presbyter primarily as sacerdos. - Involved in this change of usage there can be
detected a practical and theological shift in the
relationship between bishop and presbyter - Priestly vocabulary was not generally extended to
the deacon. Hippolytus had said of him explicitly
that he was not ordained to the priesthood. - The introduction of priestly terminology and its
increasingly widespread acceptance had enormous
theological and practical consequences for the
understanding and the exercise of the sacrament
of orders.
40The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Personal.
- The one ordained is not merely a functionary but
a minister of Christ and of the church, - So his call requires a full personal response
- Commitment to this ministry
- And holiness of life in imitation of Christ.
41The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons.
- The triple pattern of episcopacy-presbyterate-diac
onate takes some time to emerge and to establish
itself, - but it then becomes universal in the church
- The Reformation will bring some break in the
West. - The functions of these orders and the
relationships between them do not remain
unchanged.
42The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons.
- The bishop becomes the focus of ministry, the
center of leadership - The office mediates divine authority, involving
supervision or leadership by the individual
bishop and on the part of the whole episcopal
college - This is a reality of which the patristic church
was strongly conscious. - But the exercise of this changes considerably as
the territory of the bishops episkope grows.
43The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons.
- The presbyterate, for some time primarily a
council to advise the bishop, becomes more
diversified - Individual presbyters, regularly and no longer
only in the absence of the bishop, carry out many
formerly episcopal functions, - They emerge as leaders of areas and groups of
Christians, - Preaching, presiding over the eucharist and other
liturgical functions, - So that the presbyterate becomes more markedly
pastoral and liturgical in character.
44The History of Holy Orders
- Early Developments
- Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons.
- Throughout the patristic period deacons have
important pastoral and administrative tasks in
addition to their liturgical functions - It will be some time before the deacon loses his
strong and distinctive role in the church to
become almost exclusively a liturgical minister
overshadowed by the presbyter. - It is important to note of all these that the
ministry has a broad scope that is not
exclusively or predominantly liturgical either in
its exercise or in the way it is understood.
45The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The theological contribution of the Scholastics
in the 12th and 13th centuries was influenced by
changes in the practical exercise of orders that
had been taking place for several centuries
previously - These changes reflected a sharpening of the
distinction between laity and clergy - They were part of an older and broader process of
clericalization.
46The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- With the spread of the church and the social
organization of the time, - The presbyter continued to establish himself and
the functions of his ministry in a more defined
and more independent way vis-à-vis the bishop - (and also at the expense of the deacon).
- In practice he became the priest, the minister
par excellence of the eucharist and of other
sacraments too.
47The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- Decline in the popular understanding of Latin
- and generally in the level of popular
participation in the liturgy - changed the relationship between the presbyter
and the people. - It increased the emphasis on his sacramental
power. - Mass celebrated by the priest alone or with a
single minister began to be common.
48The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- There were changes too in the Roman ritual of
ordination, which now came to incorporate - investiture, anointing and the traditio
instrumentorum. - The last two would become important for the
Scholastic discussion of the matter of the
sacrament, - While all three would enhance the perception of
the ordained minister as a figure of sacred
status and power. - A more general change of great consequence was
the gradual loss of communication and mutual
influence between the churches of West and East.
49The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The Sacrament of Orders.
- In the course of the 12th century sacrament
came to be defined narrowly - Orders was recognized as one of the seven
sacraments - And the sacrament of orders became a technical
term. - In addition to the issues common to all the
sacraments, this raised a number of particular
questions. - There had long been discussion about the number
of orders, and this continued to be debated.
50The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The Sacrament of Orders.
- The more common view emerged that there were
seven orders - There was less agreement that subdiaconate and
the minor orders, recognized to be of
ecclesiastical institution, were sacramental in
the strict sense. - The question was posed most acutely of the
episcopacy. - Theologians agreed that orders was a single
sacrament and not several - They disagreed about the precise relationship
between this unique sacrament and its several
parts.
51The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The Sacrament of Orders.
- For some, no one order had the fullness of the
sacrament, which was constituted rather by all
the orders taken together. - However, the more common opinion was that the
priesthood contained the fullness of the
sacrament as being the fullness of order - and that the other orders participated in this
plenitude, being ordered to this single end. - This view fit well into the widespread medieval
way of understanding reality in terms of
hierarchy, order and participation.
52The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The Status of Episcopacy.
- The status of episcopacy and the relationship
between it and the presbyterate were not new
issues. - In the patristic church episcopacy was commonly
presented as the supreme order and the high
priesthood, with the presbyterate, especially in
the Roman rite of ordination, explicitly and
emphatically designated as subordinate - From at least the time of St. Jerome and
Ambrosiaster there had been another view. - The proponents of this argued that presbyteroi
and episkopoi were synonymous in the NT - They maintained that bishop and presbyter were
equal as priests, the difference between them
being a matter of ecclesiastical institution
related to authority.
53The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The Status of Episcopacy.
- We have seen already the change in the way in
which the term priest came to be applied to
bishops and presbyters. - Now the Scholastics posed the question is
episcopacy an order? - Among theologians there developed a strong
tendency - to define orders with reference to the Eucharist
- and to locate the essence of priesthood in the
power over the body and blood of Christ exercised
in the Eucharist.
54The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The Status of Episcopacy.
- Since in this precise respect the powers of
bishop and of presbyter (now increasingly called
priest, sacerdos) are the same, - The majority of theologians held that episcopacy
in itself is not - An order but an ecclesiastical honor
- An office of jurisdictional power only
- and so they denied it sacramental status.
- The contrast with the earlier tradition is
obvious - The high priest of the liturgy, the pastor and
teacher par excellence was in danger of becoming
an administrator.
55The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The Status of Episcopacy.
- The memory of the past had not disappeared, and
some theologians, together with canonists
generally, tried to provide for the episcopal
office within the scheme of orders. - Others, too, recognized the special dignity of
the episcopacy on the grounds that its power of
jurisdiction is also a power over the body of
Christ, the mystical body that is the church.
56The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- Character.
- A number of factors contributed to the
development of the concept of character among the
Scholastics, - Notably the earlier and continuing debate about
the status of those ordained by a heretical or
schismatic minister. - The question had arisen in a corresponding way
earlier for Baptism, - The Scholastic theologians took up the words
signaculum (seal) and character to provide the
basis of an answer to the controverted question.
57The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- Character.
- The words were used by the Scholastics both of
the external sacramental rite and of its - interior effect
- The inner reality that was the necessary effect
of the celebration of the sacrament and that
remained in the recipient in a permanent manner. - In general theologians maintained that the
character was a spiritual power or capacity,
divinely given, enabling the recipient to carry
out the proper ministerial functions. - Because of the close link established between
order and the Eucharist, a number of theologians
gave the character a Christological interpretation
58The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- Character.
- It was St. Thomas more than anyone who developed
and deepened this. - St. Thomas was strongly conscious that all
Christian cult, - with the Eucharist at its center,
- is derived from the unique priesthood of Christ.
- Christ is the source of this and its true
celebrant - Others can join in it only to the extent that he
gives them this capacity, through the
participation in his priesthood that they receive
from him. - This is precisely what the character is and does.
59The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- Character.
- It is the character of Christ,
- a configuration to him,
- a sharing in his priesthood
- that empowers the Christian to have part in the
whole Christian economy. - This general presentation of the character
applies analogously to baptism, confirmation and
orders. - St. Thomas understanding of it in respect of
orders can be dealt with appropriately through
consideration of the phrase in persona Christi.
60The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- In Persona Christi.
- In general this traditional phrase was originally
used of biblical words, to attribute or refer to
someone the words spoken by another - As if the one were represented in and spoke
through the other. - Hence in persona Christi meant that the words
spoken should be referred or attributed to
Christ. - During the Scholastic period the use of the
phrase underwent considerable development,
particularly with respect to the Eucharist, in a
desire to determine the status of the biblical
eucharistic words of Christ as spoken by the
priest at the consecration.
61The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- In Persona Christi.
- St. Thomas gave the phrase a technical sense,
- to mean that the consecratory words were spoken
by the priest in the name of Christ, who so
engages himself in the priests speaking of the
words that the deed is in fact his and not the
priests. - The phrase is used almost exclusively of the
Eucharist by St. Thomas, - But it is worth noting that on occasion he refers
to the whole ministerial priestly action as
action in persona Christi.
62The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- In Persona Christi.
- He expresses a similar understanding in different
terms in his teaching that the priest as minister
is an instrument of Christs own action. - This power to act in persona Christi is conferred
through the sacrament of priestly ordination - Because there the priest is configured to Christ
by the sacramental character, being made to share
in Christs priesthood. - The character is permanent
- Which means that the ministers participation in
Christs priesthood, his priestly empowerment,
cannot be lost.
63The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- In Persona Christi.
- St. Thomas technical use of the phrase in
persona Christi - together with the somewhat broader expressions
gerere personam, gerere vicem Christi - sum up for his time and later with respect to the
priesthood and the eucharist the earlier
universal tradition - that in the sacraments as celebrated by the
ministers of the church Christ is present and
active.
64The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- There was a similar traditional phrase, in
persona ecclesiae, which resembled in persona
Christi in that it indicated that words were
spoken by someone in the name of the church. - With the Scholastics, St. Thomas especially, it
too was developed, so that in celebrating the
eucharist the priest was said - to offer the sacrifice,
- to proclaim faith,
- to utter the prayers in persona ecclesiae,
- though the use of the phrase was not confined to
the eucharist or to the churchs ministers. - For the great Scholastics it acquired the sense
that the church engages itself and its faith in
the official cultic actions of its ministers so
that they represent it and act with its authority
and its sanctifying power.
65The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- In persona Christi and in persona ecclesiae are
not exactly parallel expressions, - The latter had a somewhat broader usage
- (for example, the server at Mass or even the
unbaptized person who baptizes in emergency act
in persona ecclesiae). - For St. Thomas while the validly ordained priest
who has been rejected by the church does indeed
act in persona Christi in celebrating the
eucharist, - he does not act in persona ecclesiae.
- Later this expression will largely lose its
strong Scholastic sense and will come to be
interpreted in a more juridical way, as if it
were merely a matter of delegation to act in the
name of the church.
66The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The two phrases and the relationship between them
are important for understanding the nature and
function of the ordained ministry. - Overwhelmingly but not exclusively cultic in
their reference, - they sum up the traditional datum that the
Christian liturgy is an act both of Christ and of
the church, - and in their different ways they aim to state
more exactly the role of the minister
particularly in the celebration of the eucharist.
- They have entered into the Catholic theological
tradition and express theological positions
acquired and confirmed by later tradition. - But they are still phrases of their time, from
their own background of theology and practice.
67The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- That theology lacked a developed ecclesiology
- neither theology nor liturgical practice was
strong in attending to the role of the lay
faithful in the celebration of the sacraments. - Thus in the Middle Ages the understanding of
orders became more narrowly cultic. - Theologians commonly defined order by its
reference to the eucharist, - they characterized it in terms of spiritual
power. - The majority of the great Scholastics, including
St. Thomas, held as the matter and form of the
sacrament of priestly ordination - the handing over of the chalice with wine and the
paten with bread to the candidate together with
the accompanying formulary, seeing in this the
act that confers the essential priestly power.
68The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- Through all of this another change may be
detected - the predominant image of the ordained person,
- formerly that of a minister,
- now became more sacral or hieratic.
- The central work of the ordained person was
related to the eucharist, - a more sacral understanding was found to
correspond well with this. - In the ritual for ordaining priest and bishop a
rite of anointing was introduced - slowly the interpretation of the central prayer
and of the rite as a whole changed.
69The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The earlier sense of the prayer has been spoken
of as a blessing or consecration. - The blessing in early times might still have been
understood in the Jewish sense as a prayer in
which God is blessed. - Later it was thought of as a prayer which sought
the blessing of God on the candidate. - Now it came to be interpreted as a prayer that
blessed, or through which God blessed, the
candidate, a prayer of consecration. - And so, the ordained minister became a
consecrated person, and in the case of bishop and
priest the anointing served to confirm this.
70The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The investiture in appropriate apparel likewise
can be interpreted in such a way as to reinforce
the predominantly hieratic image that emerged. - This new image of a sacral figure with sacred,
spiritual power remained the dominant one until
the changes set in motion by Vatican ii. - It is easy to see how this sacral model of the
priesthood can be linked - to the strongly christological understanding
involved in the phrase in persona Christi - and the configuration to Christ on which this is
based, - to produce eventually the common conception of
the priest as alter Christus.
71The History of Holy Orders
- The Middle Ages
- The connection is made directly and immediately
between the individual and Christ. - But the christological point of reference is
almost exclusively liturgical - in this respect is much narrower than what we
have seen in the patristic period. - And the ecclesiological reference too is
inadequate, - although order is presented as order in and for
the church.
72The History of Holy Orders
- The 16th Century
- The questions raised by the Reformation about the
sacrament of orders arose chiefly from the more
basic issues of - justification,
- grace and good works,
- the nature and the application to us of Christs
redemption, etc. - that were the ground of the 16th-century
controversy. - But there were also some more particular
questions - is there a sacrament of orders in the church by
the institution of Christ? - Is the rite of ordination as practiced by the
Catholic church a sacrament? - What are the essential functions of such special
ministry? - How is this special ministry related to the
priesthood of all believers?
73The History of Holy Orders
- The 16th Century
- Issues such as these challenged both the current
theology and the practical exercise of orders in
the Catholic church. - The Council of Trent did not purport to give a
full, worked-out theology of orders or
priesthood. - What it did was to defend on the basis of the
churchs long tradition the theology and practice
of orders that it had received - in the face of attack it affirmed what it
regarded as essential positions and legitimate
practice, - it did so largely in the categories and the terms
of the Scholastic theologians. - In addition, it issued a set of reform decrees
and attacked abuses, - initiating a change in the context that had given
rise to some more theological criticisms.
74The History of Holy Orders
- The 16th Century
- Thus Trent upheld a visible, external priesthood
with its center in the eucharist and the
remission of sin - this is not a priesthood belonging to all
believers nor is it a simple ministry of
preaching. - Orders-ordination is a true and proper sacrament
instituted by Christ - it is not simply the act of the people or of the
candidate or of any secular power - by it the Holy Spirit is given and a permanent
character is imprinted (the nature of this
character is not determined).
75The History of Holy Orders
- The 16th Century
- There is a hierarchy in the church that is
divinely instituted, comprising several ranks - of these, bishops are superior to priests
- (but the precise ground of the superiority is not
stated, so that Trent left open the question
whether or not episcopacy as such belongs to the
sacrament of order) - the hierarchy also contains ministers
- (who are likewise unspecified).
- Thus Trent reaffirmed the traditional datum that
the special ministry is not a human invention but
the provision of God, - and it reinforced this by its insistence on the
true sacramentality of orders and ordination.
76The History of Holy Orders
- The 16th Century
- The strength of Trent was the long earlier
tradition and particularly the great Scholastic
synthesis on which it rested. - Its weakness was its failure to come to grips
with some of the issues raised by the Reformers - together with the narrowness of the eucharistic
base of the medieval theology of orders and
priesthood. - The teaching of Trent and the long
anti-Reformation polemic that ensued combined to
prolong the life and influence of this theology
in the Catholic church down into the present
century. - It is only in the past few decades that new and
broader theological thinking has made its impact.
77The History of Holy Orders
- The Second Vatican Council
- The following summarizes some of the salient
points of Vatican ii on orders and priesthood.
78The History of Holy Orders
- The Second Vatican Council
- While the Scholastic framework of orders took the
eucharist as its base, - Vatican ii represented an important change in two
respects - it preferred to start from the person and mission
of Jesus Christ - and it broadened the scope beyond the liturgical
to include teaching and pastoral leadership. - The churchs ministry is essentially related to
that of Jesus. - As he was prophet/teacher, priest and
king/pastor, - so the church shares in his work of teaching,
sanctifying and shepherding/ruling.
79The History of Holy Orders
- The Second Vatican Council
- Vatican ii explicitly and deliberately affirmed
that episcopacy is the fullness of orders. - As we have seen, medieval theologians commonly
had identified the presbyterate as the highest
degree of orders, seeing in the episcopacy a
dignity or office superior in its authority or
power of jurisdiction but not in its power of
orders. - From the post-Reformation period onwards there
had been a change of theological opinion, but it
was not until Vatican II that this was given such
authoritative corroboration. - This teaching rejoins the common tradition of the
patristic church
80The History of Holy Orders
- The Second Vatican Council
- it enhances the episcopal office by giving it a
sacramental rather than a jurisdictional
foundation. - This means that the episcopal functions of
teaching, sanctifying and pastoral leadership are
grounded on the sacrament itself - and hence on Christ
- and not on papal delegation.
- It also strengthens the basis of episcopal
collegiality, - since membership of the college of bishops too
derives from the sacrament and not from any other
authority.
81The History of Holy Orders
- The Second Vatican Council
- The result of this is to make the episcopacy
rather than the presbyterate the primary
theological reference point of orders and
priesthood. - This was accompanied by restoration of the
ancient idea of the presbyterium, - the single priestly body formed by the presbyters
together in communion with their bishop. - It also rejoins another element from the early
centuries, - the understanding that the presbyters formed a
sort of council of advisers to the bishop. - Thus the interrelationship of episcopacy and
presbyterate is stressed.
82The History of Holy Orders
- The Second Vatican Council
- This does not make the individual priest the
delegate of the bishop any more than the bishop
is the delegate of the pope, - since the sacrament of ordination
- and therefore the call of the Lord
- rather than episcopal empowerment
- is the source of the presbyteral ministry.
83The History of Holy Orders
- The Second Vatican Council
- The council had little to say about the
diaconate, - but subsequent developments opened the
possibility that it might emerge in time as a
full and permanent ministry once again. - Thus not only did the council modify considerably
the Catholic churchs theological presentation of
orders - but it also aimed to strengthen the different
orders and the network of relationships between
them.
84The History of Holy Orders
- The Second Vatican Council
- Vatican ii also recognized unambiguously the
apostolate of all the baptized, - the participation that all Christians have in the
triple function of Christ through the sacraments
of initiation. - At the same time, it asserted an essential
difference between the common priesthood of the
faithful and the ministerial priesthood - while acknowledging that they are ordered one to
the other.
85The History of Holy Orders
- The Second Vatican Council
- All of this opened up new possibilities, but
Vatican ii could not work out fully either
theologically or practically all the
relationships that are involved - (between the mission and ministry derived from
the sacraments of initiation and that derived
from ordination, for example, - or between episcopal collegiality and papal
power). - Much was incomplete, as the succeeding years have
shown. - Nevertheless, a different model of ministry began
to emerge, - more dynamic,
- multi-dimensional,
- ecclesiological,
- and a strong impetus was given to renewal and
innovation.
86The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- What does it mean to speak of the sacramentality
of orders? - It is to recognize the mystery of the church,
- that it is the fundamental sacrament of
salvation. - Ultimately it is the economy of God revealed and
realized in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit that
justifies and requires this ministry in the
church - it is this trinitarian mystery of salvation that
grounds it.
87The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- The experience of history has shown that this
ministry is referred in a double way to Christ - to his historical mission and ministry,
- which is the origin, exemplar and reference point
of the churchs mission and ministry - to his abiding presence in the church,
- as head of his body, in his Holy Spirit.
- And it is referred to the Holy Spirit,
- who accomplishes in the church the mystery first
achieved in Christ.
88The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- The sacramentality of orders proclaims that the
church does not exist of itself or for itself or
by its own resources. - What it preaches is the gospel of Christ
entrusted to it. - Its work of sanctifying can begin and end only in
God through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. - What it is to build up is the body of Christand
ultimately the aim for which it organizes itself
is the Kingdom of God. - Sacramentality also proclaims that the
ministerial activity of these orders is a genuine
and efficacious preaching of Christs gospel, - sanctifying his church and building up his body
to the glory of God. This ministry represents
Christ to the church.
89The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- Contemporary Roman Catholic theology speaks of
different ways in which Christ is present to his
church. - This ministry and its work is a primordial mode
of the dynamic presence of Christ, - through word,
- sacrament
- and pastoral leadership.
90The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- The sacramentality of orders also proclaims that
the church is - the fruit of Christs work,
- the communion of life achieved among Christs
members by the Holy Spirit - the ordained ministry gives witness to and
expresses the church, - its faith, its unity, its life of grace in the
Holy Spirit in its return to the Father through
Christ. - Thus this ministry represents the church to
itself, to God, to the world.
91The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- Ministry or representation of Christ,
- ministry or representation of the church
- together these two express the essential unity
and the essential differentiation of the church - they are identified in the one complex reality
that is the church.
92The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- To number orders among the sacraments then is to
acknowledge that this ministry belongs to the
essential structure of the church, - expressing and engaging the mystery of salvation
in all its dimensions trinitarian,
christological, pneumatological, ecclesiological. - This mystery, however, is working itself out in
the flux of history, a fact that touches the
theology of orders in two related ways - historical issues have been posing questions for
some time to the theology accepted since the
Middle Ages - the great practical and theological changes that
have been occurring inside and outside the church
affect theological reflection on the sacrament of
orders.
93The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- The Roman Catholic church has begun to face the
first of these seriously. - This effort coupled with the work initiated by
Vatican ii bears closely on the second. - Four influences may be noted briefly.
94The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- The general renewal of ecclesiology and of
pneumatology together with the broadening of the
concept of sacrament to embrace the church have
provided a better ecclesiological context and
basis for the theology of orders - they suggest a fuller theological integration of
the traditional data that the ordained minister
represents Christ and represents the church.
95The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- Revived appreciation of the dignity and the role
of all the baptized has brought not only a shift
in theology but also significant changes in
liturgical and pastoral practice. - This has been leading both in theory and in
practice to some reassessment of the relationship
between clergy and laity.
96The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- Since 1972 ministry is no longer exclusively
clerical - there has been a remarkable expansion of interest
in and diversification of ministry and
ministries. - This is an important change in the context in
which theologians reflect on ordination and the
ordained ministry. - It also raises questions about the terminology to
be used that may be theological issues at base.
97The History of Holy Orders
- Conclusion
- History shows that the present triple form of the
ordained ministry - while very ancient
- does not seem to have existed everywhere from the
beginning - that the functions of each order together with
the relationships between them have undergone
considerable change. - And despite the debates of history and the
declarations of Vatican ii, - both the meaning of fullness of order and the
nature of the theological relationship between
episcopacy and presbyterate - still require clarification.
- All of this suggests that the nature of order or
orders has still much to offer to the attention
of theologians.