Ministry
Part 2 History
Chapter 21 History of the Orders
Preliminary Questions
Bibliography
Kenan Osborne, O.F.M. Priesthood: A History of the Ordained Ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. Paulist Press. 1988. ISBN 0-8091-3032-7. $14.95.
Thomas Franklin O'Meara, O.P. Theology of Ministry. Paulist Press. 1983. ISBN 0-8091-2478-4. $11.95.
Summary - Grid
The following is a student presentation from 1991 by John Wilkie. The -ization terms are taken from Thomas O'Meara, Theology of Ministry.
| 1. Apostolic [0-399]
Lay movement within Judaism. Many modes of service. 2c Ordination
appears. Episcopalization: from communal
diversity and universality to a small number of ministries with
emphasis on service of leadership.
Sacerdotalization: becomes "sacred." |
| 2. Patristic [400-799] Bishop / Priest / Deacon. Prophets disappear. Deacons diversify: readers, caretakers. Public liturgy calls for expanded ministries: singers, assistants. Bishops and priests absorb ministry. President of eucharist = Sacerdos. OT models. |
| 3. Early Medieval [800-1199] Monasticization = monastic spirituality urged upon diocesan clergy. 11c. private recitation of Hours. Celibacy. Bishop resembles an abbot. Sacerdotalization of monasticism. Conversion = become a monk. Clergy separated from world. |
| 4. Medieval [1200-1299] Evangelization (OP OFM). Individual priesthood defined by real presence in the Eucharist. Episcopacy shifts from ministry to jurisdiction. Orders prior to Charism. Triumph of order. Hierarchization: A dominance of one structure in the order of offices. |
|
5. Late Medieval [1300-1499] |
|
6. Reformation [1500-1699] Pastoralization.
Baroque papacy. Spiritualization. |
|
7. After Trent [1700-1899] |
|
8. Before Vatican II [1900-1959] Romanticization of
ministry. |
|
9. Vatican II [1960-1975] Church =
People of God. Universal call to holiness. Permanent Diaconate. Lay ministries.
1966 Reader and Acolyte. 1969 Ministers of Communion. |
|
10. After Vatican II [1975-2050]
Diversity. Secularization. Charism prior to Orders.
|
1. Apostolic [0-399]
Christ seen as high priest of new religion and all believers were a community of priestly people.
The early Christians who came from Judaism recognized the priesthood of the Jews, but did not recognize any type of priesthood in the new Christian communities.
Secular terms adopted: overseers, elders (counselors), ministers.
Soon become "set apart." Bishops, presbyters and deacons were initiated by laying on hands.
2. Patristic [400-799]
Priest begins to absorb all ministries. Beginning of "clerical" and "lay" states. The hierarchy grows more distant from. Clergy rebuked for dressing differently. Clergy become separate from "worldly life." Priest begins to be seen as intermediary between God and humankind. Monastic communities governed by an abbot who appoints his the priests and bishops.
Laying-on of hands and recitation of prayers are essential elements of ordination.
Presbyter became synonymous with "priest."
The 692 Council of eastern bishops at Constantinople agreed that the married men could be received into clerical orders but unmarried clerics had to stay unmarried. Married priests and deacons had to abstain from sexual relations with their wives on the days they presided at liturgy.
(Mostly in the East) deaconesses led the women’s section at prayer, and anointed and dressed the women at baptisms, while also helping the widows and other women in their community.
The presbyters sat with the bishop at the weekly Eucharist celebrations in the west and they sometimes placed their hands over the bread and wine with the bishop and distributed bread and wine with the bishop and distributed communion.
Gregory VII mandated celibacy for all priests in the Catholic Church.
3. Early Medieval [800-1199]
Peter Lombard’s Sentences includes holy orders as a sacrament.
Rome becomes the central authority in the West (East preserves patriarchal collegiality) First cardinals. Pope assumed many of the bishop’s administrative duties; presbyters assumed most of the bishops priestly duties (say Mass, hear confessions).
Diaconate as distinct Order disappeared. Bishops begin to be appointed Rome. Episcopacy not considered part of Orders.
Roman theology of priesthood of "in persona Christi" regarding Mass and Confession [This is my body; I absolve you].
Abbots ordain priests (and deacons) for their abbeys.
Bishops were invested with a crozier (mitre).
4. Medieval [1200-1299]
St. Bonaventure spoke of Christ as prophet, priest, and king. However, this three-fold model was not widely used by the Scholastics.
Ordination seen as conferring power. Traditio instrumentorum added to Ordination Rite.
Priest’s hands are anointed at ordination. Lay hands not anointed; only priest can touch host; end of communion in the hand.
Their spiritual ideal in ministry and priesthood was a monastic one.
Priests were forbidden to have other jobs.
Most people still served by married clergy. Monks did not marry but many took wives and concubines.
Rise of mendicant orders non-monastic.
William Durand writes an ordination rite that is liturgically ordered and includes the various actions: laying-on of hands, anointing the hands of the priests, and prayers.
Bishops are understood to be ordained to priesthood only once, and that becoming a bishop confers a power of jurisdiction
5. Late Medieval [1300-1499]
Developing "job description" of priesthood. Only priests administer the sacraments. (E.g. confession). Many priests in the West still married despite growing prohibitions.
Renaissance Papacy. Nicholas V (1447-1455) established Vatican Library. Sixtus IV (1471-1484) conferred eight different dioceses on one of his nephews (who becomes Julius II). Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) spent most of his papacy caring for family and his five children.
"The clergy with whom lay people had the most contact were the parish priests, and there where numerous complaints about them. In many localities there were too many of them. In a notorious example, in the German city of Breslau, there where two churches staffed by 236 "altar priests," whose sole duty was celebrating Masses for the dead. In such churches where many Masses where celebrated every day at the same times on the side altars, many people would run from one Mass to the next to be present at the elevation of the Host. For many the Eucharist had become an object of adoration rather than a sacrament to be celebrated. Sadly too many people came to think of the Mass as the priest’s own private prayer rather than a common act of worship." (Rev. Thomas J. Shelley Ph.D. in Church History: A Course on the People of God. Sadlier, Faith and Witness series, pp 74-75.)
6. Reformation [1500-1699]
Christ as prophet, priest, and king popularized by John Calvin (consequently, Catholic theologians seldom used this understanding).
Pope Julius "The Terrible" (1503-1513) commissions Michelangelo; led armies into battle; celebrated a military victory parade through Rome on Palm Sunday. Pope Leo X (1513-1521), had been made a cardinal at the age of 13 (he was the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of Florence). Bishops appointed by Kings and nobles. Often Bishops "collected" dioceses for the income. E.g. the Cardinal of Lorraine became archbishop of Rheims at age 14, and had two other archdioceses, seven dioceses, and four wealthy abbeys. "In England, Cardinal Wolsey was archbishop of York and bishop of three other dioceses. He never set foot in any of his four cathedrals until the day when he was carried into one of them for his funeral."
Priests mainly celebrated Mass for the Souls in Purgatory and live on the Mass stipends. "In the German city of Breslau, there were two churches staffed by 236 altar priests whose sole duty was celebrating Mass for the dead." (The above is taken from Thomas J. Shelley, Church History. Sadlier 1998)
Reformation: Back to basics. Basic ministry: preaching the Gospel. Sacraments cause grace by God’s power, not the priest’s power. Church shares in Christ’s Priesthood to do ministry, not an entitled group within the Church. Emphasis on the once and for all redemptive act of Christ. Celibacy of ministers not required in the scriptures.
7. After Trent [1700-1899]
Bishops must reside in their diocese (end of absentee landlords).
Seminaries mandated. Ideal priest is the monk.
Pius XII defines essential elements of Rite of Ordination.
The "religious priest" is the ideal priest/ not the diocesan priest. (Conformity to obedient Christ)
The lay people of God were ministered to, and the priests and religious were the ministers
8. Before Vatican II [1900-1959]
1947-Pius XII instructed that the imposition of hands be considered the essential element of the rite.
9. Vatican II [1960-1975]
The Second Vatican Council was divided on the issue of priestly status. The scholastic view of priesthood was that the priest was “ontologically” changed by the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Vatican II does not speak of an ontological change, but says that the priesthood of the faithful is “essentially” different from ministerial priesthood (Constitution on the Church, 10) and leaves it to theologians to “spell out” what that essential difference is. The Council is explicit in stating that all are called to holiness.
10. After Vatican II [1975-2050]
I have published what I consider to be a summary of period ten in my article "Sacrament of Holy Orders: Priesthood in Transition" The text is available at: http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0797.asp
Primary mission of priest: preach the word of God; to sanctify, to lead. 1983 Code of Canon Law reads that orders is a ministry of divine law; requires servant-ministry found in Gospels. Ministry includes bishops, priests and deacons. Deacons ordained for liturgical and other ministries. Laity more active in ministries. Church questions itself over many issues. 1976 official stand against ordaining women; John Paul II, 1994 upholds stance as infallible teaching. Married priests from Anglican and Episcopal faiths to join Roman priesthood. Married permanent deacons; formation programs began in ‘80s.
"plurality" of ministers
Role of priest changing to one of service. Decline in priestly vocations. Lay ministry involvement in the church
Lay ministry explodes exponentially
To Think About
Class exercise In the light of your study of the history of ministry in the Church, which of the following scenarios are possible in period 10 of the grid, and which scenarios are not possible? [Note: The following are not intended to be "a wish list" or "political statements." This is an exercise in Church history and the theology of Orders.]
1. Priesthood disappears from the Church? (0 possible, 8 not possible)
2. Sunday Eucharist disappears from the Church? (0 possible, 8 not possible)
3. The distinction between the clerical state and the lay state disappears from the Church?(2 possible, 6 not possible)
4. Married men are ordained priests?(8 possible, 0 not possible)
5. Married deacons are ordained priests?(8 possible, 0 not possible)
6. Gay men are allowed to be ordained priests?(6 possible, 2 not possible)
7. Laicized priests are allowed to return to active ministry?(7 possible, 1 not possible)
8. Priests are allowed to marry?(8 possible, 0 not possible)
9. The majority of parish priests in the United States are from India, Africa, Korea, and other countries where vocations are flourishing?(6 possible, 2 not possible)
10. Woman are ordained deacons?(4 possible, 4 not possible)
11. Woman are ordained priests?(1 possible, 7 not possible)
12. Woman are made cardinals without ordination?(0 possible, 8 not possible)
13. Bishops are not appointed by the pope but elected by the laity of the local Church?(1 possible, 7 not possible)
14. One can be ordained priest without having been ordained deacon?(2 possible, 6 not possible)
15. One can be ordained bishop without having been ordained priest?(7 possible, 1 not possible)
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