Orders1

THE SACRAMENT OF ORDERS

Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and humanity (I Tim 2.5), possesses a unique and absolute priesthood which, while fulfilling the Old Testament priesthood, surpassed it and abolished it (Heb). He exercised his priesthood as Prophet by revealing the Father, as Shepherd by gathering God’s scattered people, and as Priest, by his self-offering on the cross in the Paschal Mystery.
The Church is established by Him as a ‘Kingdom of Priests’ (I Pet 2:9). Consecrated and sent on a mission through baptism and confirmation, every Christian is made to share in Christ’s priesthood; as a member of the priestly people he/she shares in the Church’s mission of representing Christ’s unique mediatory function. However, Christ entrusted a special function to the apostles whom He chose to be His authentic witnesses, the dispensers of His mysteries and the shepherds of His flock. They passed on their ministry to their successors, who in turn shared it with others in various degrees through the Sacrament of Order.
The ministerial priesthood represents Christ’s function as Head in the Church and the Sacrament of Order is intimately linked with the other sacraments and impinges directly on the life and the nature of the Church.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

S. Brislin, The Ministry of Deacons in an African Diocese, Eldoret: Gaba Publications, 1983.
Raymond Brown, Priest and Bishop. New York: Paulist Press, 1970.
Donald Cozzins, The Changing Face of the Priesthood, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 2000.
Burnette & Gerald Fish, The Kalenjiin Heritage, Africa Gospel Church, Kericho, 1995, Chapter 34, Priests and Elders, pp 262-266
Jean Galot, Theology of the Priesthood, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1986.
J Lang, Ministers of Grace: Women in the early Church, Slough: St Paul’s, 1989.
Aidan Nichols, Holy Order, Veritas: Dublin, 1990.
Kenan B Osborne, Orders and Ministry, Orbis, New York, 2006.
Len Sperry, Sex, Priestly Ministry, and the Church, Collegeville, Liturgical Press, 2003.
Susan Wood, Sacramental Orders, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2000.

Chapter One OLD TESTAMENT
Early Israel
· No distinct priesthood – Head of clan functions as priest.
· Clan of Aaron and the tribe of Levi (Ex 28-29; 32:25-29).
· Priests to lead holy and exemplary lives (Lev 19:2; 21:8).
· Whole nation was considered a “kingdom of priests”, a chosen people, called to holiness (Lev 19, 21).
Intermediary
Deuteronomy 33:8-10 suggests three basic priestly functions:
· Discernment of God’s will through the casting of sacred lots (1 Sam 14:41-42)
· Teaching and interpreting the Mosaic Law, the Torah (Dt 33:10).
· Sacrifice and cultic offering (Dt 33:10).
Prophets replace priests as spokespeople for God.
Scribes and rabbis assume tasks of preserving and teaching the traditions of Judaism.
Priests - Temple Ministry.
Elders
Groups of elders organised and governed the Jewish communities.


Chapter Two JESUS CHRIST
1. Call from God: Not self-initiated, not from community. Jn 4.34.
2. Servant
The Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many – Mk 10:45. Paul urges the same notion of service in Phil 2:5-8.
Jesus is remembered by his disciples in the washing of feet as giving them an example to serve others. A Christian in any ministry is a servant.
3. Priest
Jesus loved us to the very end, that he gave his life for us; he offered himself as a sacrifice so that we may have life. Jesus was a priestly person because he acted as mediator for those who believed in him interceding for them with the Father and because he offered his life for all.
4. Shepherd
'I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me; and I lay down my life for the sheep' (Jn 10:14-15). Attitude of shepherding seen especially in his leadership and compassionate care. As a leader, he spoke out for justice for the poor and he formed a community of followers around him, sharing his insights with them, and instructing them how to behave (Mt 10). As a compassionate care, Jesus healed people who were wounded, sick, possessed and in pain and reconciled the ‘lost’ with God. He is the shepherd who leaves the ninety nine and goes in search of the lost one (Lk 15.4)
5. Prophet
Jesus was a prophet, proclaiming the will and message of Yahweh for his people. He taught and interpreted the scriptures with an impressive authority: 'They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one that had authority’ (Mk 1:22). He claimed what appeared to be a sacrilegious closeness to God whom he addressed intimately as Abba (Mk 14.36). He did not hesitate even to revise the law of Moses and he spoke out against religious leaders of his day. His primary message was: the "Kingdom of God is among you,” (Lk 17:21). God is present in the here and now, not in the above or in the future. God is a loving and compassionate presence in our lives and always overcomes the power of evil. Jesus taught that the good news of God’s love for the marginalised and the outcasts of society.
Transmission of Ministry
The Call of the Twelve Disciples.
The Apostles: The leaders of the early Christian community.
Peter exercises Primacy (Mt 16.18, Lk 22.32, Jn 21.15.19).
The Seventy.
The Mandate and the Holy Spirit – Jn 20:21-22.


Chapter Three NEW TESTAMENT
The Twelve
Elders in a Jewish Christian Community.
Peter, James and Consensus Leadership.
Twelve: Representing the New Israel and Universality of Church.
Retention of Ministry: The Election of Matthias.
The Church is Apostolic because she has kept the connection with the original Apostles and because her faith is based on the faith of the Apostles. Apostolic Succession: Bishops link with Apostles and Fidelity to Apostolic Faith.
Acts: Chapter Six
Development of ministry: Seven men chosen for ministry.
Deacon: Philippians 1:1 and I Tim 3:8-13. Deaconess Phoebe – Romans 16:1-2.
Missionary Apostles
Besides the Twelve, there were other “apostles”, bringing the words of Jesus Christ to the world. Paul of Tarsus, Barnabas, (Acts 14:14), Andronicus, Junias (or possibly Junia), Rom 16:7. To be fit for this ministry a person had to have seen the risen Lord so that he could bear witness to what he himself had experienced (I Cor 9:1; Acts 1:22). They were itinerant evangelists who travelled from one city to another making converts, establishing communities, placing others in charge, and then moving on. Paul uses the term ‘apostle’ for Silvanus, Timothy (I Th 2.7) and Barnabas (I Cor 9.5); it seems that after a certain development the name of apostle was reserved in a privileged way for the restricted circle of the Twelve.
Flexible Structures & Variety of Ministries
The disappearance of the twelve, the seventy-two and the seven meant that no structure was carved in stone. Any structure was viable that kept the gospel alive, the tradition firm, and the community intact. In the early Church documents, we discover a fluidity in ministry, leadership, form, and structure. Note I Cor 12:4-7, 27-31, 1 Tim 5:9-13, Eph 4.4-7, 11-12, I Pet 4:10-11. There were many gifts of ministry, and these gifts were distributed among many people. All the members are responsible in solidarity. Each makes his or her contribution to the progress of the whole. Each utilise his/her charisms, so that the community is built and grows in love. The Spirit is given to each for the good of all. The key feature in this structuring of the community is ‘service’.
Presbyters
The Elders, the presbyteroi, derived from Judaism’s traditional category, were men of distinction appointed by the laying on of hands to oversee local affairs. They were chosen in a variety of ways and for the same reasons we choose leaders today for their natural talent or their connections. Paul refers to them as “those who labour for the community” or “those who are over you.” Some places seem to be ruled by a local committee of elders. Others seem to be ruled by one of the missionary apostles. Other communities are ruled by a single person in concert with his council of elders and, later, all by himself. In speaking of elders, the plural is always used. To be an elder is to be a member of a group, a ‘college’, the members of which seem to have corporate responsibility for directing the life of the community. Note I Peter 5.2 and Acts 20.17-36. Elders exercise the presidency, preach and teach (I Tim 5.17) and anoint the sick oil (Jms 5.14).
Titles: Apostoloi means “emissaries”. Deacon is from diakonia, meaning “ministry” or “service”. The titles bishops and priests come from the activities of overseeing, episkopoi, and being elders, presbyteroi, respectively.
The Pastoral Epistles
Episcopos: Designates the presiding elder or council president. To perform their administrative task well, supervisors and elders were supposed to have the same qualities as a good head of a family (I Tim 3:1-7, Tit 1:6-9).
Deacons and deaconesses served the internal needs of the community.
Apostles & Disciples → apostles, prophets, & teachers → presbyter-bishops & deacons. The structured leadership of a supervising committee of presbyter-bishops assisted by deacons evolved.
Priesthood
In the NT communities, there were no specific Christians who were called priests, but Christ himself was regarded as the high priest of the new religion and in a spiritual sense all believers were part of a priestly people called to honour God by praise and self-sacrifice, (I Pet 1:2; 2:10, Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6).



Chapter Four EARLY DEVELOPMENT
The Second Century
Monarchical Episcopate: Around 110 AD we find evidence for the so-called monarchical episcopate, a local Church presided over by one bishop, in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch.
Bishop’s emergence: Apostles died + Persecution + No Second Coming + Internal strife & Heresies => Need for a firm, solid, stable leadership.
By the end of the second century, the tripartite ministry of bishop, presbyter, and deacon emerges becomes universal in the Church.
Other Ministries: “Subdeacons” helped the deacons in their practical ministries, “exorcists” assisted at rituals of initiation and repentance, “lectors” were appointed to read the scriptures loud and clear during worship, “porters” were assigned janitorial and guard duties, “acolytes” accompanied the bishop and acted as secretaries and messengers, “widows” and “virgins” were appointed to pray for the Church or to take care of the sick and needy, “teachers” were assigned to instruct catechumens, and those with exceptional ability were sometimes allowed to preach to the faithful.
President. The one who presides over the community presides over the Eucharist. One is ordained to gather, build, and celebrate the Christian community, and flowing from this to preside at that community’s Eucharist. One is not ordained to preside at the Eucharist and then, as a side effect, to preside over the community. What seems to have been the operative principle was that whoever was recognised as the community’s leader was accepted as the presider at Eucharist, whether that was an apostle, a prophet, a teacher, or a bishop. This principle reminds us that the early Church saw no separation between its worship and its daily life. Worship was the expression of the Church’s life, and so the leader of the community was the leader of worship. By the second century two roles that were probably once separated are joined together: the role of the presbyter-bishop and the role of the presiding minister of the Eucharist. Presiding eventually became the exclusive privilege of bishops and presbyters. Significantly, not until the year 1208 is there an official declaration that priestly ordination is necessary to celebrate the Eucharist (Pope Innocent III) (CF, n. 1703, p. 720).
Third To Tenth Centuries
Order and Ordination.
In the Greco-Roman political and social world, there were indeed well-defined orders, the order of senators, the order of decurions, and the order of knights. In the view of Christians, the term "order" indicated the exact opposite of service. Order indicated power and prestige; service, however, reflected Jesus himself. However, Tertullian (160-225), began to use a version of these political and social orders for the church structures themselves. He began writing about an order of bishops, an order of priests, and an order of deacons, probably also under the influence of Psalm 110:4 and Hebrews 5-7, which refer to the priesthood “according to the order of Melchizedek”. Only gradually did other Christian communities take over the use of the term for their Christian leadership. By the third century, the terms ‘order’ and ‘ordination’ were accepted by the Church and they were used especially to denote the clerical aspect of ministry, the sacred functions fulfilled by typical priests. Cleric is derived from the Greek, kleros, meaning lot or heritage as in Acts 1:26, the lot falling to Matthias. The Greek ritual was referred to as the laying on of hands, cheirothesia. Both ordination and cheirothesia gave a certain distinctive and officially acknowledged role to someone for specific ministries within the local community. Now the leadership of the Church was recognised and set apart through a liturgy of ordination.
Hippolytus (d. 235)
The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus sketches a picture of the third-century Church and contains a detailed description of an ordination liturgy. The bishop is elected by the people, but he receives the imposition of hands from another bishop. The presbyter, or priest, is ordained by the bishop with other priests joining in with the laying on of hands. According to the rite of ordination, presbyters were compared with the elders whom Moses had chosen (Num 11:17-25). With the bishop’s permission a presbyter could replace him as the presiding eucharistic minister. For centuries the approval of two groups was required for this ordination: by the community and by the pastoral group he was joining. There was an intimate connection between a community and its bishop with the former having its free choice of the latter.
Cyprian (210-258), Bishop of Carthage.
Cyprian repeatedly calls the bishop a high priest and applies the priestly language of the OT to the Church order of his day. The terms presbyter and bishop contain a clear reference to the role of those ministries in leading the community. The term priest, in contrast, seems to define the office solely in terms of worship. Thus, instead of understanding the cultic role as a result of being the community’s leader, people began to see the priest more and more as primarily a cultic figure, ordained for sacramental ministry and doing other things in the community only secondarily. As Christianity moved out into the rural areas, the bishops, city men, wondered who was going to take care of the Christians there. Eventually, they turned to the presbyters. Cyprian delegates his presbyters to go out and celebrate the Eucharist in the outlying villages; a genuine departure from the tradition that only the bishop presided at the Sunday Eucharist. These presbyters took over the eucharistic presidency in the outlying districts. The city bishops kept all other powers except baptism. They kept control over confirmation, jurisdiction, and official teaching. This left the presbyter identified and associated with the Eucharist. He became the priest.
More Development
Moreover, the diaconate as a separate ministry was gradually disappearing. Bishops needed assistants who could officiate at the liturgy, and deacons were not empowered to do this. To provide more priests for the people, some bishops took to ordaining deacons as presbyters, thereby making the presbyterate look like a higher rank rather than a different type of ministry. By the fifth century the diaconate was beginning to be viewed as a step toward the priesthood and after the sixth century the permanent diaconate all but vanished. The humble origin of the priest as basically an inferior cleric from the countryside remained intact throughout the centuries. Priests remained largely uneducated and from a lower social strata than the bishops, who were educated, often aristocratic and from the ruling class.
The emergence of the bishop as the main community leader had two consequences. First, the charismatic figure, so influential in the early Church, tended to disappear or to be absorbed into the bishop’s role. The second consequence of needed centralisation was that the momentum continued. Eventually all ministries became absorbed into the bishop’s office. Anyone outside his office who did ministry came to be seen as extensions of him. In fact, after the twelfth century there came the distinction between the ‘major’ orders, subdeacon, deacon, and priesthood, and the ‘minor’ orders, acolyte, porter, exorcist, and lector. The clergy gradually took over the various ministries that had been relatively autonomous in earlier decades, absorbing them all into “the pastoral office,” which was possessed fully only by the bishops.
Finally, these bishops, presbyters and deacons, came to be viewed as “sacred.” Ordination made these ministers members of a distinct “order” within the Church. They therefore began to be regarded as “clergy,” as persons who were set aside for sacred functions like the Roman priests or the Jewish Levites. As “clergy” they became distinguished from “laity.” The sacralisation of Church leadership takes place.
Celibacy & Clerical Dress
If the Christian priesthood were a newer and greater priesthood than that of the Jewish priests and Levites, then it seemed logical that Christian clerics would be called to a greater holiness than the priests of the old covenant. Holiness in the ancient world was closely connected with purity, and purity among other things meant sexual abstinence. Thus with the evolution of Christian ministry into a cultic priesthood came a demand for sexual purity and ultimately for celibacy. In the fifth century clerics took to wearing a long robe as a sign of their status in society rather than the short tunic that was worn by ordinary people.
The Middle Ages
Most Christians in the early Middle Ages were probably served by married clergy, and they were probably unaware of the canons which forbade priests to have intercourse with their wives. The one group of clerics that usually did not marry were the monks, who lived in monastic communities rather than alone and vowed to remain celibate. The eleventh century was an important period of reform. With Gregory VII in 1073, celibacy became a condition for entering the presbyteral ministry. The monk became an ideal.
The Lateran Councils
The First Lateran Council prohibited those in holy orders from marrying at all and ordered all married priests to renounce their wives and do penance. The Second Lateran Council declared that marriages of clerics were not only illegal but also invalid. Three other important developments take place: the distinction between power and authority, the distinction between validity and liceity, the rediscovery of Augustine’s idea of the priestly character and his application of it to the priesthood. The Third Lateran Council transformed community power into personal power by making ordination a ritual for giving spiritual power personally to the priest. The distinction between the power of orders and the power of jurisdiction was introduced. So ordination became a ceremony to designate a man as totally apart from the community instead of totally identified with it. The Fourth Lateran Council asserted that no one could preside at the Eucharist except a priest or bishop who had been validly ordained.
Priests and people: ‘ex opere operato sacraments’.
Popes, Cardinals, Bishops: Princes - eager to increase wealth and maintain power.
Council of Florence, 1439 – Ordination a sacrament, & explains it matter and form.


Chapter Five THE COUNCIL OF TRENT
The Reformers
Reacting excessively against a one-sided stress on the ministerial priesthood which did not do full justice to the common priesthood of all (I Pet 2:5) and the increasing alienation of the clergy from the rest of the Church, the Reformers were led to deny the existence of a Sacrament of Order instituted by Christ, and considered the ministry as a function delegated by the Christian community to some of its members. They stressed the priesthood of all believers. Since the Eucharist is not a sacrifice (Calvary cannot, and need not, be repeated), there is no need for a cultic priesthood in the Church. They discounted the notion that authority in the Church was funnelled from Christ through the pope to the bishops to the priests, and they rejected the claim that this was divinely ordained. They found little evidence in the Scriptures that ranks of holy orders existed in the early Church, and they objected to the way that men were ordained to ministries (such as the diaconate) that they never really performed. They observed that the law of celibacy was more often a cause of scandal than edification in the Church, and since they abandoned the idea of the Eucharist as a priestly sacrifice they saw no grounds for applying the OT rules of ritual purity to Christian ministers.
In place of the priestly ministry of cult and ritual, the reformers substituted a pastoral ministry of preaching and teaching, because they conceived salvation as coming through conversion and faith in God’s word. So Christians had a right to hear the scriptures and ministers had a duty to explain them. In a way, then, the Bible was introduced as a verbal sacrament replacing the ritual sacraments of traditional Christianity. Through it, the Holy Spirit entered one’s heart and enlightened one’s mind. Preaching itself was expected to be sacramentally inspiring and uplifting. Explaining God’s teachings was a means of deepening faith and commitment, and exhorting people to follow his commandments was supposed to be an effective protection against sin.
Protestants did not do away with sacramental ordination but they changed the form and meaning of ordination to fit their new interpretation of ministry. They recognised the need for some sort of ceremonial initiation into the ministry and for a ritual to express and symbolise the meaning of the office and service.
The Council of Trent
Trent rejected these views of the Reformers, declaring that the or­dained priesthood, separate from and superior to the priesthood of all believers, is conferred through one of the seven sacraments, that the Mass is a true sacrifice, and that there is a true hierarchy in the Church consisting of bishops, priests, and deacons and that these ministers do not depend on the call of the community for their authority and powers. The Council chose to define a priest in terms of two personal powers, namely to offer the eucharistic sacrifice and to remit sins. The bishops were successors of the apos­tles in a special way in that they had authority to rule over the Church. So only they could confirm, ordain, and perform other sacred functions. Under the impact of Trent, the Catholic Church launched a reform of the clergy. Seminaries for the education and training of future priests were established, and greater emphasis was placed on priestly spirituality.
In the succeeding period, the ideal priestly life-style was portrayed as a very monastic one, even when priests had to live alone in country parishes and was seen as one that revolved around the mass and the sacraments. Priests were holy ministers concerned with holy things, sacramental persons as well as administers of sacra­ments, and they were expected to be completely dedicated to their work. The reform of the clergy was made possible by the general acceptance of the belief that government in the Church was a divinely established hierarchy.

Chapter Six RECENT TIMES
Pope Pius XII
Episcopalis Consecrationis, 1944, the two bishops who assist the main consecrator in an episcopal ordination are co-consecrators and must act as such.
Sacramentum Ordinis, 1947, the matter is the imposition of hands, and the form the words determining its meaning.
Second Vatican Council
The ministerial priesthood in the context of the Church.
LG speaks first of Christ’s unique priesthood which is communicated by Him to His Church and is shared by the entire people of God (LG 10-13). Ministerial priesthood, which differs from the common priesthood “in essence and not only in degree” (LG 10), is essentially related to it; it is viewed as a service to the people of God. It consists of three degrees: the episcopate conferred on the bishops as successors of the apostles (LG 20-27), the presbyterate (LG 28) and the diaconate (LG 29).
Episcopate: Sacrament (LG 21) - Successors of the Apostles (CD 2) - Entrusted with the care of a diocese – In communion with the Pope (LG 21) - Constitute an Apostolic College (LG 22), - Have solicitude for whole Church (LG 23-24) - Union of bishops symbolises the communion of Churches (23). Bishops “enjoy the fullness of the sacrament of orders,” whereas priests and deacons are dependent upon them in the exercise of authority (CD 15).
Presbyterate: United with bishop in priestly dignity (CD 15, LG 28). Ordination enables priests to act in the person of Christ (LG 28) and to represent Him among their flock as Head of His Body (PO 2). Collaborators with the bishop, constitute a college with him (LG 28; CD 29-30) and are his helpers and counsellors (PC 7). Make the bishop present in the local congregations entrusted to their care (LG 28).
Deacons are ordained for service and ministry to the People of God (CD 15). Council recommends the restoration of the permanent diaconate in the Church (LG 29).
Consecration and Mission are integrated (PO 3).
Christ is at once Teacher, Priest and Shepherd. These three functions are continued in the Church; hence the Church has a threefold function; prophetic, sanctifying and pastoral, which are shared by the entire people of God; the laity exercise them in their own way (LG 34, 36). The same three functions are indissolubly linked in the ministerial priesthood and exercised in various degrees by bishops, presbyters and deacons.
Priesthood of the Baptised
The Council puts “new” emphasis on the Church as being the entire people, encourages the “universal call to holiness,” reversing the previous view that only those with a special vocation were called to holiness, and opens the door to fuller participation of lay people in the activity of the Church’s life.
Change of Emphasis
Vatican II depicts the priest as a proclaimer of the gospel of God and builder of Christian community.
Revision of Rites
The Council ordered that the ceremonies and the texts of the ordination rites be revised.
Reform of Structure
In 1972, Pope Paul VI reformed the structure of ministry in the Church. Lector and acolyte were no longer considered ordained ministries, but rather lay ministries into which people could be installed by the bishop. Moreover episcopal conferences may request the creation of other lay ministries, among which the ministry of catechist is mentioned.
Consequences of the Council
For many who had been ordained to the old minor orders, it came as a bit of a shock that those orders could simply be suppressed by decree. Still this historical overview shows that the Church can and must shape her ministries according to contemporary needs of the Church community.
A growing awareness of the community base of ordained ministry.
Diversity: The restoration of the diaconate and a virtual explosion of lay ministries.
Bishops – Pastors.
Priests – Preachers and Community Builders.
Priests – Loss of Identity