The
priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("
ordained") with the
Holy orders of the
Catholic Church. Technically,
bishops
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only to
presbyters
Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as ...
and
pastors (parish priests). The church's doctrine also sometimes refers to all
baptise
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
d (
lay
Lay may refer to:
Places
*Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada
*Lay, Loire, a French commune
*Lay (river), France
*Lay, Iran, a village
*Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community
People
* Lay (surname)
* ...
) members as the "common priesthood", which can be confused with the
ministerial priesthood of the consecrated clergy.
The church has different rules for priests in the
Latin Church–the largest Catholic
particular church–and in the 23
Eastern Catholic Churches. Notably, priests in the Latin Church must take a
vow of celibacy, whereas most Eastern Catholic Churches permit married men to be ordained.
Deacons are male and usually belong to the diocesan clergy, but, unlike almost all Latin Church (Western Catholic) priests and all bishops from Eastern or Western Catholicism, they may marry as laymen before their ordination as clergy. Priesthood is open only to men; women are excluded. The Catholic Church teaches that when a man participates in priesthood after the
Sacrament
A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...
of
Holy Orders, he acts ''
in persona Christi
''In persona Christi'' is a Latin phrase meaning "in the person of Christ", an important concept in Roman Catholicism and, in varying degrees, to other Christian traditions, such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism. A priest is ''In persona Christi'' ...
Capitis'', representing the person of Christ.
Unlike usage in English, "the Latin words ''sacerdos'' and ''
sacerdotium'' are used to refer in general to the ministerial priesthood shared by bishops and presbyters. The words ''presbyter'', ''presbyterium'' and ''presbyteratus'' refer to priests in the English use of the word or presbyters." According to the ''
Annuario Pontificio'' 2016, as of December 31, 2014, there were 415,792 Catholic priests worldwide, including both
diocesan priests and priests in the
religious orders. A priest of the regular clergy is commonly addressed with the title "Father" (contracted to Fr, in the Catholic and some other Christian churches).
Catholics living a
consecrated life
Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life (religious and se ...
or
monasticism
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role ...
include both the ordained and unordained.
Institutes of consecrated life
An institute of consecrated life is an association of faithful in the Catholic Church erected by canon law whose members profess the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience by vows or other sacred bonds. They are defined in the ...
, or
monks, can be deacons, priests, bishops, or non-ordained members of a
religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...
. The non-ordained in these orders are not to be considered laypersons in a strict sensethey take certain vows and are not free to marry once they have made solemn profession of vows. All female religious are non-ordained; they may be sisters living to some degree of activity in a communal state, or nuns living in cloister or some other type of isolation. The male members of religious orders, whether living in monastic communities or cloistered in isolation, and who are ordained priests or deacons constitute what is called the religious or
regular clergy
Regular clergy, or just regulars, are clerics in the Catholic Church who follow a rule () of life, and are therefore also members of religious institutes. Secular clergy are clerics who are not bound by a rule of life.
Terminology and history
The ...
, distinct from the
diocesan or
secular clergy
In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...
. Those ordained priests or deacons who are not members of some sort of religious order (
secular priests
In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogra ...
) most often serve as clergy to a specific church or in an office of a specific diocese or in
Rome.
History
Catholic priests are ordained by bishops through the sacrament of
holy orders. Catholic bishops are ordained in an unbroken line of
apostolic succession
Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...
back to the
Twelve Apostles depicted in the
Catholic Bible. The ceremony of
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
, which can only be confected by priests, in particular derives from the story of the
Last Supper, when
Jesus Christ distributed bread and wine in the presence of the
Twelve Apostles, in some versions of the
Gospel of Luke commanding them to "do this in memory of me". (Some Protestant critics have challenged the historical accuracy of the claim of unbroken succession.)
Catholic tradition says the apostles in turn selected other men to succeed them as the bishops (''episkopoi'', Greek for "overseers") of the Christian communities, with whom were associated
presbyters (''presbyteroi'', Greek for "elders") and
deacons (''diakonoi'', Greek for "servants"). As communities multiplied and grew in size, the bishops appointed more and more presbyters to preside at the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
in place of the bishop in the multiple communities in each region. The
diaconate evolved as the liturgical assistants of the bishop and his delegate for the administration of church funds and programmes for the poor. Today, the rank of "presbyter" is typically what one thinks of as a priest, although church catechism considers both a bishop and a presbyter as "priests".
The Pentarchic Church of the three first Holy Synods, which continues to hold various degrees of communion, from which the Catholic Church broke AD1054 -
the Great Schism share the tradition of the sacrament of ordination by which the grace of apostolic succession is secured.
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
the
Church of the East
The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...
(split in 424), the
Oriental Orthodoxy
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent ...
(split in 451) and the
Eastern Orthodox Church (split with the
East–West Schism
The East–West Schism (also known as the Great Schism or Schism of 1054) is the ongoing break of communion between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches since 1054. It is estimated that, immediately after the schism occurred, a ...
of 1054). During the
Protestant Reformation,
Martin Luther and
William Tyndale advocated the
priesthood of all believers, the idea that all baptized Christians are equally part of the sacred priesthood and that ministerial priesthood has no real authority beyond that of the congregation. This was a complex and controversial matter, contributing to further schisms within the
Reformation movement of the
Church. The Lutheran-Evangelical
Swedish Church
The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden ...
maintains the sacrament of ordination and the doctrine of Apostolic Succession, as the
Anglican Church. The doctrine is interpreted in various ways by different Protestant denominations, with some dropping apostolic succession and holy orders as a sacrament, as per example the
Church of Norway
The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...
and
Denmark who keep their respective Monarchs as
Pontifexes, sovereign heads of the church-hierarchy. There are different requirements for the performance of the Eucharistic ceremony to be valid among different kinds of Christian denominations, in regard of who are to oversee the sanctity of the Eucharist and stand as guarantor that the Holy Service is properly performed. There are significant differences particularly regarding the strictness/liberality of whom are welcome to receive the sacraments.
Through the principle of
church economy, the Catholic Church
Norms at the same time recognizes as valid the Holy Service of denominations practicing the
Symbolum Nicaenum, also known as the Nicene Creed, and deem illicit and therefore find the ordination of priests "objectively sacrilegious" in denominations separated from the one, holy, apostolic and catholic (i.e. universal)
Church. holding an unbroken apostolic succession. With the
Orthodox Catholic Church Orthodox Catholic Church or Orthodox Catholic may refer to:
* The Catholic Church
** The Eastern Catholic Churches, particularly the Greek Catholic Churches
* The Eastern Orthodox Church
* The Oriental Orthodox Churches
* The Orthodox-Catholic Chur ...
it shares and defines the so-called
First seven ecumenical councils. The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches are 23 Eastern Christian sui iuris (autonomous) particular churches of the Catholic Church, in full communion with the
Bishop of Rome. Although they are distinct theologically, liturgically, and historically from the Latin Church, they are all in full communion with it and with each other. The
Coptic Catholic Church
The Coptic Catholic Church ( ar, الكنيسة القبطية الكاثوليكية; la, Ecclesia Catholica Coptorum) is an Eastern Catholic particular church in full communion with the Catholic Church. Along with the Ethiopian Catholic Chur ...
among these 23 is not identical with the
Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. The US-based expatriate
Polish National Catholic Church
The Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) is an independent Old Catholic church based in the United States and founded by Polish-Americans.
The PNCC is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.http://www.saplv.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/ ...
is an Old Catholic Congregation not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, or any other, except from their trace of Apostolic Succession with the Old Catholics of the Netherlands, yet part of is a communion of Old Catholic churches established in 2008 by the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) of the United States, after the Union of Utrecht began ordaining women and blessing same-sex unions. Since then, it has expanded to include the Nordic Catholic Church (NCC), begun by people who had separated from the Church of Norway, a Lutheran-Evangelical church under sovereignty of the King of the , in opposition to similar practices and has developed a more Catholic theology. The
Nordic Catholic Church includes the
Christ-Catholic Church of German in Germany as a daughter-church, which traces its history through the Old Catholics of the
Union of Utrecht and the
Polish-Catholic Church of the Republic of Poland
Church of Poland, also called Polish Catholic Church ( pl, Kościół Polski, Kościół Polskokatolicki w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is a Polish Old Catholic church in Poland, which is part of the Union of Utrecht. It is a member of the World ...
. In AD2008 the Old Catholics of the
Union of Scranton
The Union of Scranton is a communion of Old Catholic churches established in 2008 by the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) of the United States, after the Union of Utrecht began ordaining women and blessing same-sex unions. Since then, ...
broke away from the
Union of Utrecht after the Union of Utrecht began ordaining women and blessing same-sex unions. It is after this it has expanded to include the Nordic Catholic Church . The
Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Congregation of the East holds apostolic succession, but is not in communion with either the Oriental Orthodox Congregation in full communion with the Roman or the Eastern Orthodox Church. In contrast to the Evangelical-Lutheran religion of Denmark and Norway, the
Church of Sweden practices Apostolic Succession, and holds Ordination as a sacrament. Recognition of the ordination of
Anglican Church priests was denied in 1896 by
Pope Leo XIII through the papal bull ''
Apostolicae curae'', over a dispute in the wording of the Anglican ceremony starting in the 1500s.
In the time of National Socialism there were countless priests who offered resistance. In many cases they acted against the instructions of their church superiors. Many were executed or sent to concentration camps. The Austrian priest
Heinrich Maier, who saw himself as Miles Christi, headed a resistance group which, among other things, passed on plans and production sites for
V-2 rockets,
Tiger tanks,
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
,
Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet and other aircraft to the Allies, which were crucial for the war. The Group informed very early about the mass murder of Jews. Like Maier, many priests were brutally tortured by the Gestapo and in the concentration camps.
In 1965, the
Second Vatican Council released ''
Presbyterorum Ordinis'' on the ministry and life of priests, and ''
Optatam Totius'' on the training of priests.
Since 1970, the number of Catholic priests in the world has decreased by about 5,000, to 414,313 priests as of 2012.
but the worldwide Catholic population has nearly doubled, growing from 653.6 million in 1970 to 1.229 billion in 2012.
This has resulted in a worldwide
shortage of Catholic priests. In 2014, 49,153 Catholic parishes had no resident priest pastor.
The number of priests is increasing in Africa and Asia, but not keeping pace with growth in Catholic populations there. The number of priests is falling in Europe and the Americas faster than the number of local Catholics is declining. This has resulted in some African and Asian priests being recruited to European and American churches, reversing the historical practice of
Catholic missionaries being sent from Western countries to the rest of the world.
Only men are allowed to receive holy orders, and the church does not allow any
transgender people to do so.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the
cases of sexual abuse by Catholic priests gained worldwide attention, with thousands of accused priests and tens of thousands of alleged victims. The church estimated that over the 50 years ending in 2009, between 1.5% and 5% of Catholic priests had a sexual encounter with a minor,
and Dr.
Thomas Plante Thomas G. Plante (born in Rhode Island, United States) is the Augustin Cardinal Bea, S.J. University Professor of psychology on the faculty of Santa Clara University and adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford Un ...
estimated a figure of 4%.
[Thomas Plante: OpEd: "A Perspective on Clergy Sexual Abuse," ''San Jose Mercury News,'' 24 March 2002]
updated online version
Public anger was fueled by the revelation that many accused priests were transferred to another parish rather than being removed from ministry or reported to police. The scandal caused some Catholics to leave the church, made recruitment of new priests more difficult, and resulted in billions of dollars in lawsuit
settlements and bankruptcies that increased financial pressure to close parishes with declining membership. In February 2019, clerical abuse of
nuns, including
sexual slavery
Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership rights, right over one or more people with the intent of Coercion, coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activities. This include ...
, has been acknowledged by the
Pope.
Theology of the priesthood
Passover and Christ
The theology of the Catholic priesthood is rooted in the priesthood of
Christ and to some degree shares elements of the ancient Hebraic priesthood as well, since the Catholic priesthood is considered the fulfillment of the priesthood of the
Old Covenant
The Mosaic covenant (named after Moses), also known as the Sinaitic covenant (after the biblical Mount Sinai), refers to a covenant between God and the Israelites, including their proselytes, not limited to the ten commandments, nor the event wh ...
. A
priest is one who presides over a
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
and offers that sacrifice and prayers to
God on behalf of believers.
Jewish priesthood which functioned at
the temple in
Jerusalem offered animal sacrifices at various times throughout the year for a variety of reasons.
In Christian theology, Jesus is the
Lamb provided by God himself as the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Before his
death on the cross, Jesus celebrated the
Passover with his disciples (the
Last Supper) and offered blessings over the bread and wine respectively, saying: "''Take and eat. This is my body''" and "''Drink from this all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for the forgiveness of sins''." (Matthew 26:26–28
Jerusalem Bible). The next day Christ's body and blood were visibly sacrificed on the cross.
Catholics believe that it is this same body, sacrificed on the cross and risen on the third day and united with Christ's divinity, soul and blood which is made present in the offering of each Eucharistic sacrifice which is called the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
. The Catholic Church teaches the doctrine of
transubstantiation, which states that the substances, or underlying reality, of the bread and wine is supernaturally changed by the
Words of Consecration
The Words of Institution (also called the Words of Consecration) are words echoing those of Jesus himself at his Last Supper that, when consecrating bread and wine, Christian Eucharistic liturgies include in a narrative of that event. Eucharistic ...
of the priest in the ritual of the
Mass. At the same time, the accidents (that is, the outward appearances and attributes) remain that of bread and wine: i.e. under normal circumstances, scientific analysis of the Eucharistic elements would indicate the physical-material properties of wine and bread.
Thus Catholic priests, in celebrating the Eucharist, join each offering of the Eucharistic elements in union with the sacrifice of Christ. Through their celebration of the Holy Eucharist, they make present the one eternal sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
The Catholic Church teaches that the Sacrifice of the Mass and the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross are one and the same sacrifice (as decrees in the
Council of Trent affirmed); "''The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice,''"
whereas the Jewish concept of memorial states "..''the memorial is not merely a recollection of past events....these events become in a certain way present and real''" and thus "...''the sacrifice Christ offered once and for all on the cross remains ever present''."
Properly speaking, in Catholic theology, as expressed by Saint
Thomas Aquinas, "Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers." Thus, Catholic clergy share in the one, unique, Priesthood of Christ as his instruments.
Education
The
Canon law of the Catholic Church holds that the priesthood is a sacred and perpetual vocational state, not just a profession (which is a reason for, and symbolized by, the state of celibacy). There are programs of formation and studies which aim to enable the future priest to effectively serve his ministry. These programs are demanded by canon law (in the Latin Church, canons 232–264) which also refers to the
Bishops' Conferences for local more detailed regulation. As a general rule, education is extensive and lasts at least five or six years, depending on the national Programme of Priestly Formation.
* In the
United States, priests must have undergraduate-level instruction in philosophy plus an additional four to five years of graduate-level seminary formation in theology. A
Master of Divinity
For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...
is the most common degree.
* In
Scotland, there is a mandatory year of preparation before entering seminary for a year dedicated to
spiritual formation, followed by several years of study.
* In Europe, Australasia and North America, seminarians usually graduate with a
Master of Divinity
For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...
or a
Master of Theology degree, which is a four-year
professional degree (as opposed to a
Master of Arts which is an academic degree). At least four years are to be in theological studies at the major
seminary.
* In Germany and Austria, priest candidates graduate with an ''academic'' degree (Magister theologiae, Diplom-Theologe, Master of Arts in Theology). The degree takes five years and is preceded by a year of spiritual formation (plus learning of the ancient languages) and followed by two years of pastoral practice (during which the candidate is ordained to the
deaconate). Usually, priests spend all of that time in a seminary except one "free year".
* In Africa, Asia and South America, programmes are more flexible, being developed according to the age and academic abilities of those preparing for ordination.
Regardless of where a person prepares for ordination, the process includes not only academic but also human, social, spiritual and pastoral formation. The purpose of
seminary education is ultimately to prepare men to be pastors of souls. In the end, however, each individual
Ordinary
Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to:
Music
* ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast
* ''Ordinary'' (Every Little Thing album) (2011)
* "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016)
* "Ordinary" (Wayne Brady song) (2008)
* ...
(such as a
bishop or
Superior General
A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...
) is responsible for the official call to priesthood, and only a bishop may ordain. Any ordinations done before the normally scheduled time (before study completion) must have the explicit approval of the bishop.
Rite of Ordination
The Rite of Ordination is what makes one a priest, having already been a deacon and with the minister of
Holy Orders being a validly ordained bishop.
The Rite of Ordination occurs within the context of Holy Mass. After being called forward and presented to the assembly, the candidates are interrogated. Each promises to diligently perform the duties of the Priesthood and to respect and obey his
ordinary
Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to:
Music
* ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast
* ''Ordinary'' (Every Little Thing album) (2011)
* "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016)
* "Ordinary" (Wayne Brady song) (2008)
* ...
(bishop or religious superior). Then the candidates lie prostrate before the altar, while the assembled faithful kneel and pray for the help of all the saints in the singing of the
Litany of the Saints. The essential part of the rite is when the bishop silently
lays his hands upon each candidate (followed by all priests present), before offering the consecratory prayer, addressed to
God the Father
God the Father is a title given to God in Christianity. In mainstream trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first person of the Trinity, followed by the second person, God the Son Jesus Christ, and the third person, God t ...
, invoking the power of the
Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
upon those being ordained. After the consecratory prayer, the newly ordained is vested with the
stole and
chasuble of those belonging to the Ministerial Priesthood and then the bishop anoints his hands with
chrism before presenting him with the
chalice and
paten which he will use when presiding at the Eucharist.
Clerical celibacy
Early Christianity
The earliest Christians were Jews and Jewish tradition has always deemed the married state as more spiritual than the celibate state. However, some Christian traditions place a higher spiritual value on chastity. According to the Bible, the Apostle Peter had a spouse from Gospel stories of Peter's mother-in-law sick with fever (Matt 8:14, Mark 1:29, Luke 4:38) and from Paul's mention that Peter took along a believing wife in his ministry (1 Cor 9:5).
From its beginnings, the idea of clerical celibacy has been contested in canon courts, in theology, and in religious practices. Celibacy for Roman Catholic priests was not mandated under canon law for the universal church until the
Second Lateran Council in 1139.
The
Council of Elvira in Spain (c. 305–306) was the first council to call for clerical celibacy. In February 385,
Pope Siricius wrote the
Directa decretal, which was a long letter to Spanish bishop
Himerius of Tarragona, replying to the bishop's requests on various subjects, which had been sent several months earlier to
Pope Damasus I. It was the first of a series of documents published by the church's
magisterium that claimed
apostolic origin for
clerical celibacy
Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. Clerical celibacy also requires abstention from deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior outside of marriage, because the ...
.
After the Great Schism
Within a century of the
Great Schism of 1054, the Churches of the East and West arrived at different disciplines as to abstaining from sexual contact during marriage. In the East, candidates for the priesthood could be married with permission to have regular sexual relations with their wives, but were required to abstain before celebrating the Eucharist. An unmarried person, once ordained, could not marry. Additionally, the Christian East required that, before becoming a bishop, a priest separate from his wife (she was permitted to object), with her typically becoming a nun. In the East, more normally, bishops are chosen from those priests who are monks and are thus unmarried.
In the West, the law of celibacy became mandatory by
Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII ( la, Gregorius VII; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana ( it, Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint ...
at the Roman Synod of 1074. This law mandated that, in order to become a candidate for ordination, a man could not be married. The law remains in effect in the Latin Church, although not for those who are priests of the
Eastern Catholic Churches, who remain under their own discipline. (These churches either remained in or returned to full communion with Rome after the schism, unlike for example the
Eastern Orthodox Church which is now entirely separate). The issue of mandatory celibacy in the Latin Church continues to be debated.
Duties of a Catholic priest
Bishops, priests, and deacons who want to become priests are also required to recite the principal and minor offices of the
Liturgy of the Hours, or ''Divine Office'', daily, a practice which is also followed by non-ordained people in some religious orders.
A priest who is a
pastor is responsible for the administration of a
Catholic parish, typically with a single church building dedicated for worship (and usually a nearby residence), and for seeing to the spiritual needs of Catholics who belong to the parish. This involves performing ceremonies for the seven
sacraments of the Catholic Church
There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the Grace in Christianity, gra ...
, and counseling people. He may be assisted by other
diocesan priests and deacons, and serves under the local
diocesan bishop, who is in charge of the many parishes in the territory of the
diocese or archdiocese. In some cases due to the
shortage of priests and the expense of a full-time priest for depopulated parishes, a
team of priests ''in solidum'' may share the management of several parishes.
According to Catholic doctrine, a priest or bishop is necessary in order to perform the ceremony of the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
,
take confession, and perform
Anointing of the Sick. Deacons may distribute Holy Communion after a priest or bishop has consecrated the bread and wine, and, in extraordinary circumstances, lay people, called "Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion", may do so as well. Priests and deacons ordinarily perform
Baptism, but any Catholic can baptize in emergency circumstances. In cases where a person dies before the baptism ceremony is performed, the Catholic Church also recognizes
baptism of desire
In Christian theology, baptism of desire ( la, baptismus flaminis, lit=baptism of the breath), also called baptism by desire, is a doctrine according to which a person is able to attain the grace of justification through faith, perfect contritio ...
, where a person desired to be baptized, and baptism of blood, when a person is
martyred for their faith.
According to church doctrine, a priest or bishop ordinarily performs a
Holy Matrimony, but a deacon or even a layperson can be delegated if that is impractical, and in an emergency the couple can perform the ceremony themselves as long as there are two witnesses. (Church doctrine says it is the couple actually conferring marriage upon each other, and the priest is merely assisting and witnessing that it be done properly.)
Eastern Catholic Churches
The Catholic Church has different rules for the priesthood in the 23
Eastern Catholic Church
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...
es than those in the Latin Church. The chief difference is that most of the Eastern Catholic Churches ordain
married men, whereas the Latin Church, with very few exceptions, enforces mandatory
clerical celibacy
Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. Clerical celibacy also requires abstention from deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior outside of marriage, because the ...
. This issue has caused tension among Catholics in some situations where Eastern churches established parishes in countries with established Latin Catholic populations. In the Americas and Australia, this tension led to bans on married Eastern Catholic priests, all of which were overturned by
Pope Francis in 2014.
[
Within the lands of the ]Eastern Christendom
Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...
, priests' children often became priests and married within their social group, establishing a tightly-knit hereditary caste among some Eastern Christian communities.[Tarnavky, ''Spohady'', cited in Jean-Paul Himka. (1986). ''The Greek Catholic Church and Ukrainian Society in Austrian Galicia.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press pg. 444]
Demographics
Worldwide, the number of priests has remained fairly steady since 1970, decreasing by about 5,000. This stagnation is due to a balancing of large growth in Africa and Asia and a significant decrease in North America and Europe.
Asia
Singapore
Europe
Belgium
France
Luxembourg
Poland
Sweden
Switzerland
North America
Mexico
United States
See also
* Amovibility, some canon law applying to priests
*List of Catholic priests This is an incomplete list of Catholic priests.
Priests
Roman Catholic Church
*Cristóbal Diatristán de Acuña – Society of Jesus, Jesuit explorer
*Alger of Liège – History
*Abraham Armand – Missionary to Hawaii
*Alexis Bachelot – Mis ...
* Ordination of women and the Catholic Church
* Religious minister
* Vocational discernment in the Catholic Church
* Impediment (Catholic canon law)
References
External links
The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church Current and historical information about its bishops and dioceses
(includes current and historical demographics for priests)
VISION Vocation Guide
information about Roman Catholic priesthood and religious life with directory of men's religious communities and diocesan links.
Milwaukee Holy Orders: The Making of a Priest
Documentary produced by Milwaukee PBS
Application to Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon
(an example of questions asked about potential priests' character and activities)
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