A consecrator is a

bishop 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 c ...

who ordains someone to the

episcopacy 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 ...

. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, in Anglican communities, and in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

History

The church has always sought to assemble as many bishops as possible for the election and consecration of new bishops. Although due to difficulties in travel, timing, and frequency of consecrations, this was reduced to the requirement that all comprovincial (of the same province) bishops participate. At the Council of Nicæa it was further enacted that "a bishop ought to be chosen by all the bishops of his province, but if that is impossible because of some urgent necessity, or because of the length of the journey, let three bishops at least assemble and proceed to the consecration, having the written permission of the absent." Consecrations by the Pope were exempt from the three bishop requirement. The reason for the three bishop requirement was stated by St. Isidore: "

he custom He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

that a bishop should not be ordained by one bishop, but by all the comprovincial bishops, is known to have been instituted on account of

heresies Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

, and in order that the tyrannical authority of one person should not attempt anything contrary to the faith of the Church."

Catholic Church

Validity

Although for validity, only one bishop is needed to raise a priest to the episcopacy, it remains a strict rule of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

that there should at least two co-consecrating bishops; with the sole exemption being made in

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

countries where it is very difficult to bring three bishops together. In those cases, the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

allows two priests to act as assistants to the consecrator. As three bishops take part, the Church is more certain of the validity of the ordination which requires only one of them for validity.

Principal co-consecrator

The term "principal co-consecrator" is used to designate the bishop who assists the principal consecrator in the ordination of a new bishop. Co-consecrators are not mere witnesses to the fact that the consecration has taken place; rather, by taking part in it, they make themselves responsible for its taking place. The consecrator and the two assistant bishops impose hands upon the head of the ''consecrandus'' saying "''Accipe spiritum sanctum.''"

Lutheran Churches

In the

Church of Sweden 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 Sw ...

, bishops are ordained at

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral ( sv, Uppsala domkyrka) is a cathedral located between the University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in the Lutheran t ...

with the Archbishop of Uppsala serving as the principal consecrator. The first Lutheran bishops of Estonia and Latvia were consecrated by

Nathan Söderblom Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom (; 15 January 1866 – 12 July 1931) was a Swedish clergyman. He was the Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala between 1914 and 1931, and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize. He is commemorated in the Cale ...

, the Archbishop of Uppsala.

Anglican Communion

In the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

, the co-consecrator takes part in the consecration, so that if the principal consecrator has failed to convey the

episcopate 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 ...

to the bishop being

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

, the episcopate can be given by the co-consecrator.

Eastern Orthodox Church

In the

, "The plurality of consecrators of a local bishop also clearly expresses

conciliarity Conciliarity is the adherence of various Christian communities to the authority of ecumenical councils and to synodal church governance. It is not to be confused with conciliarism, which is a particular historical movement within the Catholic C ...

: as co-consecrators, bishops from neighbouring local churches witness to the faithfulness to the

apostolic Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

faith of the church in which the new bishop will in turn be guaranteeing this faithfulness." The presence of the additional bishops also ensures apostolic succession.{{Cite web , title=Apostolic Succession , url=https://discovertheearlychurch.org/apostolicsuccession.html , access-date=2022-09-01 , website=discovertheearlychurch.org

References

Ecclesiastical titles Sacramental law

History

Catholic Church

Validity

Principal co-consecrator

Lutheran Churches

Anglican Communion

Eastern Orthodox Church

See also

References